What can you say about the feedback?
You coordinate employee wellness programs at Marshline Components, a fictional U.S. employer.
The question
A draft slide says that 75% of staff developed a new skill at the workshop. The data below come from an optional feedback form. The draft does not show the question.
| People | |
|---|---|
| Attendees | 72 |
| Attendees who replied | 36 |
| Yes replies to the item | 27 |
Each respondent submitted one form.
“Explain what you can report and what the evaluation owner would need to check.”
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A strong answer, step by step
Open each step in turn. This is one strong answer, not the only one.
Step 1: Who does 75% describe?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Label 75% as the share of respondents who said yes.
The strong move. The number uses the 36 people who answered.
Report that 75% of the workforce said yes.
Tempting, but it misses something. The survey only has replies from workshop participants who chose to answer.
Treat every unanswered form as a no.
Tempting, but it misses something. Those attendees did not supply an answer.
See how a strong candidate says it
“Twenty-seven of 36 respondents said yes. Half of the 72 attendees returned the form.”
Why it works: The response rate and the share of yes answers describe different groups.
Step 2: What do you need to read?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Request the exact item and response collection method.
The strong move. That shows what the number means and who chose to answer.
Ask for a larger chart of the same 27 responses.
Tempting, but it misses something. A new chart would not tell you what the question measured.
Approve the claim with a smaller percentage.
Tempting, but it misses something. Changing the denominator cannot supply a skills measure.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I’d ask for the original question before I use the word developed. The count alone does not tell me what people were asked.”
Why it works: The wording determines which claim the result can support.
Step 3: What does the item measure?
The original item asks “Was this session useful to you?” The form has no skills question and there is no follow-up observation.
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Report perceived usefulness and the response rate.
The strong move. Both claims follow from the question and the counts.
Report a skills gain because usefulness is positive.
Tempting, but it misses something. A useful session and a measured skills gain are different results.
Withhold the feedback because it cannot show skills.
Tempting, but it misses something. The program can use the feedback when the label is accurate.
See how a strong candidate says it
“27 of 36 respondents found it useful, or 75%. The response rate was 36 of 72, or 50%. The item measures perceived usefulness.”
Why it works: The item asks what people thought of the workshop. It does not measure whether they acquired or used a skill.
Step 4: What would you tell the lead?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Share the corrected result and agree the next question.
The strong move. The report is useful within the evidence and the next work has an owner.
Call the outcome confirmed and move to the next workshop.
Tempting, but it misses something. The claimed outcome has no evidence in this form.
See how a strong candidate says it
“The current responses support a statement about usefulness. If the program needs to know whether people use a new skill, let’s ask the evaluation owner what follow-up would answer that.”
Why it works: The lead can use the current feedback and decide whether to collect a separate measure.
The answer, in short
- Decision
- Report perceived usefulness among respondents and include the response rate.
- Because
- The question and count support that result. They give no measurement of new skills.
- What would change it
- A separate follow-up measure could support a new claim if it answers the right question.
Common traps
- Apply a respondent percentage to all staff.
- Turn a usefulness question into a skills claim.
Check your answer
- I identified the respondents.
- I checked the question.
- I reported both percentages with their labels.
- I named the owner of any new measure.
Last reviewed Nov 11, 2026