Time should be taken at the outset to articulate what the strategy will be - desired outcomes, how these outcomes and the initiative reflect and promote the mission of the organization, how key outcomes will be achieved and what contextual factors may impact that process. In this era of accountability, there will undoubtedly be pressure to show results much earlier. Counting messages delivered without clearly thinking through what the right outcomes and appropriate approaches are for measuring desired outcomes substitutes outputs for outcomes. These include outputs such as the number of op-eds placed in the paper, or the number of pamphlets distributed. Although outputs may be important, they are not replacements for outcomes - quantity does not necessarily mean quality.
Public opinion is a common outcome measured by evaluators of mass media initiatives.
Before embarking on an evaluation procedure to measure public opinion, a critical question to ask is whether the mass media initiative is designed to make great shifts in public opinion on an issue or merely get the issue on the public agenda, providing information to encourage new ways to think about the issue. The issue of early care and education illustrates an approach that highlights how encouraging new ways of thinking about an issue can be used as a strategy to spur future investment. Furthermore, the public does not always support increases in early care and education funding if they perceive that funding will be shifted from primary school education. Thus, strategists are now considering how to reframe the concept of early care and education so it is viewed as part of a continuum of learning that starts at birth and proceeds through elementary school. Strategists hope that, by connecting early care and education more closely with the concept of primary education, public support of increased investment for education during the birth to five age span will grow.