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Keywords:

Abstract:

Many people working in the social and development field either fear evaluation or have little idea how to go about it. Either way, evaluation is often regarded as a somewhat foreign intervention. Yet without constant and continual evaluation, development projects have small hope of achieving success. This paper represents one attempt to remedy this situation. The intention is to present clear and accessible information with regard to the evaluation process. The contention is that if evaluation is understood, it will become less foreign, less threatening, and therefore lead to effective utilization of an essential and necessary intervention strategy. While not attempting to be exhaustive, the paper will try to cover the most important aspects of evaluation. To this end, the paper is divided into three sections:
Section One - Principles - is a bald and straightforward statement of 12 principles of evaluation, for easy reference.
Section Two - Derivation of principles - provides an explanation of these principles in the form of a step-by-step guide.
Section Three - Comments on methodology - provides relatively brief indications as to how the principles can be applied: it provides methods and techniques for evaluation. This section, too, has been arranged to correspond directly with the principles outlined in Section One. It is hoped that this will ensure that the information presented is as accessible as possible.