Comments for Genuine Evaluation

Comment on The Friday Funny: Translating English into English by molly engle

molly engle — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:16:18 +0000

The phrase I like is “Could I have a word?” means (apparently) This is so important I have to say it in private.” What is heard is “I need to talk to you.” When I see/hear this used, the person saying it ALWAYS leaves the room…Have a wonderful weekend

Comment on What is evaluation? Getting clarity about who we are as a profession, and a discipline by Patricia Vermillion Peirce

Patricia Vermillion Peirce — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:21:47 +0000

Great post.

What about simplifying “quality” as ‘merit’, and/or “value and/or importance” as “worth”.

Comment on Evaluation-Specific Methodology: The methodologies that are distinctive to evaluation by Cath

Cath — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 02:48:18 +0000

Many thanks for the information. I have copied the link to this discussion to my classmates too as I think it will be more than helpful to all.

Comment on Evaluation-Specific Methodology: The methodologies that are distinctive to evaluation by Jane Davidson

Jane Davidson — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:44:02 +0000

Cath, thanks so much for your comment!

You are right that it is very hard to find much on evaluation-specific methods, which is one reason I’ve put quite a bit of energy into trying to contribute in that space.

If you want to see examples of ESM in action, check out:
* Judy Oakden’s example on BetterEvaluation http://betterevaluation.org/blog/guest-rubrics
* Mathea Roorda & colleagues’ evaluation of a seasonal employer policy http://dol.govt.nz/publications/research/rse-evaluation-final-report/final-18.asp (this evaluation won the AES award a couple of years ago!)
* the example in my Actionable Evaluation Basics minibook (the one that’s cheap enough that no student loan is required!) – and in fact, this covers most of what I cover in the AEA workshop
* the Heifer evaluation conducted by Michael Scriven, Thomaz Chianca and colleagues from WMU http://www.heifer.org/ourwork/measure-of-success (and see also Thomaz’s explanation of the Heifer Hoofprint Model for impact evaluation http://vimeo.com/8918447)

All the best with the PGDipSSER!

Comment on Evaluation-Specific Methodology: The methodologies that are distinctive to evaluation by Cath

Cath — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:24:10 +0000

Thank you for this brief but understandable explanation. I am currently a “want to be” evaluator undertaking the 3rd paper of a Post Grad Dip in Social Sector Evaluation and Research at Massey University. This paper is known as the “methods paper”. I have a grasp on the first modules of the paper – quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods (no surprises there) – but have been struggling to define what is meant by the following terms used subsequently in the paper: innovative methods and evaluation specific methods. I have found it even harder to find examples of evaluations using either of the later two methods.

On trawling various government websites for evaluation reports there appear to be a plethora of ways to combine methods but the methods themselves seemed to be nothing new or innovative, or specific to evaluation. Having also read your blog on the likert scale I am now going to look at things a little differently. It may not be the tool that it is unique to evaluation but the way in which it is used. The way in which rating scales are worded in the example of likert scales.

I think I will be ringing student loans to convince them that loaning me the money to buy your book would add value to my learning experience and be worth the investment. I also very much hope that you can make your notes from the AEA workshop available.