Evaluation & Terminology
Evaluation and terminology – are we speaking the same language! When you start to think about evaluation and how to evaluate a program or service, it starts with a conversation. As an experienced evaluator and author, I am well aware that the language and terminology we use can be confusing. When I first started at Queensland University of Technology we were having a data conversation and I was able to count four different meanings for attrition. For example, from the Australian government’s perspective attrition in higher education is calculated after the census data (the point in which the student enrols and pays for the unit of study). For the students enrolled at a university last year at census date, compare this list to those enrolled at census...