M&E Blog

Yes - please post regarding your findings. I'm...

2012-04-02T04:57:20.957+02:00

Yes - please post regarding your findings. I'm looking for a good SPSS alternative. Thanks!

Curious to know if you had a look at PSPP and, if ...

2011-12-20T17:36:53.682+02:00

Curious to know if you had a look at PSPP and, if so, how you felt it compares to SPSS as I didn't find a follow up post...

There should also be something about use I think. ...

2011-12-01T09:49:32.237+02:00

There should also be something about use I think. Evaluation implies more immediate use, research generates a body of knowledge for use that is frequently less direct or immediate, sometimes use considerations may even be incidental. Evaluation is driven by an intention for use. But where do you put that on an hour glass?

I always go on this path but never know that it ha...

2011-07-29T07:37:24.673+02:00

I always go on this path but never know that it has these many advantages..

Sample Evaluation

Very interesting to read. Sample Evaluation

Hi Paul. Thanks for dropping in. I hope your tool ...

2011-07-28T07:59:57.440+02:00

Hi Paul. Thanks for dropping in. I hope your tool doesn't ask people to recall what they had for breakfast one year ago! :) Keep well!

I'm the field officer in charge of evaluation ...

2011-07-27T18:43:57.045+02:00

I'm the field officer in charge of evaluation for little an NGO working in Kenya and Uganda.

I feel your pain about recall bias. I've been dragged into using a food security tool that asks a series of 9 questions all with a 1 year recall period. It's a standardized questionnaire so I can't even mess with the design!

Anyway, great blog! I'll return.

Best Regards

I see online this particular question has asked b...

2011-07-23T14:26:33.493+02:00

I see online this particular question has asked by many different survey organizations over time

Sample Evaluation

The report can be downloaded here: http://www.saii...

2011-07-18T16:10:11.852+02:00

The report can be downloaded here: http://www.saiia.org.za/books/implementing-the-aprm-views-from-civil-society.html

Anzel, thanks for the reference to www. iaidq.org

2011-06-01T10:47:58.348+02:00

Anzel, thanks for the reference to www. iaidq.org

On the definition of DM: Larry English defines dat...

2011-05-31T13:13:17.424+02:00

On the definition of DM: Larry English defines data management/administration as "the management and control of data as an enterprise asset. It includes strategic information planning, establishing data-related standards, policies, and procedures, and data modelling and information architecture"(www.iaidq.org - some good resources there by the way). I really like the idea of data as "enterprise asset", and I think it should be treated as such.

To my mind data management is a critical evaluation sub-component. Both the "process" side of data mangement (data flow, related policies/procedures etc) and architecture/system design are usually critical factors in determining the accuracy of project performance (results/evidence based management). The emergence of ISO 8000 as a standard for assessment has certainly changed the way in which we evaluate/assess information quality/data mangement. We are currently aiming towards assessing/measuring DQ processes/paper based systems with ISO 9001:2008 while using ISO 8000 for more mature data management systems. With ISO 8000, a lot of the data management validation/measurement can in be automated.

The SAATCA Data Management Auditing Scheme Committee is currently working on professional certification and training criteria for DQ/IQ auditors under ISO 8000/9001:2008

Thanks for the update Patricia. I also circulated ...

2011-05-27T10:46:08.525+02:00

Thanks for the update Patricia. I also circulated this on the SAMEA listserv again.

Thanks for sharing the info on the BetterEvaluatio...

2011-05-27T09:28:14.279+02:00

Thanks for sharing the info on the BetterEvaluation writeshop.

The email address for proposals has been changed to Patricia.Rogers@rmit.edu.au.

We look forward to proposals from all parts of the evaluation world.

Patricia Rogers

Ooh - some credit is due. The pictures come from a...

2011-05-25T17:35:32.022+02:00

Ooh - some credit is due. The pictures come from a "Quantitative Methods" course that Katherine McKnight presented at the AEA 2010 conference in San Antonio. She's a good lecturer and the course is useful if you want to learn, or if you want to brush up!

1. Remember this is a cost effectiveness study. It...

2011-05-11T17:13:42.884+02:00

1. Remember this is a cost effectiveness study. It claims rapid assessment is most cost-effective - It doesn't say the other strategies aren't effective. It says that rapid assessment is the most cost effective IN THEIR CONTEXT.

2. Context is important if we think about effectiveness. We cannot - or should not - just take what was written as the Holy Gospel about learner improvement. Although experiments and quasi experiments are usually able to protect against more of the threats to internal validity (Did A really cause x% increase in B?), they are weaker on external validity (the issue of whether the findings can be generalized to different contexts). There really is no guarantee that these results will hold in South African township schools, because the studies don't discuss the circumstances under which this is true. Think of it this way - milk may generally be a very cost effective supplement to a child's nutrition. Generally, it is a good idea for parents to give milk to their children (as part of a balanced diet which adequately covers the food groups) and it is very cost effective. EXCEPT if the child is lactose intolerant: Then making a child drink milk is going to be very cost-ineffective (think of the doctors bills!). It also won't help to give a child only milk - they probably do need some carbs and fiber and fruit too.
3. Context is important when you look at costs too. A cost effectiveness analysis cannot blindly be translated to another context - the unit costs in South Africa will be different and the assumptions about what is already available will be totally different. In American schools you probably buy software if you want to implement ICT solutions, in South Africa you have to buy the software, buy the computers, provide the technology support, and pay insurance and security for all this.

4. What I did find very useful is that the book discusses 22 strategies (I never thought of actually distinguishing and counting the different strategies) and provides a little bit of programme theory to support their use. Very nice.

A colleague made the following observation: Do y...

2011-05-11T09:52:33.065+02:00

A colleague made the following observation:

Do you buy their story given their conclusion on student achievement as a way to go than comprehensive school reform. It is in the USA, particularly Cincinnati that they have conducted a study of what really makes a sustainable impact. The study promotes collective impact that focuses on one issue and in this case, education. Stakeholders looked at all variables that makes the school work and invested resources and worked on resolving those issues – this approach according to this study was the most effective way social problems should be addressed.

Thanks! I am working on a log frame training sessi...

2010-04-12T14:41:40.235+02:00

Thanks! I am working on a log frame training session. The training is part of a full day and will not be very long. This is extremely helpful as it will help me to focus on the common problem areas, which you have clarified very well.

Very interesting. With increasing access to techno...

2010-04-06T15:29:19.589+02:00

Very interesting. With increasing access to technologies that help us link data with visualization, I think we are in the midst of exciting times for M&E and data analysis. Check out the Cartametrix website (www.cartametrix.com) for a perfect example of this.

This is brilliant, I've passed it on to my col...

2009-11-26T18:09:14.815+02:00

This is brilliant, I've passed it on to my colleagues. Thanks

Dear PSA RED- I am an RA at Claremont Graduate Un...

2009-07-07T20:56:32.615+02:00

Dear PSA RED-

I am an RA at Claremont Graduate University, where we offer M&E training as an annual summer outreach. I thought readers might be interested in the series, especially since we'll be webcasting 6 of the 18 full-day workshops this year.

The series will take place August 21-26, 2009 in Claremont California (near Los Angeles). We've had professionals and academics from around the world fly in for this in past, and are hoping that the webcast will make the training even more accessible this year. Here are some of this year's workshops:

--Utilization-Focused Evaluation (Michael Quinn Patton)
--Meta-Evaluation: A Checklist Approach (Michael Scriven)
--Practical Program Evaluation: a Theory-Driven Approach (Huey Chen & Stewart Donaldson)
--Using Technology to Enhance Applied Research and Evaluation (Stewart Donaldson & Tarek Azzam)

For a full list of the workshops offered this year, visit < www.cgu.edu/workshops >

There's also a pair of debates planned between Dr. Patton, Dr. Scriven, and Dr. Fetterman on August 23 and 24, which will be webcast for free to a limited number of viewers. More info is available at the link above.

Thanks again and keep on blogging, can't wait to hear the next installment.

Joleen Archibald
School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences
Claremont Graduate University
outreach@cgu.edu

That makes sense. But if social capital is a pre-r...

2009-05-01T11:21:00.000+02:00

That makes sense. But if social capital is a pre-requisite to make an email group work, is it impossible to create the social capital via the email group?

Indeed!

2009-05-01T11:15:00.000+02:00

Indeed!

This ranks right up there with the graph on the st...

2009-04-30T22:52:00.000+02:00

This ranks right up there with the graph on the statistically significant inverse relationship between global warming and the number of pirates

Do let me know if you have any success with the so...

2009-04-30T22:26:00.000+02:00

Do let me know if you have any success with the social capital loans venture ;)

Just a thought - Perhaps the answer is in the process and not the people?

Happy you found it useful too. All the work of the...

2008-02-07T10:50:00.000+02:00

Happy you found it useful too. All the work of the smart people at the evaluator's web ring.
http://www.evaluators-webring.net/