12/10/2018 Logic Models and Theories of Change - Social Solutions

The Importance of Logic Models and Theories of Change

By now, many of us are probably a little tired of hearing about or completing program
logic models and theories of change. Perhaps we participated in one too many uninspired
workshops, or hate the tedium of fitting and aligning complex program information into
those skinny logic model columns. In any case, although many program managers have a
basic answer of what these are, there may be little understanding of why they matter or
how program managers can use them to make their programs even better.

To some degree, their use has become a bit “form over substance” as they are often left to
collect dust on the shelf once created, or are little used by grantmakers beyond simply
judging the merits of a grant proposal (if even that!). Yet, for program managers, they can
play an important role in clarifying and documenting the underlying theory and logic of a
program’s functioning. Moreover, they can serve as a living guidance document to support
sound program implementation, evaluation efforts and ongoing critical reflection on
performance. So, let’s take a second look; but first, a very quick refresher.

What Is a Logic Model? A BRIEF Overview  

Logic models and theories of change are tools to show a macro view of how your
program proposes to solve a problem. Logic models are a bit more widespread than
theories of change, but both serve essentially the same function. In many cases, funders
and grantmakers require a program logic model and will often base program evaluation on
adherence to the logic model.

Logic models are typically structured using some variant of the following table (the top
row is completed as an example):

Where:

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Inputs reflect things that are required to support program operations (such as staff or resources)

Services/activities are the efforts we conduct on behalf of our clients or participants

Outputs reflect the amount, frequencies, nature, etc. of these service and activity efforts

Outcomes reflect the most direct measurable effects of our program efforts (sometimes these
are subdivided into short-, medium- and long-term)

Impacts are the downstream or over time effects we expect to see as a result of clients
achieving our outcomes

In short, this tabular structure is used to show the logical linkages between items, across
columns (“this leads to that”) and, importantly how services will lead to specified
outcomes and impacts.

Theories of change (TOC) have a less common or standard structure, but generally seek
to graphically portray the change process for clients (or other targets of service) in relation
to activities, the various changes that are theorized to occur in response to these activities,
and the eventual outcome(s) the intervention is designed to accomplish. A theory of
change is often completed in backward fashion, starting with the outcome and specifying
preconditions and supporting activities that reflect theorized pathways of change.

Logic Models and Theories of Change in Action

Despite any preconceptions we might hold about them, logic models, TOCs or the two in
combination should be viewed as an essential tool for supporting program design,
management and evaluation. As a living and actively used document, they can help
program managers in a number of important ways, including:

Making the implicit assumptions about how we think our program works more visually,
narratively and theoretically explicit. This can be further enhanced if we draw upon published
research or evaluation literature to support the program design and to demonstrate why it
should work.

Supporting our ability to manage our implementation efforts and, in particular, striving toward
strong fidelity of service delivery. Fidelity simply means that we implement our services with
deliberate adherence to how they are specified in our logic model or TOC.  Implementation
fidelity is critical in efforts to manage program performance and for increasing the likelihood
that we will achieve our targeted outcomes.

Guiding the development of an appropriate evaluation plan that is either focused on informing
program refinements (i.e., formative evaluation) or conducting a more rigorous test of our
program model (i.e., summative evaluation). In this area, the logic model or theory of change

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provides direction to the identification of important process and outcome variables as well as
guides measurement strategies in support of our evaluation objectives.

Refining the underlying theory and structure of our service delivery model in response to
performance or evaluation data. Here, the logic model or TOC provides us a baseline rendering
of our program model’s structure and theoretical functioning. This can then be modified in
response to performance or evaluation data in ways that make our program more efficient
and/or more effective in achieving outcomes. With repeated efforts and increasing rigor in our
evaluation approach, this can further support our ability to gather information to establish our
program as evidence-based.

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