ToC

Theory of Change Thinking in Practice - A Stepwise Approach

This guide builds on work of HIVOS' experimentation with and learning about Theory of Change (ToC), including the work of its Theory of Change Learning Group (established 2010). The guide is divided into three parts: Part A introduces theory of change and Hivos’ perspective on ToC thinking: what it is, what
users should know before they start, and key features of ToC thinking that users need to understand in order to be able to use the approach effectively. Part B is a stepwise approach to guide users through the process of developing a ToC for different purposes, including information on how to use specific tools recommended for each step. Part C contains references to tools suggested in Part B, as well as resources and sites where
you can find more information about ToC use. 

Illustrating models and theories of change

clysy's picture 10th January 2018 by clysy

Chris Lysy, of Lysy Design, (and also known as Fresh Spectrum's 'evaluation cartoonist'), recently made our day by storifying an example of a logic model Patricia Rogers had previously created for the UNICEF Impact Evaluation Series in Brief 2: Theory of Change. With a few simple changes, Chris has managed to turn a rather static diagram into something that is more visually appealing and understandable to stakeholders.

He's kindly let us share it with you here, and you can find the original post along with more of Chris' writing on data design on the Lysy Design website along with help in telling the story of your data if you need it.

VUE

The Visual Understanding Environment (VUE) is a concept and content mapping application, developed to support teaching, learning and research and for anyone who needs to organize, contextualize, and access digital information. Using a simple set of tools and a basic visual grammar consisting of nodes and links, faculty and students can map relationships between concepts, ideas and digital content. 

BetterEvaluation FAQ: How do you use program theory for evaluating systems?

Patricia Rogers's picture 21st June 2017 by Patricia Rogers

In our recent blog post about using theories of change and logic models better in evaluation, we asked BetterEvaluation members to submit a question or challenge that they have in relation to creating or using theory of change for review by the BetterEvaluation team. One member asked us for advice on using a theory of change for systems change which we are very happy to share below:

Using logic models and theories of change better in evaluation

Patricia Rogers's picture 19th May 2017 by Patricia Rogers

Many evaluations include a process of developing logic models and theories of change – an explanation of how the activities of a program, project, policy, network or event are expected to contribute to particular results in the short-term and longer-term.  They have been used for many years -  versions can be seen in Carol Weiss’ 1972 book "Evaluation research: methods for assessing program effectiveness" -  and they have been mainstreamed in many organisations as an essential component of plan

Dylomo

Dylomo is a free, web-based tool that can be used to create interactive, online logic models. Its development involved a user-testing experience at the Canadian Evaluation Society conference in St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada in June 2016, and was demonstrated at the Australasian Evaluation Society conference in Perth, Australia, 2016.