Evaluation Landscape – useful resources
We hosted two informal exchanges for emergent and early career monitoring, evaluation and learning specialists at the 2022 annual UK Evaluation Society conference. And one of the most common questions we heard was: where can I find a resource that allows me to see and further dig into the wider evaluation landscape?
One can be a bird’s eye view on all the major evaluation theories and approaches. An example is the below evaluation tree, which was recently updated by Sebastian Lemire and others
:
Full paper can be found here to download.
You can also watch Michael Quinn Patton’s video (an internationally acknowledged thought leader on evaluation) “Panorama of Evaluation Approaches”, where he shares screenshots of over 100 different evaluation theories and approaches.
Other efforts have focused on documenting and explaining evaluation approaches and methods that have been used in the field of international development evaluation, such as:
- (a) A guide by the World Bank, Independent Evaluation Group: “Evaluation of International Development Interventions – An Overview of Approaches and Methods” or
(b) Bond’s Impact guide for commissioners and managers to help them better understand how to commission, manage and use impact evaluations.
The UK Government’s Magenta Book provides guidance on what to consider when designing an evaluation. Annexes include guidance on dealing with complexity, quality standards and on evaluation and analytical capabilities.
We also recommend Better Evaluation, a global collaboration aimed at improving evaluation theory and practice with a wealth of online resources.
All these resources should be able to help answer the question: What kind of evaluator are you? And to develop professional development plans as needed.