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An evaluation can focus on a project, a number of projects, a program, a policy, a strategy, an organization, a network. It is helpful to produce a succinct statement about:
(a) what is to be evaluated – which may include information on:
- The rationale: the issue being addressed, what intervention is being done, who is intended to benefit from it, and what the intended results are
- The scale of the intervention, budget and resources allocated and stage of implementation
- The roles of partner organizations and other stakeholders involved in implementation
- The implications of contextual factors – geographic, social, political, economic and institutional circumstances which create opportunities or challenges
- Significant changes in the intervention that have occurred over time – because of changes in contextual factors or lessons learned
(b) what is considered to be outside the boundaries of the evaluation – For example, some activities or some longer-term impacts.
Checking this initial description with different stakeholders can be a helpful way of starting to identify where there are disagreements or gaps in what is known about the intervention and/or the boundaries of the evaluation.
Product
- Description of the evaluand
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+ - 2. Scope the evaluation
- Clarify what will be evaluated
- Describe the theory of change
- Identify who are the primary intended users of the evaluation and what will they use it for
- Develop agreed key evaluation questions
- Decide the timing of the evaluation
- Decide whether the evaluation will be done by an external team, an internal team or a hybrid of both
- Determine the evaluator qualities
- Identify what resources are available for the evaluation and what will be needed
