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An evaluability assessment aims to assess the extent to which, and how best, a project can be evaluated in a reliable and credible fashion. These templates are intended to help anyone conducting an evaluability assessment to structure the final report. This tool was developed by Anne Buffardi and Bronwen McDonald for use in Methods Lab projects. It accompanies The Methods Lab publication ‘Evaluability assessment for impact evaluation: guidance, checklists and decision support’.

An evaluability assessment aims to assess the extent to which, and how best, an intervention can be evaluated in a reliable and credible fashion. These sample agendas are intended for people convening key stakeholders (such as project implementation staff and managers, donors and government officials) to discuss the purpose and scope of an impact evaluation and to identify key evaluation questions. This tool was developed by Bronwen McDonald, Anne Buffardi and Irene Guijt for use in Methods...

Want to know better how your interventions can contribute to change? A Theory of Change (ToC) approach helps in deepening your understanding - and that of your partners - of how you collectively think change happens and what the effect will be of your intervention. Not only does it show what political, social, economic, and/or cultural factors are in play, it also clarifies your assumptions. Once a ToC has been developed, it can be used to continually reflect on it in ways that allow for...

A ppreciative Inquiry (AI) is a theory and practice of inquiry-and-changethat shifts the perspective of organization development (OD) methodsby suggesting that the very act of asking generative questions has pro-found impact in organizational systems. Inquiry and change are not separatemoments. Our questions focus our attention on what is “there” to be noticed.Reflecting its social constructionist roots (Cooperrider, Barrett, and Srivastva1995; Gergen 1995), which suggest that words create...

Governments and organizations invest huge sums of money in development interventions to explicitly address poverty and its root causes. However, a high proportion of these do not work. This is because interventions are grounded in flawed assumptions about how change happens -- change is rarely linear, yet development interventions are almost entirely based on linear planning models. Change is also characterized by unintended consequences, which are not predictable by planners and by power...

Gender and sexuality are intimately entwined; we must not lose sight of the ways in which gender affects non-heterosexual people, transgender people and people who do not identify as either male or female. • Gender and gender-related injustice is a feature of all interventions, whatever the focus, be it agriculture, capacity building, disaster management, education, health, peace building, water, sanitation and hygiene, or other. • Showing an increase in the number of women participants in...

The international development community has increasingly embraced the idea that finding durable solutions to complex development problems requires new ways of working that move beyond industry norms. This paper makes an important contribution to the current debate by outlining an innovative monitoring system called Strategy Testing (ST). This is the third paper in the Working Politically in Practice paper series, launched together with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The Theory of Change approach demands a radical shift towards more and better learning in development thinking and practice, creating a productive and much-needed space for critical reflection.

How can impact evaluations actually be helpful? These top tips will save development professionals time, energy and money. International development can be messy – with uncertain, complex settings, and multiple partners with different interests, goals and capacities. At the same time, we are under increasing pressure to demonstrate impact. We have to show that our projects have made a real change in people’s lives and that donor or taxpayer money hasn’t been wasted. But impact...

Although theories of change are frequently discussed in the evaluation literature and there is general agreement on what a theory of change is conceptually, there is actually little agreement beyond the big picture of just what a theory of change comprises, what it shows, how it can be represented, and how it can be used. This article outlines models for theories of change and their development that have proven quite useful for both straightforward and more complex interventions. The models...

This guidance note focuses on the utility of, and guidance for, evaluability assessment before undertaking an impact evaluation. The primary audience for this guidance note is evaluators conducting an evaluability assessment for impact evaluation. The secondary audience is people commissioning or managing an evaluability assessment for impact evaluation, as well as funders of an impact evaluation. Sections one and two provide an overview of evaluability assessment and how it can be used...

Evaluation is essential to good development. But there are still many myths and misconceptions about what it is - and how it should be used. ODI's Research and Policy in Development Programme (RAPID) has many years' experience supporting evaluation in complex development contexts. In support of the International Year of Evaluation 2015, we've put together our essential 'things to know' about evaluation in 10 infographics. Available in English and French.

A recent discussion with some colleagues on the differences between data, knowledge and information made me realize that there still is a lot of confusion when it comes to the use of terms; confusion that goes well beyond my earlier blog post on indicators, measures and metrics.

This technical analysis explores previous and ongoing social learning efforts, best practices, challenges, and lessons in USAID as a foundation for improving the implementation and design of the Agency’s forestry and biodiversity programs. This analysis is particularly relevant as the Bureau of Economic Growth, Education and the Environment’s Office of Forestry and Biodiversity (E3/FAB) begins to develop a Cross-Mission Learning Program under the Measuring Impact initiative, a five-year...

This brief presents an overview of the QUIP in three steps: the background to the QUIP and its main aims; the data collection and analysis methodology; and QUIP in the context of other approaches to evaluation. Each section can be read independently, depending on time available.

This CDI Practice Paper by Melanie Punton and Katharina Welle explains the methodological and theoretical foundations of process tracing, and discusses its potential application in international development impact evaluations. It draws on two early applications of process tracing for assessing impact in international development interventions: Oxfam Great Britain (GB)’s contribution to advancing universal health care in Ghana, and the impact of the Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index...

Theory of Change (ToC) is an emerging methodology in the practice of development programmes, often contrasted with the dominant logical framework. This article reviews current debates around ToC before identifying five aspects that are appreciated in practice. It appears that these aspects mostly cover areas where the logical framework is not – or is no longer – meeting the needs of practitioners. Subsequently, the article analyses experiences in ToC training for NGO staff and concludes that...

In this paper, we focus on participatory evaluation in the context of international development and specifically on the emerging empirical knowledge base. In a prior review and critique of research on participatory evaluation (Cousins and Chouinard 2012), we examined 121 studies, with only 21 (17 %) situated in development contexts. However, the circumstances and challenges for international development and for development evaluation are distinct from those found in developed countries and...