Every evaluation is different, but there are a few topics that should be covered in every kick-off meeting.

Recognizing that equitable evaluation is an emerging area of work, this article aims to add to the growing discussion. While it does not include an exhaustive list of issues and strategies, it will help you introduce some changes to your evaluation practice.

The end goal of collecting data is to eventually draw meaningful insights from said data. However, the transition from raw data to meaningful insights is not always a linear path. Data are prone to human-error and this guide will help you correct those errors, as well as provide tips on how to minimize these errors in the future.

As evaluators, we are rarely organizational decision-makers; it is our job to provide those decision-makers with actionable insights. In this article we highlight how you can translate data into meaningful findings, or insights, so you can support decision-makers to drive action within their organizations.

What is the scope of an evaluator’s role: should an evaluator make recommendations? Do we tell programs how to improve? Or do we simply share the data with them and let them draw their own conclusions?

A few years ago, we completed an evaluation for a breast cancer clinic. In honour of Breast Cancer Awareness month, we thought we would highlight some excerpts from that report to help inspire your next evaluation report!

Is consent always needed? How do I obtain consent? In this article, we discuss the principles and considerations involved in obtaining consent for evaluation data collection.

Ideally, our evaluation projects would proceed as planned. But as all project managers know, sometimes things change. Actually, most of the time, things change! In some situations, our evaluation approach can be modified to adapt to the changing context, but in others, we have to say no to scope creep.

As an evaluator, a big part of our role is to collect data. Sometimes that data comes from administrative databases that require data sharing agreements, but sometimes it comes from people, who need to consent to sharing their information (or data) with you. So let’s talk about what consent is (and isn’t).

It is ideal to have a data dictionary whenever you have quantitative data that will be used and shared by multiple people or groups. Without precise definitions, it is very easy to arrive at different results while using the same dataset. In this article, we focus on how evaluators can (and should) clarify details about the data being used for evaluation. In other words, how and why build an evaluation-specific data dictionary.

When I hear “we need a dashboard,” what I hear is “we need relatively current information that we can quickly understand and trust, and we want it on one page.” But a dashboard may or may not be the best way to fulfill that need. Here, I’ll clarify what a dashboard is, and what it isn’t, then provide a checklist you can use to decide if your program or organization needs one.

Congratulations, evaluator, you’ve landed a client! Or maybe your organization has selected an evaluator to complete an exciting project. Either way, your next step is a contract for evaluation services. In this post, we list some components you should include, or at least consider, in your evaluation contract.

One of the most common things I see when I work data in excel that others have compiled or analyzed is the under-use of Excel’s computational powers. In part, this has to do with setting up your data correctly to all Excel to do the work.

Don’t get us wrong, surveys are useful tools and we’re a fan of any survey platform that makes it easier to use the results. But what about when you want to scratch beneath the surface or present a legible graph that will convince the program director or funder that action needs to be taken? This is where the canned survey tools start to falter.

A blank page can intimidate any writer. The same goes for evaluators – that “evaluation questions” column in your evaluation plan may be daunting. Looking at examples of real-world evaluation questions just might inspire your own.

In this post, we describe how Three Hive Consulting supported the evaluation of a home health monitoring project for patients with chronic conditions.

In the past, I have been guilty of putting any and all data I could into a report. I’m talking pages of charts to show ALL the results. If I’m being honest, in some instances, I didn’t know what the point was. I put in as much detail as I could to shift the burden of deciphering the meaning behind the data to my reader.

This post explores how we at Three Hive Consulting worked with a community development initiative to evaluate their activities using social network analysis (SNA). This methodology was used to better understand the relationships and foster collaboration between different individuals, groups, and organizations connected to the initiative.

Here at Eval Academy we are big fans of keeping evaluation simple and that includes how we present our evaluation timelines. These four simple ideas use basic software (Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint) to create clean and easy to understand timelines.