What are some of the key evaluation questions to answer?

What are the primary objectives of the evaluation? Define the specific goals and intended outcomes you aim to achieve through the evaluation. What is the scope of the evaluation? Determine the boundaries of the evaluation in terms of time, resources, and the aspects of the program to be assessed. Who are the primary stakeholders and their information needs? Identify the key parties interested in the evaluation's results and the information they require.

Defining the purpose and scope of an evaluation is foundational as it guides all subsequent steps. It’s crucial to invest time and engage key stakeholders early. Start by clarifying why the evaluation is needed. For example, are there specific decisions that the evaluation will inform? Or is this evaluation meant to improve programming? Or is it meant to support advocacy efforts? Then set specific, actionable questions and define clear boundaries regarding responsibilities and the evaluation's focus, geography, and time period. Ensure the process considers ethical implications and maintains transparency and safeguards participants. This groundwork ensures the evaluation will be relevant and impactful.

I think the topic should be reframed to key questions to answer before starting an evaluation, than evaluation questions. These are not evaluation questions in the context of conducting an actual evaluation. Nonetheless, clearly outlined, you must define the purpose, type and scope of the proposed evaluation to manage available resource and optimize outcomes.

Most frameworks include some variation of this question: - What do you do? - What do you produce? - What works well? - What can be improved?

An evaluation framework is an important thinking tool to map a strategic pathway to tackle a problem. However, in social development, problems are complex and enmeshed. There are several small or big interactions and butterfly effects, contorting the issue at hand into a different beast altogether. A pragmatic approach to tackling complex problems should involve the following steps 1) Describe the current system; 2) What are the common patterns in the system? 3) What might be holding these patterns in place? 4) How to navigate this complex maze of issues? What are the lowest-hanging fruits? 5) What guiding principles will you use in this navigation? 6) What actions will you design? 7) Monitor successes and emergent side effects. Repeat

An evaluation framework provides a ‘lens’ through which you conceptualize and carry out an evaluation project. I think of it as a pair of binoculars. You use an evaluation framework to inform and focus your view of what’s ahead in an evaluation project. What questions does the evaluation intend to answer? What is important to know? What are the main components of the program you will assess? Answers to these questions will help you choose an evaluation framework. I have used a few in my career, and offer them here as suggestions: The Rainbow Framework Moore’s Evaluation Framework The CDC Framework for Evaluation in Public Health

This is quite profound. These are questions that help you design the evaluation protocol/proposal, and Terms of Reference (TOR) that will guide the evaluation. It is important to do this with the project stakeholders to ensure that the scope of the evaluation is well-delineated.

What is the program's theory of change or logic model? Understand the underlying assumptions and pathways through which the program is expected to create impact. What are the key performance indicators and benchmarks? Define the specific metrics and criteria against which the program's success will be measured. Are there predefined standards, guidelines, or best practices to follow? Assess whether there are industry or sector-specific standards that the program should adhere to.

Key evaluation questions related to evaluation design aim to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, and sustainability of programs or interventions. They include inquiries about the program's goals, target audience, implementation strategies, impact measurement methods, and stakeholder engagement. By addressing these questions, evaluators can ensure comprehensive assessments that drive informed decision-making and program improvement.

When deciding on design, think about whether experimental, quasi-experimental, or non-experimental methods are the best fit. Your choice should reflect your program's needs, stakeholder feedback, and what's practical to implement. Experimental Designs: Great if you can control and randomize variables. Best for proving causality but require extensive resources and time. Often considered the gold standard. Quasi-Experimental Designs: Works well when you can't randomize. Allows for comparing similar groups that aren't randomly assigned, helping you understand potential impacts. Non-Experimental Designs: Best option when controlling variables is tricky. Depends on observational data and require a sharp eye for bias mitigation.

What is the most suitable research design for the evaluation? Choose between experimental, quasi-experimental, or non-experimental designs based on the evaluation's objectives and resources. What data collection methods will be employed? Determine whether surveys, interviews, focus groups, document analysis, or other methods are most appropriate. How will the sampling strategy be defined? Specify the sampling technique, sample size, and representativeness to ensure the findings are valid.

Exactly! What are the set evaluation criteria and questions? What questions do you want to answer? And how would you answer them in the evaluation. Subsequently, who needs the evaluation? Who will use the evaluation?

What are the key findings and results? Summarize the data collected and analyzed, highlighting the main findings related to the program's performance. Are there any unforeseen outcomes or unintended consequences? Identify any unexpected outcomes that may have occurred during the evaluation. Are the findings aligned with the program's objectives and theory of change? Assess whether the data supports or challenges the assumptions and expected pathways of the

What actions or improvements are suggested based on the findings? Provide clear and actionable recommendations for enhancing the program's effectiveness. What are the priority areas for intervention? Determine which aspects of the program require immediate attention and resources. How can the program capitalize on its strengths and address weaknesses? Identify strategies for leveraging successful program components and rectifying deficiencies.

This is always the issue with many evaluation studies. Who is it intended for? Who can make decisions on the findings of the evaluation? Many times evaluations are underutilised because their utilization were not adequately planned.

I think cost effectiveness of evaluation needs to be considered as well. If we are following a comprehensive approach to answer all above questions, the cost for evaluation beyond the project can be managed.

How will the evaluation findings be disseminated? Plan the communication and reporting strategies to ensure the results reach the relevant stakeholders. What is the strategy for incorporating evaluation recommendations into program planning and decision-making? Outline how the recommendations will be integrated into future program activities. How will feedback loops be established to monitor progress and adapt to changing circumstances? Define mechanisms for ongoing learning and improvement based on evaluation insights.

Were the stakeholders who are meant to be using these findings involved in the planning and collection? If I give my key stakeholder a lot of information that is "interesting" but not actionable, then the needed changes are not going to be made. Work with your key decision-makers to determine what is most valuable, motivating, and actionable to them.

Evaluation remain the most neglected part of development projects, and where they are done, their robustness is often limited due to budget and time constraints and data quality issues. Also, the utilization of evaluations also account for the aforementioned problems. When evaluations are not utilized or underutilized, there is no incentive for future evaluations as value-for-money is not seen. It is important to not only devise methods that increase the quality of evaluations, but to also ensure that their utilization are planned and implemented.

Identification is necessary before evaluation ; when proper identification is made then I don't think Evaluation will be an issue.

Most evaluations are not comprehensive due to the use of limited methods and lack in robust methodological framework. Also many evaluations lack in considering the stakeholders capacities, power, knowlege and social stories. Evaluaters usually consider to assessing the resources as it usually happen in RCTs but there is always black box and they miss important part 'reasoning' which is fundamental to answer the question 'how it happened'. Another important consideration should be the framework to capture the social world happenings. Realist Evaluation ( Context+ Mechanism=Outcome) offers robust way to evaluate programs because it is comprehensive framework which can consider most socialogical perspective to answer the research question.