Making Evaluations Matter: A Practical Guide for Evaluators

This guide, written by Cecile Kusters with Simone van Vugt, Seerp Wigboldus, Bob Williams and Jim Woodhill for the Centre for Development Innovation, presents a framework for planning and managing an evaluation with a focus on use.

Excerpt

"Too often evaluations are shelved, with very little being done to bring about change within organisations that requested the evaluation in the first place. This guide will explain how you can make your evaluations more useful. It will help you to better understand some conceptual issues and appreciate how evaluations can contribute to changing mindsets and empowering stakeholders. On a practical level, the guide presents core guiding principles and pointers on how to design and facilitate evaluations that matter. Furthermore, it shows you how you can get your primary intended users and other key stakeholders to contribute effectively to the evaluation process." (Kusters, van Vugt, Wigboldus, Williams & Woodhill, 2011)

Contents

  • Core principles for guiding evaluations that matter 1:13
  • Suggested steps for designing and facilitating evaluations that matter 2:23
  • Getting stakeholders to contribute successfully 3:61
  • Turning evaluation into a learning process 4:79
  • Thinking through the possible influences and consequences of evaluation on change processes 5:91

Sources

Kusters, C., van Vugt, S., Wigboldus, S., Williams, B., & Woodhill, J. Centre for Development Innovation,Centre for Development Innovation, (2011). Making evaluations matter: A practical guide for evaluators. Retrieved from website: http://www.wageningenportals.nl/sites/default/files/resource/2011_guide_...