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 the BetterEvaluation Rainbow Framework
This compact version of the Rainbow Framework in English was created in 2014.Intégrer des approches genre en évaluation
Cette infographie de École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP) sert de guide pratique pour intégrer les considérations de genre dans l'évaluation de diverses interventions.Net-Map toolbox
This website provides a detailed overview of the uses of the Net-Map tool which has been designed for influence mapping of social networks.Machine 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.Outcome harvesting
This 27-page brief, written by Ricardo Wilson-Grau and Heather Britt, introduces the key concepts and approach used by Outcome Harvesting (published by the Ford Foundation in May 2012; revised in Nov 2013).Cosecha de alcances
Cosecha de Alcances es una herramienta centrada en la utilización y altamente participativo que permite a evaluadores, donantes y gerentes de proyectos y programas identificar, formular, verificar y dar sentido a los alcances en que han inf20 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.Causal map app
This site includes a range of resources on causal mapping and the use of the causal map app including a guide that covers basic and advanced coding and analysis.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.Lost causal: Debunking myths about causal analysis in philanthropy
This 2021 paper, updated in 2024, advocates for more causal analysis in philanthropic evaluation - not just describing actions taken and changes observed, but also learning how and why change occurred.Designing contribution analysis of participatory programming to tackle the worst forms of child labour
This Research and Evidence Paper presents the theory-based and participatory evaluation design of the Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia (CLARISSA) programme.Assessing the contribution to market system change of the private enterprise programme Ethiopia
This IDS Bulletin paper examines an impact evaluation of the "Making Markets Work for the Poor" (M4P) program in Ethiopia.