Going outside for evaluation
Up one levelTrainer’s outline
Going outside for evaluation
ApproachDeal with main issues:
- Matters of expertise
- Impartiality
- Authority
- Acceptability
- Approach from the project manager’s point of view
- Deal with choice and management
A. Hire someone who does as a consultant. This increases (a) validity, and (b) credibility, both of which are crucial in evaluation. Know your limitations, and get help in when you need to. It is madness to have local (subject matter) experts alone do the evaluation. They're members of the old boys' network, are in bed with all the other local experts who work in the program, and have little knowledge of key evaluation skills like cost analysis and needs assessment. It is half-madness to have an independent evaluator do it alone (for validity and credibility reasons).
Use the mix, and for heaven's sake don't let the internal person design the evaluation. The external evaluation expert should be in charge of the design.
This solution - using a mix - is frequently the right one in evaluation methodology. For example, you should often use a mix of internal and external evaluators; or of qualitative and quantitative methods.
Role differences
Go through hand out 1 on roles of evaluator and manager
INTERNAL VS EXTERNAL EVALUATION
Remember, there are advantages and disadvantages to both internal and external evaluators.
Internal evaluators:
- know the shop, 'know where the bodies are buried', and so can avoid mistakes due to ignorance
- generally have more credibility with the people in the organisation
- will be there after the evaluation and can facilitate implementation of recommended improvements
- are less likely to be affected by job security/benefit considerations
- don't have to worry about harm to personal relationships if they deliver bad news
- have a far better range of alternatives to which they can compare the subject matter
Finding an outside evaluator
There are four basic steps for finding an evaluator. These steps are similar to any you would use to recruit and hire new program staff. Public agencies may need to use a somewhat different process and involve other divisions of the agency. If you are managing a program in a public agency, check with your procurement department for information on regulations for hiring outside evaluators or consultants.
Reference 2 How Do You Hire and Manage an Outside Evaluator?
-
Trainers' Outline
-
References and Hand-Outs
- This area contains links to external references and resources, as well as downloadable handouts
