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A new report on Theory of Change (ToC) and its use in International development has just been produced.

There is increasing recognition that we need better ways to account for the social, economic and environmental value that results from our activities. The language varies – ‘impact’, ‘returns’, ‘benefit’, ‘value’ – but the questions around what sort of difference and how much of a difference we are making are the same. Understanding and managing this broader value is becoming increasingly important for the public and private sectors alike. This is true whether it is civil society...

Introduction to the Overview: Tiny Tools Why “Tiny Tools” for assessing change? Currently, change is mostly assessed by NGO staff or external experts. The vision of this paper is that communities assess and reflect change themselves and make use of that reflection with appropriate tools. All the tools presented here are relatively quick and easy to learn (therefore “tiny”). With Tiny Tools we can assess change in one session. They can therefore be used where there are not baselines. They are...

This article explores Participatory Systemic Inquiry processes through two examples of practise. The first is about embedding public engagement in UK higher education, the second is about water infrastructure development and local capacity development in small towns situated around Lake Victoria. These examples illustrate why it is necessary to understand the wider systemic dynamics within which issues are situated, and how this helps to identify workable and sustainable solutions to...

"Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and other set-theoretic methods distinguish themselves from other approaches to the study of social phenomena by using sets and the search for set relations. In virtually all social science fields, statements about social phenomena can be framed in terms of set relations, and using set-theoretic methods to investigate these statements is therefore highly valuable. This book guides readers through the basic principles of set theory and then on to the...

An analysis of how and where Outcome Mapping has been applied, how users have experienced OM and the support options available and required for its use. This research was commissioned by the OMLC Stewards.

This is a review by Danielle Stein and Craig Valters of the concepts and debates within ‘Theory of Change’ (ToC) material, resulting from a search and detailed analysis of available donor, agency and expert guidance documents. The review was undertaken as part of a Justice and Security Research Program (JSRP) and The Asia Foundation (TAF) collaborative project, and focuses on the field of international development.

This webpage from Tamarack Community provides links to audio files of an interview between Mark Cabaj and Michael Patton in which they discuss the topic of development evaluation. This is an "approach that has proven particularly useful and effective at addressing the unique challenges of evaluating the real nature of community change work. Learning Objectives: To deepen appreciation for the role of evaluation and evaluation thinking To explore the distinctions between various types of...

Outcome Harvesting was developed by Ricardo Wilson-Grau with colleagues Barbara Klugman, Claudia Fontes, David Wilson-Sánchez, Fe Briones Garcia, Gabriela Sánchez, Goele Scheers, Heather Britt, Jennifer Vincent, Julie Lafreniere, Juliette Majot, Marcie Mersky, Martha Nuñez, Mary Jane Real, Natalia Ortiz, and Wolfgang Richert. Over the past 8 years, Outcome Harvesting and has been used to monitor and evaluate the achievements of hundreds of networks, non-governmental organizations, research...

Based on Michael Quinn Patton's best-selling Utilization-Focused Evaluation, this briefer book provides an overall framework and essential checklist steps for designing and conducting evaluations that actually get used. The new material and innovative graphics present the utilization-focused evaluation process as a complex adaptive system, incorporating current understandings about systems thinking and complexity concepts. The book integrates theory and practice, is based on both research...

Background Improving the design and implementation of evidence-based practice depends on successful behaviour change interventions. This requires an appropriate method for characterising interventions and linking them to an analysis of the targeted behaviour. There exists a plethora of frameworks of behaviour change interventions, but it is not clear how well they serve this purpose. This paper evaluates these frameworks, and develops and evaluates a new framework aimed at overcoming their...

The method was developed by Robert Brinkerhoff as an alternative (or supplement) to the Kirkpatrick approach and its derivatives. It is very simple and fast (which is part of it’s appeal) and goes something like this: Step 1. Identify targeted business goals and impact expectations Step 2. Survey a large representative sample of all participants in a program to identify high impact and low impact cases Step 3. Analyze the survey data to identify: a small group of successful...

Between good intentions and great results lies a program theory—not just a list of tasks but a vision of what needs to happen, and how. Now widely used in government and not-for-profit organizations, program theory provides a coherent picture of how change occurs and how to improve performance. Purposeful Program Theory shows how to develop, represent, and use program theory thoughtfully and strategically to suit your particular situation, drawing on the fifty-year history of program theory...

The concept of resilience has been used among a diversity of fields with a myriad of definitions. A systems approach to discovering the essence of resilience could aid in understanding its concept and provide opportunities to distinguish its systemic characteristics that can be identified, planned, or analyzed regardless of the field in which it is considered. In order to begin executing such an approach, a comprehensive study of the literature on the topic and circumstances in which...

The principal changes to the logframe from the earlier (2008) 4 x 4 matrix are: - Objectively Verifiable Indicators (OVIs) have been separated into their component elements (Indicator, Baseline and Target), and Milestones added. - Means of Verification has been renamed ‘Source’. - Inputs are now quantified in terms of funds (expressed in Sterling for DFID and all partners) and use of DFID staff time (expressed as annual Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs). - A DFID Share box now indicates the...