Category Archives: The client’s role

Alpine whaling? – Interesting developments in evidence-based policy, episode 2

While Japan has ‘scientific whaling’, Australia might be beginning a phase of ‘scientific alpine grazing’, reversing a policy of removing cattle from summer grazing in alpine national park in the name of research. (Thanks to a number of GenuineEvaluation readers … Continue reading

Posted in Adequate scope, Appropriate criteria and standards, Appropriate inference, Appropriate measurement, Appropriate reporting, Commissioning evaluation, Evaluation team composition, Evaluative questions & answers, The client's role, Use of evaluation, Values-based | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Strengthening Evaluation Effectiveness – seminar, Washington DC

I’m in Washington DC this week, after teaching a course on Using Program Theory and Logic Models for Evaluation at The Evaluators Institute. Fortunately I will be able to stay on for a seminar being presented this coming Wednesday by … Continue reading

Posted in About/Definition, Causal inference, Civil society engagement, Professional development, The client's role | Tagged | Leave a comment

Commissioning XGEMs – the sequel

In Monday’s post, Extreme Genuine Evaluation Makeovers (XGEMs) for Commissioning, I discussed a way of kicking off the process of selecting an evaluator for a project by suggesting that well-designed EOIs would often be more informative, less onerous (on both … Continue reading

Posted in Causal inference, Commissioning evaluation, Evaluative questions & answers, Learning from failure, The client's role, Values-based | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Extreme Genuine Evaluation Makeovers (XGEMs) for Commissioning

There may well be some managers out there who have yet to experience the thrill of commissioning a total waste-of-money evaluation. In a keynote for the recent Australasian Evaluation Society conference, I talked about the incredibly ineffective commissioning processes that are often used and that frequently result in evaluations that are, as we say in this part of the planet, “about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike”. Some of the most important problems are: Continue reading

Posted in Commissioning evaluation, The client's role | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The importance of visible, high level commitment to evaluation

One of the favorite stories I tell about evaluation is about going to meet a senior manager to discuss evaluation and finding him standing on a table in the middle of an open-plan office, with the staff gathered around him, … Continue reading

Posted in Evaluation team composition, Government programs, Learning from failure, The client's role | 4 Comments