Population education: what impacts can we measure?

Abstract

The author comments on the lack of evaluation of population education, and argues that such work has been stalled by confusion over what population education is and what it is supposed to do. Contradictory opinions about what is to be included in or excluded from the definition of population education, and whether it should be "value-fair" or "value-based" are cited, as well as various opinions concerning whether the impact should be measured in terms of a difference in knowledge, attitudes, or behavior, over a long or short period. The author suggests that evaluation requires a series of research choices, and proposes a framework for guiding evaluation wherein choices may be made in several dimensions to specify exactly what is being evaluated.