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	<title>Comments for OutcomesBlog.Org</title>
	<link>http://outcomesblog.org</link>
	<description>Dr Paul Duignan on real world strategy, outcomes, evaluation &#38; monitoring</description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:49:23 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Comment on The importance of &#8216;looking behind the numbers&#8217; in performance management systems by Performance Management Systems - Topic Research, Trends and Surveys</title>
		<link>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/the-importance-of-looking-behind-the-numbers-in-performance-management-systems/#comment-11332</link>
		<dc:creator>Performance Management Systems - Topic Research, Trends and Surveys</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:45:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/the-importance-of-looking-behind-the-numbers-in-performance-management-systems/#comment-11332</guid>
		<description>[...] framework for performance measurement systems that ... market research, surveys and trends      The importance of 'looking behind the numbers' in performance ...    A colleague Stan Capela recently highlighted the importance of &#8216;looking behind the [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[&#8230;] framework for performance measurement systems that &#8230; market research, surveys and trends      The importance of &#8216;looking behind the numbers&#8217; in performance &#8230;    A colleague Stan Capela recently highlighted the importance of &#8216;looking behind the [&#8230;]</p>
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		<title>Comment on How many evaluators does it take to change a light bulb? by Paul Duignan</title>
		<link>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/how-many-evaluators-does-it-take-to-change-a-light-bulb/#comment-11219</link>
		<dc:creator>Paul Duignan</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:18:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/how-many-evaluators-does-it-take-to-change-a-light-bulb/#comment-11219</guid>
		<description>I spend quite a lot of time thinking about how to best communicate concepts in the work that I'm doing, in particular the power of outcomes modeling (logic modeling). The tension is always whether to use a real example (an potentially not speak to people from sectors where it is not relevant) or to use a fictitious example such as the light-bulb changing example as I've done in the example above. That then risks the possibility that people think it is flippant. So when presenting about this approach I tend to use both. Glad that you liked it.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I spend quite a lot of time thinking about how to best communicate concepts in the work that I&#8217;m doing, in particular the power of outcomes modeling (logic modeling). The tension is always whether to use a real example (an potentially not speak to people from sectors where it is not relevant) or to use a fictitious example such as the light-bulb changing example as I&#8217;ve done in the example above. That then risks the possibility that people think it is flippant. So when presenting about this approach I tend to use both. Glad that you liked it.</p>
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		<title>Comment on How many evaluators does it take to change a light bulb? by j simms</title>
		<link>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/how-many-evaluators-does-it-take-to-change-a-light-bulb/#comment-11216</link>
		<dc:creator>j simms</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:01:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/how-many-evaluators-does-it-take-to-change-a-light-bulb/#comment-11216</guid>
		<description>Funny example - thank you.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Funny example - thank you.</p>
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		<title>Comment on Using visual outcomes models to describe and communicate best practice by free blog hosting sites</title>
		<link>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/using-visual-outcomes-models-to-describe-and-communicate-best-practice/#comment-11129</link>
		<dc:creator>free blog hosting sites</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Jun 2010 21:07:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/using-visual-outcomes-models-to-describe-and-communicate-best-practice/#comment-11129</guid>
		<description>&lt;strong&gt;free blog hosting sites...&lt;/strong&gt;

I agree with some of the comments above from the teacher/ professor. PLEASE make it an Option to have or hide the new tabs at the top. Not everyone uses their wiki for the same purposes and the wiki admistrator should have more options with what featur...</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>free blog hosting sites&#8230;</strong></p>
<p>I agree with some of the comments above from the teacher/ professor. PLEASE make it an Option to have or hide the new tabs at the top. Not everyone uses their wiki for the same purposes and the wiki admistrator should have more options with what featur&#8230;</p>
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		<title>Comment on Reliability versus validity - read on it&#8217;s important! by Paul Duignan</title>
		<link>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/reliability-versus-validity-read-on-its-important/#comment-11099</link>
		<dc:creator>Paul Duignan</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jun 2010 02:21:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/reliability-versus-validity-read-on-its-important/#comment-11099</guid>
		<description>Yes Sue, it would be great if everything had been subject to psychometric analysis. I'm a clinical psychologist originally and spent some time doing such analysis so I know the benefits of it. Important metrics should be examined from this point of view where it is appropriate. 

In monitoring and evaluation there are, of course, situations where there is little time or resources to do such analysis. One of the main points I try to push is that there should be transparency about the status of the information that people are using for decision-making. So where it is not particularly robust they should be informed of this. This is why I always think that sets of performance indicators should be mapped back onto an underlying visual model. (As argued in this article http://knol.google.com/k/paul-duignan-phd/indicators-why-they-should-be-mapped/2m7zd68aaz774/72 and this YoutTube video http://www.outcomescentral.org/performanceindicators5.html).</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yes Sue, it would be great if everything had been subject to psychometric analysis. I&#8217;m a clinical psychologist originally and spent some time doing such analysis so I know the benefits of it. Important metrics should be examined from this point of view where it is appropriate. </p>
<p>In monitoring and evaluation there are, of course, situations where there is little time or resources to do such analysis. One of the main points I try to push is that there should be transparency about the status of the information that people are using for decision-making. So where it is not particularly robust they should be informed of this. This is why I always think that sets of performance indicators should be mapped back onto an underlying visual model. (As argued in this article <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/paul-duignan-phd/indicators-why-they-should-be-mapped/2m7zd68aaz774/72" rel="nofollow">http://knol.google.com/k/paul-duignan-phd/indicators-why-they-should-be-mapped/2m7zd68aaz774/72</a> and this YoutTube video <a href="http://www.outcomescentral.org/performanceindicators5.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.outcomescentral.org/performanceindicators5.html</a>).</p>
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		<title>Comment on Reliability versus validity - read on it&#8217;s important! by Sue Street</title>
		<link>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/reliability-versus-validity-read-on-its-important/#comment-11098</link>
		<dc:creator>Sue Street</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jun 2010 01:52:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/reliability-versus-validity-read-on-its-important/#comment-11098</guid>
		<description>I'm pleased to see some discussion about the properties of the metrics - validity and reliability being good places to start. Going further, there's not a few measures out there, many from ostensibly reputable sources, that start to look fairly wobbly if you apply some psychometric analysis.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m pleased to see some discussion about the properties of the metrics - validity and reliability being good places to start. Going further, there&#8217;s not a few measures out there, many from ostensibly reputable sources, that start to look fairly wobbly if you apply some psychometric analysis.</p>
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		<title>Comment on Moving past the debate about randomized experiments by Paul Duignan</title>
		<link>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/moving-past-the-debate-about-randomized-experiments/#comment-11049</link>
		<dc:creator>Paul Duignan</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 May 2010 06:47:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/moving-past-the-debate-about-randomized-experiments/#comment-11049</guid>
		<description>Hi Michelle, 

We still need to catch up for that talk some time! Sorry I have been busy with many things including writing a first draft of a book about my work. 

As you say, I think that we need some way of working across the different perspectives, otherwise people are just going to keep talking past each other.

There is powerful growth of the Randomista approach which is coming in at least part from people who would not call themselves evaluators, economists in particular. 

I think that as the evaluation profession went through a long period of thinking about different impact evaluation designs and methodologies, that that process needs to happen now on a much larger scale. 

In particular more sophisticated thinking, for instance, that in some situations you are better off doing smart formative evaluation (for those not familiar with the term - evaluation to ensure that a program is well formed - sometimes also called implementation evaluation) than attempting to do an impact evaluation where it is not appropriate, feasible or affordable. 

It is great that so many people are getting into evaluation, evaluators just need to look to engage all of the different people now thinking intensely about evaluation.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi Michelle, </p>
<p>We still need to catch up for that talk some time! Sorry I have been busy with many things including writing a first draft of a book about my work. </p>
<p>As you say, I think that we need some way of working across the different perspectives, otherwise people are just going to keep talking past each other.</p>
<p>There is powerful growth of the Randomista approach which is coming in at least part from people who would not call themselves evaluators, economists in particular. </p>
<p>I think that as the evaluation profession went through a long period of thinking about different impact evaluation designs and methodologies, that that process needs to happen now on a much larger scale. </p>
<p>In particular more sophisticated thinking, for instance, that in some situations you are better off doing smart formative evaluation (for those not familiar with the term - evaluation to ensure that a program is well formed - sometimes also called implementation evaluation) than attempting to do an impact evaluation where it is not appropriate, feasible or affordable. </p>
<p>It is great that so many people are getting into evaluation, evaluators just need to look to engage all of the different people now thinking intensely about evaluation.</p>
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		<title>Comment on Moving past the debate about randomized experiments by Michelle Baron</title>
		<link>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/moving-past-the-debate-about-randomized-experiments/#comment-11048</link>
		<dc:creator>Michelle Baron</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 May 2010 06:03:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/moving-past-the-debate-about-randomized-experiments/#comment-11048</guid>
		<description>Hi Paul,

I enjoyed your blog post. 

It's amazing to me how the word "rigor" is still equated with randomized control trials and quasi-experimental designs, even after Lincoln and Guba so diligently described how to ensure reliability and validity regardless of the evaluation approach or method. I see it most decisively as I assist organizations with writing the evaluation plans for grant applications. It most certainly still rings true with who you call the Randomistas. 

I believe that using outcomes planning approaches as you describe would help clear the air and assist both the Randomistas and Non-Randomistas in coming to terms with doing what is valuable for the project instead of having tunnel vision.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi Paul,</p>
<p>I enjoyed your blog post. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s amazing to me how the word &#8220;rigor&#8221; is still equated with randomized control trials and quasi-experimental designs, even after Lincoln and Guba so diligently described how to ensure reliability and validity regardless of the evaluation approach or method. I see it most decisively as I assist organizations with writing the evaluation plans for grant applications. It most certainly still rings true with who you call the Randomistas. </p>
<p>I believe that using outcomes planning approaches as you describe would help clear the air and assist both the Randomistas and Non-Randomistas in coming to terms with doing what is valuable for the project instead of having tunnel vision.</p>
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		<title>Comment on Using visual outcomes models to describe and communicate best practice by graconautilus3in1carseats.com</title>
		<link>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/using-visual-outcomes-models-to-describe-and-communicate-best-practice/#comment-10877</link>
		<dc:creator>graconautilus3in1carseats.com</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 May 2010 12:06:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/using-visual-outcomes-models-to-describe-and-communicate-best-practice/#comment-10877</guid>
		<description>&lt;strong&gt;graconautilus3in1carseats.com...&lt;/strong&gt;

Good One keep performing the good work I've mentioned your site on my personal weblog view it here http://www.graconautilus3in1carseats.com/tag/graco-nautilus-3-in-1-multiuse-car-seat/...</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>graconautilus3in1carseats.com&#8230;</strong></p>
<p>Good One keep performing the good work I&#8217;ve mentioned your site on my personal weblog view it here <a href="http://www.graconautilus3in1carseats.com/tag/graco-nautilus-3-in-1-multiuse-car-seat/..." rel="nofollow">http://www.graconautilus3in1carseats.com/tag/graco-nautilus-3-in-1-multiuse-car-seat/&#8230;</a></p>
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		<title>Comment on The evolution of the logic model by Paul Duignan</title>
		<link>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/the-evolution-of-the-logic-model/#comment-10780</link>
		<dc:creator>Paul Duignan</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:05:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/the-evolution-of-the-logic-model/#comment-10780</guid>
		<description>Thanks Susan, great that you are so enthusiastic about using DoView. Once you get the idea of what DoView can do - its really the world's first 'outcomes processor' - then you can see how it can let us draw logic models (outcomes models) which can do justice to the programs we are working with and evaluating. (http://www.doview.com)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks Susan, great that you are so enthusiastic about using DoView. Once you get the idea of what DoView can do - its really the world&#8217;s first &#8216;outcomes processor&#8217; - then you can see how it can let us draw logic models (outcomes models) which can do justice to the programs we are working with and evaluating. (http://www.doview.com)</p>
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