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What is evaluation?

Evaluation is one way of generating evidence to measure and assess the extent to which programs, projects and activities are achieving their objectives and outcomes.

Evaluation is the systematic and objective assessment of the design, implementation or results of a program or activity for the purposes of continuous improvement, accountability and decision‐making.

Evaluation provides an assurance mechanism to support accountability, understand risk, and determine how well results are being delivered.
Evaluation provides a structured and disciplined analysis of the value of strategy, programs and activities at all stages of their delivery cycle.
Evaluation applies critical thinking by examining evidence to make a judgement/conclusion and an explanation. For example ‘Activity A was effective because it resulted in B’ or ‘Activity A is a better activity for x than activities B or C because only A caused no harm to participants’
Evaluation is not always necessary for every activity and the costs and resourcing of evaluation should be balanced against the risk of not doing an evaluation.

A robust evaluation can result in improvements to the design, implementation and impact of a project/program and can lead to a better understanding of project/program outcomes and ‘what really works’. For more on what good evaluation practice is see here.

Watch the video "What is Evaluation" from the Somerset Activity & Sports Partnership, UK.

What is not evaluation?

At one end of the spectrum of methodological rigour there will be circumstances where evidence generation is necessary and non-evaluation methods including research, audit or quality improvement are more suitable (L).

Whilst there can be similarities between evaluation and other evidence generation methods, they often serve different purposes.

For example, methods and analysis differ between research and evaluation (R):

Evaluation is typically interested in generating specific, applied knowledge to address key questions, and is controlled by those funding or commissioning the evaluation; and
Research typically produces more general knowledge, can be more theoretical, and is usually controlled by the researchers.

Are there different types of evaluation?

Yes there are many different types of evaluation and often evaluation types overlap and/or can be combined, depending on your project/program's needs and the objectives of your evaluation. Each evaluation type has unique benefits, making it possible for you to tailor your evaluation approach to the project/program’s resources, complexity, and goals.

Below are just a few of the main types of evaluation:

This type of evaluation can be used to collect and analyse information on whether a project/program, as well as its underlying assumptions and activity, are being implemented as intended. This type of evaluation is often helpful for pilot projects, new programs or services to monitor whether implementation is occurring as planned or if not, help to understand why. It can be useful for stakeholders to know how to refine their project/program processes and design for better implementation. It can answer questions such as ‘is the project/program reaching the target group?’ or ‘are the activities able to be implemented in the real environment as intended?’
This type of evaluation focuses on the effects of a given project/program, ranging from immediate and short-term effects to longer or broader effects that may occur long after a given project/program has ended. It typically aims to understand the ‘changes’ that occur (or don’t) from your project/program. These may be changes to the behaviour of the target group, broader systemic changes or social changes in line with the objectives of the project/program.
This type of evaluation is conducted at the end of the project/program and focuses on measuring if the program effectively achieved the intended outcomes and goals. It provides a ‘summary’ of evidence (from survey data, interview, performance metrics etc) for or against the program’s effectiveness for decision makers to determine for instance whether the project/program should be continued, halted or scaled-up.
This type of evaluation supports project/program adaptation by providing ongoing monitoring and measuring of effectiveness and providing timely reporting and feedback to the project/program managers and other stakeholders. The provision of this evaluation information provides stakeholders with evidence based intelligence to make refinements to the project/program design, implementation and adapt related activity. This learning from evaluation is useful for complex projects/programs in which the environment being implemented is also complex and where outcomes or activity may need to shift to meet goals. It is evaluation that supports iterative improvement so is useful for pilots, theory testing, adapting existing projects/programs to new environments or new populations and exploring how to scale up projects/programs whilst implementing them at the same time.

Watch the video "What are the types of evaluation?" from the Somerset Activity & Sports Partnership, UK.

What is evaluative thinking?

Evaluative thinking is a disciplined approach to inquiry and reflective practice that helps us make sound judgments using good evidence, as a matter of habit in our work.

To apply evaluative thinking to your work you should:

suspend judgement, consider alternative explanations and allow for new evidence to shape the understanding and conclusions;
question assumptions, for example question whether proposed pathways of cause and effect are true;
select and develop solutions that are informed by a strong evidence base and adapt solutions to the context of the problem environment and the priorities of the stakeholders;
value the lessons obtained from all experiences; disappointments as well as triumphs (what works and what doesn’t);
explore questions of ‘impact’ and ‘effectiveness’, not just activity and implementation;
maximise the value of existing data sources already available whilst also being mindful of data limitations;
work to improve the strength of the evidence base throughout the process.

Additional resources

BetterEvaluation - What is evaluation

BetterEvaluation - Ways of framing the difference between research and evaluation

NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet 2016, NSW Government Program Evaluation Guidelines, NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, Sydney

The Treasury, Australian Government - Evaluation in context

Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO) - Our approach to evaluation

Intelligence and Insights