The BetterEvaluation Resource Library contains hundreds of curated and co-created resources related to managing, conducting, using, and strengthening capacity for evaluation.
You can use the search field and filtering on this page to find resources that you are interested in or you can browse our extensive list. An alternative way to find resources best suited to your needs is to explore the Rainbow Framework, where you can find resources relating to evaluation methods, approaches and tasks.
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Using SenseMaker in child-centred research
This paper is one of two documents submitted by Becca Smith related to the use of the SenseMaker approach to evaluate attitudes towards girls’ education in Ethiopia.Learning to Make All Voices Count - Leveraging Complexity-Aware MEL to Pursue Change in Complex Systems
The emergence of government evaluation systems in Africa: The case of Benin, Uganda and South Africa
This article documents the experiences of three countries - South Africa, Benin and Uganda - in deepening and widening their national evaluation systems and some of the cross-cutting lessons that can be drawn from their experienUsing M&E to improve government performance and accountability: A glance of 6 countries’ NES
This report on lessons learned from the Twende Mbele program compares the experiences of six different countries – Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, South Africa and Uganda and discusses issues relating to leadership and linkages, capacity, and qOutcome monitoring and learning in large multi-stakeholder research programmes: lessons from the PRISE consortium
This discussion paper outlines the key lessons to emerge from designing and applying an outcome monitoring system to the Pathways to Resilience in Semi-arid Economies (PRISE) project.Impact assessment of financial market development through the lens of complexity theory
This example of complexity theory from FSD Kenya focuses on evaluating the impact of two financial programs implemented by the organisation: the development of a credit information-sharing system and the implementatConversations about measurement and evaluation in impact investing
This article documents issues emerging during discussions of impact investing and social impact measurement amongst participants of the Innovations in Evaluation strand at the 8th African Evaluation Association Conference.A stakeholder view of the development of national evaluation systems in Africa
This journal article compares developments in National Evaluation Systems in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.What counts as good evidence?
This paper, written by Sandra Nutley, Alison Powell and Huw Davies for the Alliance for Useful Evidence, discusses the risks of using a hierarchy of evidence and suggests an alternative in which more complex matrix approachesMachine learning and meta-ethnography: Seven steps to synthesising 578 evaluations into four themes
This paper documents a case study using machine learning and meta-ethnography techniques to synthesise and draw lessons from 578 evaluations. This paper is part of the BetterEvaluation Innovation Working Paper series.Machine learning in evaluative synthesis: Lessons from private sector evaluation in the World Bank Group
An exploration of the potential to use machine learning techniques to enhance the efficiency of analyzing, classifying, and synthesizing extensive amounts of text in evaluation research.Advanced content analysis: Can artificial intelligence accelerate theory-driven complex program evaluation?
This paper presents the methodology and results of an assessment of the applicability and utility of artificial intelligence for advanced theory-based content analysis.Leveraging imagery data in evaluations: Applications of remote-sensing and streetscape imagery analysis
This paper discusses using imagery data in evaluations and the advantages and limitations of relevant methodologies.Mainstreaming environmental sustainability in evaluation: EvalSDGs Insight #14
In this EvalSDGs Insight paper, Scott Chaplowe and Juha Uitto argue that there is an urgent need to mainstream environmental sustainability in evaluation.Using qualitative comparative analysis to explore causal links for scaling up investments in renewable energy
This paper illustrates how qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) was used to identify causal pathways for scaling renewable energy to meet sustainable development and climate goals.Realist impact evaluation: An introduction
Realist impact evaluation is an approach to impact evaluation that emphasises the importance of context for programme outcomes.Causal pathways: A shared understanding
This 2022 document by members of the Causal Pathways Initiative articulates a shared understanding of the concept of “causal pathways'' in evaluation and strategy.20 years of outcome mapping: Evolving practices for transformative change
This paper reflects on the evolving use of Outcome Mapping 20 years after the first publication on this approach. The resource also provides a "set of guiding practices to support transformative change":Contribution analysis: A promising method for assessing advocacy's impact
The paper provides a background about contribution analysis and a summary of the steps involved in carrying out the method.Outcome mapping + equity, gender, and social justice
This paper introduces OM+, a new approach to thinking about and using Outcome Mapping (OM) for supporting transformative change through a focus on inclusion and leadership for equity, gender, and social justice.The art and craft of bricolage in evaluation
This CDI Practice Paper, by Tom Aston and Marina Apgar, makes the case for ‘bricolage’ in complexity-aware and qualitative evaluation methods.Clearing the fog: New tools for improving the credibility of impact claims
This IIED Briefing Paper shows that the methods of process tracing and Bayesian updating can facilitate a dialogue between theory and evidence that allows for the assessing of the degree of confidence in ‘contribution claims’ in a transpareFrom narrative text to causal maps: QuIP analysis and visualisation
This paper focuses on analysing raw data to produce useful visual summaries, describing in detail the processes involved in a QuIP analysis.Rethinking rigour to embrace complexity in peacebuilding evaluation
This 2024 open-access journal article presents the inclusive rigour framework and applies it to three cases of peace-building evaluation.The book of why: The new science of cause and effect - Book review
This review of The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect attempts to explain "reclaiming causal" from the perspective of an influential statistician and thinker.Contribution analysis and estimating the size of effects: Can we reconcile the possible with the impossible?
This paper explores how contribution analysis can be used to give a quantitative sense of a contribution's importance.Qualitative impact assessment protocol (QuIP)
This easy-to-read briefing introduces the Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP) as a valuable, simple and cost-effective tool for assessing the impact of social investments and development interventions.Introduction: Contribution, causality, context, and contingency when evaluating inclusive business programmes
This IDS Bulletin discusses approaches and methods for meaningful impact evaluation, building on real-world experiences with theory-based evaluation in inclusive business programmes.A guiding framework for needs assessment evaluations to embed digital platforms in partnership with Indigenous communities
This open-access journal article describes a needs assessment with a subarctic Métis community in Saskatchewan, Canada.Realistic evaluation bloodlines
This article, written by Ray Pawson and Nick Tilley analyses six different social science inquiries from around the globe that use a variety of methods and strategies in order to draw conclusions about realistic evaluations.Making rigorous causal claims in a real-life context: Has research contributed to sustainable forest management?
This article discusses an impact evaluation that examined the contribution of two forestry research centres - the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pourMaking causal pathways visible amid complexity
This report from 2021 shares findings from an investigation into how social change agents, including philanthropists, can better understand and learn from ongoing changes and improve their strategies now and in the future.