Structuring evaluation reports
Up one levelStructuring Evaluation Reports
As the list of evaluation products indicates, final evaluation reports are just one possibility. However, they are likely to be important outputs for most evaluation processes. Whilst the final report can be an effective and useful vehicle, it needs to be carefully targeted and planned. All too often, they try to be all things to all people and end up being useful to none of them. Over-long, unfocussed, glossy publications which are little more than a narrative account of the project usually end up unread on bookshelves or in bins but represent a considerable investment of evaluation resourcesEach evaluator will want to structure their final report differently. Nevertheless, there are ‘elements’ that appear regularly in final reports and we have included these as a list to help evaluators and project managers agree the scope and content of a final report by selecting key items. Which features are included will be determined, ultimately, by the purpose of the evaluation, the purpose of the report and the intended readership. An evaluation report also needs to be seen in the context of other project documentation and output. So, for example, if there is a narrative (non-evaluative) report on the project itself produced from another source, the evaluation report may be able to omit detailed descriptions of the project. Conversely, an evaluation report may be the only written output of a project and will thus need to be more comprehensive.
Deal with format, content and structure
Hand out 2 Format
Content:
- Who are the target groups (please specify)
- What do they require?
- Help in making decisions
- Policy input
- Information
- Re-assurance
- Research results
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