Provision of an Evaluation Advisory Study
Funded by: Food Standards Agency
Duration:
November 2009 to May 2010
PSI researchers:
Background, summary and aims
Background, Scope and Aims
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has commissioned PSI to help develop the Agency’s approach to evaluating three of its key policies:
- Score on the Doors (SotD)
- Calorie information in catering outlets
- Front of the Pack (FoP) labelling
The research comprises discussions with policy makers and analysts at the Agency, and a review of policy documents in order to:
- Understand the background and context to the interventions
- Understand the nature of the interventions, their aims and objectives
- Determine the main hypotheses to be tested through the evaluation – the key evaluation questions; and
- Identify constraints, including timescales and resources
Project Design
PSI’s approach involves adopting a ‘programme theory’ methodology. Such an approach will:
- Provide a framework and structure for the study of the three programmes, enabling the content of discussions and programme documentation to be synthesised effectively in a coherent manner
- Provide an explicit outline of the interventions and how they are intended to generate positive outcomes
- Yield important insights as to which evaluation strategies will meet the Agency’s needs
Moreover, a ‘programme theory’ approach provides a firm platform upon which to build convincing and reliable evaluations for each of the three policies going forward
Importance of Research
The research aims to establish a solid platform upon which the Agency can establish a rigorous evaluation framework through which these three important policies can be thoroughly assessed.
