Assumptions are what we believe to be true. They may be explicit or implicit. Unexamined or tacit assumptions can be a risk to program success or evaluation quality because they are not explicitly voiced and not necessarily understood by others. We can't avoid making assumptions because we can&
Top Tip. Make sure you recognise and internalise the multiple facets of evaluation as a social practice. The practice of evaluating social and educational programs is a complex task, as are most professional activities. Evaluation involves wise judgment about which evaluation approach(es) are most appropriate for the context at
As Professor at King's College London on evaluation of sustainable development I encounter many students who hesitate or ponder whether to become a "young and emerging evaluator". Their thirst for knowledge is great and I will certainly recommend them to read the blogs on top tips
Hi. I am Donna Podems, and I am an evaluator. For the past 23 years I have conducted and guided evaluative processes in parts of the United States, Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. While being an evaluator is not a bed of roses, I can&
What is the responsibility of evaluators in the era in which we live today? This is one of the issues I raised in my keynote presentation at the UK Evaluation Society earlier this year, and which I want to address here. This question has been with me for a long
Deborah is a highly successful, dynamic and influential evaluation professional with boundless energy that inspires wherever she goes - including many young people, as I observed when I had the pleasure of teaching earlier this year in her Executive Leadership Programme for Evaluation and the SDGs at the Claremont Evaluation Centre
My top tips are a bit different from those you have been reading about lately in this series. They're less about the intellectual process of becoming a great evaluator, and more about the things that facilitate (or detract from) the journey. I absolutely loved reading all of the
Others in this series will, I trust, give you useful technical tips on evaluation designs, methods, data collection and analytical techniques - the tools in the evaluator's toolbox. Here, however, is a set of hard-won and generally practical lessons to using those tools effectively as an evaluation practitioner.
Top Tip 1. Do not compromise your standards of integrity. Janis Joplin is famously quoted as saying, "Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got." Be true to yourself. Do what you feel is right and honest in your work, though it may not
There is a lot to learn as a Young and Emerging Evaluator. You need to know methodological alternatives. You need to ground your work in evaluation standards, principles, and competencies. You need to keep up with new developments in the evaluation profession. You need to network and cultivate professional relationships.
