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In this working paper for the Center for International Development at Harvard University, Patricia Rogers and Michael Woolcock argue that implementation and process evaluations serve the vital purpose of jointly promoting accountability and learning.
This focus on accountability and learning can expand evaluations' role from external instruments of compliance to internal drivers of partnership, innovation, and improvement. Process evaluations can offer a deeper understanding of interventions, guiding informed decision-making, fostering continuous learning, and cultivating adaptable organisations and sustainable positive impacts for those served.
The paper explores five process and implementation evaluation types, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses in different contexts. The table below (reproduced from Table 2 of the working paper) compares the different types of process evaluation.
| Type | When it is done | Purpose and focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chronicle | During implementation, before doing impact evaluation (efficacy and effectiveness) | Document what is done (especially in an innovation) to inform future evaluation or scaling up or document an intervention so that decision makers have a better understanding of it |
| 2. Compliance | As part of impact evaluation (efficacy and effectiveness) or rollout/scale-up | Check that actual implementation matches planned implementation as part of an impact evaluation (fidelity) or as part of managing implementation (e.g., quality assurance of the performance of implementing contractors) |
| 3. Translation | After impact evaluation | Identify and overcome barriers to implementation more widely and in other contexts |
| 4. Improvement | As part of rollout | Improve implementation in order to improve results |
| 5. Adaptive management | In situations of rapid change and uncertainty | Support ongoing learning and adaptation in a complex intervention operating in an environment of unpredictable change and uncertainty |
Sources
Rogers, P.J. & Woolcock, M. (2023). Process and Implementation Evaluations: A Primer. Center for International Development at Harvard University. https://bsc.cid.harvard.edu/publications/process-and-implementation-evaluations-a-primer/