In general, the goal of gathering feedback is to assure the quality of your work. Surveys (written, face-to-face, or via phone), individual or group interviews, focus groups, town halls or whole-program type meetings, or journals might all be used to get participant input. The more information you can obtain about what's working and not working, the better you will be able to improve your program! Feedback should be obtained early in the development process so that changes can be made before it becomes too late to make significant improvements. For example, if participants report confusion about a major aspect of your program, such as its purpose or expected outcomes, these problems could be resolved by changing the content of the program or the way it is delivered. It is important to realize that not everyone who takes part in your survey or interview will provide complete and accurate information. This is particularly true if you are asking people to comment on themselves or others rather than actual events, as they may not want to criticize others or themselves harshly. However, even when using self-reported data, it is still possible to learn important things from how participants respond to questions asked of them directly. For example, if many people say that they like learning new skills but then go on to say that they find the training too difficult, this would suggest that there is a mismatch between what people think will help them succeed at your program and what actually succeeds at helping them succeed.