Evaluation in Action : Theory and Practice for Effective Evaluation

Evaluation is a powerful tool that can create considerable fear.

It may be used to decide how to allocate often scarce resources, it can be the forerunner of bad news, or just be a means to preserve the status quo.

But evaluation is always about people, and can empower the disempowered, stimulate change, and support democratic innovation and creativity, and it is these elements that this book emphasises. Exploring its emotional as well as social, political and technical aspects, this book shows how evaluation is always about people, and that what it becomes is a matter of choice.

Accessible for those early in their experience of evaluation, this book takes them and those with more experience to more advanced levels, by providing: theory, background information, history and reflections on the diversity of possible developments of evaluation.

It offers readers opportunities to reflect on examples and on their own practice, and to make use of some guidelines and check-lists. It offers the chance to consider and utilise: n a range of different approaches to framing and undertaking evaluations n ways to think about evaluation design and possible different types of tools to use n the learning that comes from evaluations C both at individual and organisational level, and to stimulate project and organisational changes. It works through a range of important practical issues, including pitfalls, and covers all aspects of evaluations, from design through to working with the report, including: n the reasons for evaluation, from generating knowledge through to supporting innovative programmes, and approaches to evaluation, including Fourth Generation and democratic evaluation n frameworks for programme development and evaluative work, including logic models and theories of change n organisational learning, and the role that evaluations may play in both learning and change n the politics of evaluation and its uses, and ethical issues in undertaking evaluations n the process of contracting an evaluation, and the role of stakeholders n full acknowledgement of the very human dimensions of the evaluative relationship and explores the management of feelings in these relationships and the role of the evaluator. It is for: evaluators, new and experienced; anyone commissioning evaluations; everyone involved in evaluations, as stakeholders, at any level; organisations wanting to develop an evaluation strategy; students, lecturers, researchers and libraries. Supporting resources - including checklists, assessment exercises, additional tools for participatory evaluation and discussion papers - are available on-line at www.e2rc.net