What artifact links program inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact and serves as the backbone of an evaluation design?

• A. Theory of change
• B. Results chain
• C. Logic model
• D. Performance map

Answer: (C)

The logic model is the map that explicitly connects what you invest (inputs) to what you do (activities), what you produce (outputs), the changes you expect (outcomes), and the ultimate results for the program or community (impact). It serves as the backbone of an evaluation design because it clearly outlines the causal pathway you plan to test, guiding what to measure, when to measure it, and what data to collect at each step. By laying out these links, it helps you choose appropriate indicators for inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact, align data collection with the timeline, and surface the assumptions you’re making about how change will occur. While theory of change and results chain are related concepts that describe parts of this thinking, the logic model is the artifact that most directly maps all five elements into a usable structure for designing and conducting an evaluation.