Toolbox Evaluation & Impact Assessment

Evaluation & Impact Assessment

TOOLBOX

Evaluation & Impact Assessment

This toolbox offers you training materials and good practice experiences on evaluation and impact assessment. We focus in particular on

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Dejar huella: Historias de evaluaciones que marcaron la diferencia

Esteban Tapella

San Juan (AR): Editorial Universidad Nacional de San Juan (UNSJ) (2018), 188 pp.

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Journalism Impact Primer & Journalism Impact Toolkit
Key Guides

Walton Family Foundation (2018), 25 pp., 21 pp.

"This report puts forth a Walton Family Foundation (WFF) Media Impact Framework and identifies key indicators and research methods that can be used to assess journalism investments across program areas, based on best practices in the field of media strategy and research. The companion WFF Media Impa ... more

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Leaving a Footprint: Stories of Evaluation That Made a Difference

Pablo Rodríguez Bilella, Esteban Tapella

San Juan (AR): Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de San Juan (UNSJ) (2018), 186 pp.

"The evaluation stories revealed in the project illustrate the value of a positive approach. They emphasize the evidence of what works and/or might work and is worthy of being continued, enlarged or modified. This can be contrasted with evaluations that are focused mainly on the technical problems a ... nd deficiencies present in most interventions. This type of approach has been shown to be highly relevant in getting beyond defensive and suspicious attitudes, and instead promoting a constructive focus on possible solutions. For example, the evaluation of the initiative Strengthening the Abilities of Indigenous Women to Set up and Have a Bearing on the Implementation of Public Policies (Colombia) validated many of the approaches adopted, and indicated the potential that could be developed by having an additional training to the objectives outlined originally in the project. In addition to that, in evaluations with a positive approach, evaluators usually develop a close relationship with the actors of the intervention, understanding them and supporting them. The evaluators' task in these cases is not limited to indicating what to be modified. Many times local actors regard this as evaluators demonstrating ‘commitment’ to the project and its future. Participation of the actors in the collection and use of the evaluation data is a powerful way of including users and beneficiaries. This allows participants to get involved and understand the data better. An evaluation characterised by a collaborative approach leads participants to take responsibility for the evaluation and then for the change and transformation that follows. In this way, active participation in the evaluation process helps to develop better understanding of evaluation and contributes to commitment and use. This is illustrated by the participatory evaluation in Costa Rica, in which regional technical teams were involved and deeply interested in getting to know how the evaluated program worked in their area. In contrast, the higher authorities limited their participation to approving the evaluation. In this way, recommendations at regional and local levels were applied soon after the evaluation finished, whereas general recommendations —dependent upon the higher authorities— have not yet been applied." (Introduction, page 21-22) more

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NGO-IDEAs Toolbox for Participatory Monitoring of Outcomes and Impacts

Eberhard Gohl, Rosa Mendoza, Dagny Skarwan

Lima: Proyecto ONG-IDEAs Latinoamérica (2018), 104 pp.

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Civic Media Practice: Identification and Evaluation of Media and Technology That Facilitates Democratic Process

Eric Gordon, Gabriel Mugar

MaxArthur Foundation (2018), 34 pp.

"Based on over 40 interviews with practitioners, this report identifies “civic media practice” as media and technology used to facilitate democratic process. It focuses specifically on those practitioners using media tools to form relationships and build trust - a practice that sometimes runs co ... more

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CEDIL Guidelines for the Conduct and Reporting of Mixed Methods in Quantitative Impact Evaluations

Centre of Excellence for Development Impact and Learning (CEDIL) (2018), 4 pp.

"The idea of using mixed methods has a long tradition in social research. But it is also recognized that mixed methods are often poorly applied. In quantitative analysis, the qualitative component, if any, is often poorly designed, integrated or reported. These guidelines are to support the design, ... more

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Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning for Resilience: A Companion Guide

Elsa Febles Carmona

Sebastian Thomas; Helen Jeans; Gina Castillo; Alexia Pretari; Claudia Geraets (contrib.)

Oxford: Oxfam (2018), 32 pp.

"This companion guide accompanies The Future is a Choice: The Oxfam Framework and Guidance for Resilient Development, providing practical guidance on how to design and implement resilience-sensitive monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) systems within our interventions that aim ... more

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Evaluating the impact of information campaigns in the field of migration: A systematic review of the evidence, and practical guidance

Jasper Tjaden, Sandra Morgenstern, Frank Laczko

Geneva: International Organization for Migration (IOM); Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) (2018), 50 pp.

"Information campaigns designed to raise awareness of the potential risks of (irregular) migration have attracted much attention and investment across the world in recent years. Studies have repeatedly shown that many migrants start their journeys with limited or biased information and end up in vul ... nerable situations. In response, information campaigns have increased in number and the type, format, messages and strategy of such campaigns have diversified. This report presents the results from a systematic literature review of evaluations of such information campaigns in the field of migration. The study reveals that the evidence base available for programming and policymaking in this area is strikingly limited. We find that the uptake in the use of information campaigns has far outpaced any rigorous assessment of the effects that different campaigns may have on their respective target groups. In the absence of reliable evidence, the debate on the potential of this policy tool often relies on largely anecdotal evidence. Better evidence can show how information campaigns can be designed to best achieve their intended effects given the particular circumstances. The current lack of evidence limits the impact of future campaigns. While rigorous assessment of campaign impact can be difficult and costly, better evidence is clearly needed – wherever feasible and appropriate. Based on an extensive, systematic literature review, 60 relevant evaluations of information campaigns that targeted potential migrants and traffickers, as well as communities at large, were identified from a pool of 3,600 records. Only 30 of the selected campaign evaluations had publicly available results; the rest were collected through expert referrals. Two studies were published in peer-reviewed journals. Among the campaigns featured in the 60 studies, the most popular communication tools were workshop-type activities and cable TV programmes/advertisements. Most campaigns focused on trafficking, followed by irregular migration and, more generally, smuggling. A common issue is the lack of a clearly defined campaign objective and/or target group. This hampers any rigorous evaluation of programme effects. Whenever an objective is defined, it is most often aimed at “awareness-raising” and “knowledge generation.” The majority of the campaign evaluations claimed that the campaign under study was “successful” in inducing a change in knowledge, perceptions, attitudes and – to a lesser degree – (intended) behaviour. However, most of the evaluations reviewed provided relatively little evidence of the full impact of information campaigns. While many of the evaluations reported the number and profiles of campaign recipients or beneficiaries, impact was not directly measured. (In the evaluation literature, impact is defined as a change in outcome that is directly attributable to the programme and not any other factor.) Most of the evaluations identified did not meet minimum standards for robust evidence on programme effects. The large majority of evaluations were based on based on cross-sectional surveys of small numbers of participants (N) sampled at convenience, limiting the generalizability of the results. Only a few large-N studies employed a control-group design or involved pre- and post-measurements. None employed a (quasi-)experimental method for causal inference (e.g. randomized controlled trial, which is considered the “gold standard” for measuring impact)." (Executive summary) more

Google Scholar (82)

WorldCat (126)

Evaluation Practice for Collaborative Growth: A Guide to Program Evaluation with Stakeholders and Communities

Lori L. Bakken

New York: Oxford University Press (2018), xvi, 236 pp.

"Evaluation Practice for Collaborative Growth highlights the approaches, tools, and techniques that are most useful for evaluating educational and social service programs. This book walks the reader through a process of creating answerable evaluations questions, designing evaluation studies to answe ... more

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Monitoring and Evaluation Capacity Assessment Toolkit: User Guide

Chapel Hill: Measure Evaluation PIMA; USAID (2017), v, 74 pp.

"The Monitoring and Evaluation Capacity Assessment Toolkit (MECAT) is a set of tools that guide organizations through a process to assess their current monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity, identify gaps, and plan ways to strengthen their M&E systems. MECAT uses four methods and supporting tools ... more

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Randomised Control Trials

Nigel Simister, Dan James

INTRAC (2017), 6 pp.

"In a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) different units are randomly assigned to separate groups. One group receives a development intervention and the other does not. Changes in the two groups over time are then compared to accurately measure the effect of the intervention. RCTs have been much debated ... more

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Quasi-Experimental Approaches

Dan James, Anne Garbutt, Nigel Simister

INTRAC (2017), 6 pp.

"Experimental approaches work by comparing changes in a group that receives a development intervention with a group that does not. The difference is then attributed to the intervention. In a full experimental approach, units are randomly allocated to two groups – one that receives the intervention ... more

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Impact Assessment

Nigel Simister et al.

INTRAC (2017), 5 pp.

External Link (94)

Developmental Evaluation

Nigel Simister

INTRAC (2017), 3 pp.

"Developmental evaluation involves long-term relationships between evaluators and project or programme staff. Evaluation is ongoing, which means that feedback can be provided on a continuous basis. Development evaluation is particularly appropriate for projects or programmes working in complex or un ... more

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Indicators

Nigel Simister

INTRAC (2017), 4 pp.

"Indicators are commonly used in social development to provide evidence of change. They form an important part of most monitoring and evaluation systems and approaches. There are many different types of indicator, including quantitative and qualitative indicators. They can be developed in different ... more

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Types of Evaluation

Nigel Simister, Vera Scholz

INTRAC (2017), 4 pp.

"There are many different types of evaluation. Each type has its own set of processes and/or principles. Many factors influence decisions over what type of evaluation to use. Evaluations can be categorised according to their purpose, who conducts them, when they are carried out, the broad approach u ... more

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Contribution Analysis

Nigel Simister, Anne Garbutt, Alison Napier

INTRAC (2017), 4 pp.

"Contribution analysis is a methodology used to identify the contribution a development intervention has made to a change or set of changes. The aim is to produce a credible, evidence-based narrative of contribution that a reasonable person would be likely to agree with, rather than to produce concl ... more

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Building the Evidence Base for Post Project Evaluation: Case Study Review and Evaluability Checklists

Laurie Zivetz, Jindra Cekan, Kate Robbins

Valuing Voices (2017), 35 pp.

"A review of eight projects with end-of-project and post project evaluation reports suggest that post project evaluations can contribute to better understanding of the sustainability of project impacts and identify unexpected and emerging outcomes years after project close. The review highlights som ... more

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Process Tracing

Nigel Simister, Vera Scholz

INTRAC (2017), 5 pp.

"Process tracing is a qualitative analysis methodology. The main purpose of process tracing is to establish whether, and how, a potential cause or causes influenced a specified change or set of changes. This is done by applying formal tests to examine the strength of evidence linking potential cause ... more

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Tracer Studies

Nigel Simister

INTRAC (2017), 3 pp.

"In a tracer study, data is collected and analysed repeatedly over time. For monitoring and evaluation purposes, tracer studies are often designed to track changes at individual level, following a development intervention. However, they might also focus on other units of analysis such as communities ... more

Journalism Impact Primer & Journalism Impact Toolkit Key Guides

Journalism Impact Primer & Journalism Impact Toolkit
Key Guides