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ABOUT METRICS <br />"How we measure progress reveals our values and shapes our future." <br />- Website of The Glaser Progress Foundation, 2008 <br />Metric identification is a process of determining how to operationalize objectives and perceived <br />outcomes. In this instance of the Commissioners' Goal Statement, the goals of creating a balanced and <br />dynamic local economy, and promoting diversity, sustainable growth, and enhanced revenue while <br />embracing community values work toward an implicit ultimate outcome of improved quality of life for <br />county residents. Metric identification is one part of a broader evaluation process. For the task at hand, <br />this component has been extracted from the broader process and worked on apart from it (Weiss, <br />1998).1 Typically, metrics are determined based on objectives, which stem from identified goals (see <br />Figure 1). <br />In addition to operationalizing objectives and outcomes, metrics are used to encourage <br />accountability of policymakers toward set goals and objectives (Centers for Disease Control and <br />Prevention, 1999). Collecting data on variables over time aids users in showing change and achievement <br />toward specific objectives. Therefore, two items are important: specific objectives of goals from which <br />to derive metrics and the baseline measurements that have been collected for use as a comparison <br />point in the future. For both items to be completed early in the process, it is preferable that metrics are <br />identified during strategy development, and prior to plan or policy adoption and implementation. The <br />author of this document recommends that moving forward, metric identification and evaluation in any <br />planning process be undertaken in this way. <br />For this document, the author identified possible indicators of the Commissioners' goal statement. <br />When more specific objectives are set, the responsible parties ought to revisit the metrics identified to <br />gauge their connection with the identified objectives and determine appropriate adjustments. <br />According to Carol Weiss, evaluation is "a systematic assessment of the operation and /or the outcomes or a program or <br />policy, compared to a set of explicit of implicit standards, as a means of contributing to the improvement of the program or <br />policy." <br />