Month: April 2012

LINKING MONITORING AND EVALUATION TO IMPACT EVALUATION

Burt Perrin, Impact Evaluation Notes  No. 2. April 2012 Rockefeller Foundation and Interaction. Available as pdf

Summary

This is the second guidance note in a four-part series of notes related to impact evaluation developed by InterAction with financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation.This second guidance note, Linking Monitoring and Evaluation to Impact Evaluation, illustrates the relationship between routine M&E and impact evaluation – in particular, how both monitoring and evaluation activities can support meaningful and valid impact evaluation. M&E has a critical role to play in impact evaluation, such as: identifying when and under what circumstances it would be possible and appropriate to undertake an impact evaluation; contributing essential data to conduct an impact evaluation, such as baseline data of various forms and information about the nature of the intervention; and contributing necessary information to interpret and apply findings from impact evaluation.

Contents
Introduction 1
1. How can monitoring and other forms of evaluation support impact evaluation?
1.1. Main characteristics of monitoring, evaluation, and impact evaluation
1.2. How M&E can contribute to impact evaluation
2. How to build impact evaluation into M&E thinking and practices
2.1. Articulate the theory of change
2.2. Identify priorities for undertaking impact evaluation
2.3. Identify information/data needs
2.4. Start with what you have
2.5. Design and implement the impact evaluation, analyze and interpret the findings
2.6. Use the findings
2.7. Review, reflect, and update
3. Engaging all parts of the organization
3.1. M&E: A core management function requiring senior management leadership and support
3.2. An active role for program staff is required
Summary
References and Other Useful Resources
Annex 1 – Contribution analysis

 

Integrated Monitoring: A Practical Manual for Organisations That Want to Achieve Results

Written by Sonia Herrero, InProgress, Berlin, April 2012. 43 pages Available as pdf

“The aim of this manual is to help those working in the non-profit sector — non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other civil society organisations (CSOs) — and the donors which fund them, to observe more accurately what they are achieving through their efforts and to ensure  that they make a positive difference in the lives of the people they want to help. Our interest in writing this guide has grown out of the desire to help bring some conceptual clarity to
the concepts of monitoring and to determine ways in which they can be harnessed and used more effectively by non-profit practitioners.

The goal is to help organisations build monitoring and evaluation into all your project management efforts. We want to demystify the monitoring process and make it as simple and accessible as possible. We have made a conscious choice to avoid technical language, and instead use images and analogies that are easier to grasp. There is a glossary at the end of the manual which contains the definitions of any terms you may be unfamiliar with. This manual is organised into two parts. The first section  covers the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of monitoring and  evaluation; the second addresses how to do it.”

These materials may be freely used and copied by non-profit organisations for capacity building purposes, provided that inProgress and authorship are acknowledged. They may not be reproduced for commercial gain.

Contents
Introduction
I. KEY ASPECTS OF MONITORING
1. What is Monitoring?
2. Why Do We Monitor and For Whom?
3. Who is Involved?
4. How Does it Work?
5. When Do We Monitor?
5. What Do We Monitor?
5.1 Monitoring What We DoII. HOW DO WE MONITOR?
1. Steps for Setting Up a Monitoring S   2. How to Monitor the Process and the Outputs
3. How to Monitor the Achievemen 3.1 Define Results/Outcomes
3.2 Define Indicators for Results
4. Prepare a Detailed Monitoring Plan
5. Identify Sources of Information
6. Data Collection
6.1 Tools for Data Compilation
7. Reflection and Analysis
7.1 Documenting and Sharing
8. Learning and Reviewing
8.1 Learning
8.2 Reviewing
9. Evaluation
Conclusion
Glossary
References

Magenta Book – HM Treasury guidance on evaluation for Central Government (UK)

27 April 2011

“The Magenta Book is HM Treasury guidance on evaluation for Central Government, but will also be useful for all policy makers, including in local government, charities and the voluntary sectors. It sets out the key issues to consider when designing and managing evaluations, and the presentation and interpretation of evaluation results. It describes why thinking about evaluation before and during the policy design phase can help to improve the quality of evaluation results without needing to hinder the policy process.

The book is divided into two parts.

Part A is designed for policy makers. It sets out what evaluation is, and what the benefits of good evaluation are. It explains in simple terms the requirements for good evaluation, and some straightforward steps that policy makers can take to make a good evaluation of their intervention more feasible.

Part B is more technical, and is aimed at analysts and interested policy makers. It discusses in more detail the key steps to follow when planning and undertaking an evaluation and how to answer evaluation research questions using different evaluation research designs. It also discusses approaches to the interpretation and assimilation of evaluation evidence.

The Magenta Book will be supported by a wide range of forthcoming supplementary guidance containing more detailed guidance on particular issues, such as statistical analysis and sampling. Until these are available please refer to the relevant chapters of the original Magenta Book.

The Magenta Book is available for download in PDF format:

An introduction to systematic reviews

Book publishedin March 2012, by Sage. Authors: David Gough, Sandy Oliver, James Thomas

Read Chapter One pdf: Introducing systematic reviews

Contents:

1. Introducing Systematic Reviews David Gough, Sandy Oliver and James Thomas
2. Stakeholder Perspectives and Participation in Reviews Rebecca Rees and Sandy Oliver
3. Commonality and Diversity in Reviews David Gough and James Thomas
4. Getting Started with a Review Sandy Oliver, Kelly Dickson, and Mark Newman
5. Information Management in Reviews Jeff Brunton and James Thomas
6. Finding Relevant Studies Ginny Brunton, Claire Stansfield & James Thomas
7. Describing and Analysing Studies Sandy Oliver and Katy Sutcliffe
8. Quality and Relevance Appraisal Angela Harden and David Gough
9. Synthesis: Combining results systematically and appropriately James Thomas, Angela Harden and Mark Newman
10. Making a Difference with Systematic Reviews Ruth Stewart and Sandy Oliver
11. Moving Forward David Gough, Sandy Oliver and James Thomas