Categories
Impact measurement

The 5-Step Guide to measure impact

Impact. You know the feeling don’t you – you’ve been working on a brilliant initiative, and then someone turns up and asks you “So – what impact are you making”? It’s a fair question – indeed, it’s a question we should be asking ourselves. If we are not making a difference, we are wasting our […]

Categories
Data collection Measurement

The Age of Data

Data, information and knowledge Professional Monitoring and Evaluation is based on hard facts: data, information, knowledge and understanding. Let us take a closer look at these concepts: WHAT IS DATA? As you will know, data is a collection of objective facts, such as numbers, words, images, measurements, observations or even just descriptions of things. In other words: Data is chunks of […]

Categories
Measurement

Measuring = reducing uncertainty

A lot of what we do in Monitoring and Evaluation is related to measuring. And that’s the problem: Many of us think of measuring as something precise. But that’s not necessarily the case in M&E. What we need to be is roughly right. Those of us in Monitoring and Evaluation should carefully consider this advice from John […]

Categories
Measurement

Seven steps to measure results

STEP 1: WHAT DO WE WANT TO KNOW? What is the information we would like to know in the future? How often do we want to know it? For example: Our goal is to help 10.000 women increase their income. What we would like to know is a) if this is the case, b) by […]

Categories
Measurement

We can (nearly) measure anything

“We had some great results -but you can’t measure them!” “Not everything that counts can be counted!” “You can’t measure everything!” These are some of the critical arguments we often hear in Monitoring and Evaluation. The reason for this confusion is the common misconception that we in Monitoring and Evaluation always aim for precise, scientific […]