METHODOLOGY
This evaluation analyzes the structure, process and outcomes of the MIRA program on the big island of Hawaii in 1998 and 1999 as part of MIRA's Round 1. Evaluators visited the Cluster three times, on two occasions to attend workshops and on a third occasion to meet several community teams as they began their projects. Participant evaluations, MIRA workshops and trainers are included as a separate attachment to this cluster story.
Over the course of these site visits, evaluators traveled to all communities in which MIRA teams were located to become acquainted with each area and to visit with community team members. These occasions provided opportunities to interview team members in their own community settings, to ask questions about history, economics, and natural resources, and to make inquiries about the MIRA program and its impacts on participants and their communities.
At each of the two workshops visited, at least one person from each team was interviewed extensively during breaks or, as convenient, as the workshop continued. These interviews also provided an opportunity to gather information about program impacts, strengths and weaknesses.
Periodic contact was maintained throughout late summer through early winter by e-mail, principally, and occasionally by telephone. The primary contacts were Steve Stephenson, Cluster Steering Committee chair, and Gail Clarke, evaluation representative, although contacts were also made with other Steering Committee members and with team members from several of the communities.
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