Evaluating food stamp nutrition education: process for development and validation of evaluation measures

The purpose of this paper is to describe a process for developing and validating outcome measures relevant to dietary quality behaviors targeted by Food Stamp Nutrition Education (FSNE). The ultimate goal is a measure that is valid, reliable, sensitive to change, and practical for use for a wide variety of FSNE evaluation purposes. The development process has incorporated input from FSNE stakeholders at the federal and state level and follows a systematic, research-driven approach that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative research and includes methods for identification of subject domains, selection of evaluation items, initial pretesting, and reduction of items. This type of research establishes the trustworthiness of new evaluation measures.