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.
- 169 results found
- X Discussion paper
Does our theory match your theory? Theories of change and causal maps in Ghana
This study evaluates a program using Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP) and the Causal Map software to collect, code, analyze and visualise stories of change from participants.Lived and perceived space during lock-down in a sensitive map approach
This paper describes the use of sensitive mapping to explore individuals' experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown in France.Navigating competing demands in monitoring and evaluation: Five key paradoxes
In this article, Marijn Faling, Sietze Vellema, and Greetje Schouten report on five paradoxes in monitoring and evaluation, each encompassing two competing logics. This resource was contributed by Marijn Faling.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.Monitoring and evaluation for thinking and working politically
This article explores the challenges of monitoring and evaluating politically informed and adaptive programmes in the international development field. Authors Thomas Aston, Chris Roche, Marta Schaaf & Sue Cant.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.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 pourContribution 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.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.Where we go from here: The mental sketch mapping method and its analytic components
This paper discusses the mental mapping method, which helps us understand how people think about and interact with space. Authors Jack Jen Gieseking.From 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.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.QuIP and the Yin/Yang of Quant and Qual: How to navigate QuIP visualisations
This discussion paper reviews how quantitative and qualitative processes are utilised in analysis and presentation of dataUsing 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.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 experiences.Using 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 implementation of a savings group.Conversations 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.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.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 transpareWhat 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 approaches for identifyin20 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":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.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.Process tracing as a practical evaluation method: Comparative learning from six evaluations
This 2020 paper by Alix Wadeson, Bernardo Monzani and Tom Aston presents and reflects on six evaluations where process tracing was used and identifies some key learnings.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.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.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.