Evaluation SmithMartin will evaluate your programme of work using the disciplines and practices formulated by The World Bank and the European Commission. We use and adapt two critical techniques developed by the International Programme for Development Evaluation Training at Carleton University, The Netherlands and the separate, new evaluation methodology devised by the European Commission for socio-economic development. A full explanation of the World Bank evaluation methodology and how it can be deployed can be found at the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) website. An excellent primer for developing an evaluation for a project - including the choice of technique and how to deliver your analysis can be found in the following publication. Evaluation Guidelines from Imagine Canada (.pdf file 2006) is a wide ranging, yet practical and accessible tool kit for developing evaluation methodologies. Writer Fataneh Zarinpoush captures the essence and subtle needs of good evaluation. You can download this impressive text  from this page. If you find it useful do use our contact us page and let us know. You can visit the pages of Imagine Canada - promoting the best of Canadian charity here. There are two principal types of evaluation - formative and summative. In constructing a formative evaluation, apart from starting the process at the very beginning of your project or activity, entwining the evaluative process around the project,  it is important to be clear about what the project or activity is trying to achieve. SmithMartin are also able to undertake ex-ante and ex-post evaluations to support your project, as part of the ongoing formative process. SmithMartin see this evaluative process as an integral part of the project management skills we also offer clients.  At the same time, we would wish to discover what the programme of work was capable of. The ways it is actually used, went beyond, or did not achieve, your original plans? As the work rolls out, this is the intelligence and assessment we would feed-back to you. In a summative evaluation, as the programme of work draws to a close, it is possible to find out how good the programme was, how it compared with other types of similar activity? Was it delivered efficiently, did it reach its original aims or targets and what the impact of the work may have been? We tailor every evaluative question and the final report to the individual nature of your programme of work or the needs and contours of your organisation. WWW SmithMartin website SmithMartin have 10 best-practice guides to evaluation.  We would recommend helping you to formulate your evaluation activity at the start of your work programme. Distance travelled is hard to measure if you cannot see where you started from. Evaluation, like all related monitoring and project management, shouldn't overwhelm the work being focussed upon. Planning evaluation carefully is best. Remain flexible - even under pressure. Involve everyone in the team, from every stage of the work, in the evaluation. People like to be asked. Involve service users too. They liked to be asked and their opinions and feelings go to the heart of your work. We recognise this. Use a broad range of evidence in the evaluation. We use interviews with key players and service users. We involve photographic, audio visual and as much creative material as we can, to make the analysis refreshing and project related. Evaluation is about learning not failing. We believe in clear thinking and honesty, mixed with the appropriate sensitivities. Our thoughts and feelings aren't paramount - but we recognise that our experiential reflections must be an integral part of the professional consultative process. Evaluate the evaluation - we ask you what you think, we also question ourselves with vigour. Revision, revision, and revision helps to produce a balanced, quality evaluation on your behalf. We believe in relevance. If you need evaluation services contact us - we will happily discuss any aspect of your needs.   Buy this book, or others like it, from Amazon here. Evaluation Methodolgy Basics by E. Jane Davidson Published by Sage from £27.00 Evaluation Methodology Basics introduces evaluation by focusing on the main kinds of 'big picture' questions that evaluations usually need to answer, and how the nature of such questions are linked to evaluation methodology choices. The author: shows how to identify the right criteria for your evaluation; discusses how to objectively figure out which criteria are more important than the others; and, delves into how to combine a mix of qualitative and quantitative data with 'relevant values' (such as needs) to draw explicitly evaluative conclusions. Amazon.co.uk