Evaluation is a type of research and it will need to be planned right from the beginning of the project. It is important to plan so that the information required for the evaluation can be obtained during the project. If evaluation is not thought about until the end of the project, valuable information may have been lost. Before planning the evaluation the project team needs to consider some basic questions:
When the project takes a community development approach, then community partnership in evaluation means that people take a significant role in deciding when, how and what to evaluate. Community residents need to be involved in selecting the methods to be used in collecting and analysing data, in preparing reports, and in deciding how to use the results and put their recommendations into practice (Feuerstein 1986:12).
Just as a written plan is prepared for the project (with a goal, objectives, strategies, activities, resources and timeframes), it is also wise to produce a written plan for the evaluation. The Eight Stage Model of Evaluation is one way to plan the evaluation. It offers specific questions to focus the planning of the evaluation into manageable stages (based on Macpherson 1986).
Figure 4: Eight Stage Model of Evaluation
Source: Macpherson 1986:4
| Process evaluation Measures the strategies and activities of the project, project quality including quality of resources, and whom it is reaching. Process evaluation is the first level of evaluation. Impact evaluation Outcome evaluation Based on Hawe et al 1990:209-211 |
One of the main components of evaluation research is information collection. The information is used to demonstrate how the project is going and what it has achieved. To get the best information, you need to ask the following questions.
