http://outcomesblog.org Dr Paul Duignan on real world strategy, outcomes, evaluation & monitoring Sun, 30 May 2010 22:03:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A colleague Stan Capela recently highlighted the importance of 'looking behind the numbers' in performance management systems. Pointing out that, if this is not done, false conclusions can be drawn from such systems. I think that most people would agree with this sentiment. The key issue for me is what ... http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/the-importance-of-looking-behind-the-numbers-in-performance-management-systems/ A colleague Bob Williams recently drew attention to articles on the New Yorker about the use of randomized experiments and particularly one from an economist advocating their widespread use in a range of program areas. I've been involved in a number of seemingly endless discussions and presentations about the pros and ... http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/moving-past-the-debate-about-randomized-experiments/ My best intentions for blogging on a regular basis have fallen by the wayside as I have been swamped with work from all directions. Just last week I spent the evenings webinaring into Cairo and into Europe as the demand for people wanting to know about advanced ways of using DoView ... http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/doview-use-for-visual-strategic-planning-growing/ I have not been blogging for a while as I've been caught up in preparing multiple resources on outcomes models and also actually developing many outcomes models for clients. I now have many great examples which I want to share with you in the coming months. It's only now that ... http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/new-how-to-guides-on-doview-site-whats-and-outcomes-results-model/ I've had occasion recently to need to think about whether or not the notion of 'valuing' something is always an essential part of evaluation. To question this may seem a heresy to some evaluators who see this as the defining aspect of evaluation (for instance as opposed to 'research' where ... http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/is-it-the-role-of-an-evaluator-to-always-value-what-they-are-evaluating/ What's the difference between a Theory of Change and a Theory of Action? I'm just clarifying my thoughts on this issue and how it relates to my work thinking about how we conceptualize outcomes models (logic models) within outcomes theory. In summary, at the moment - apart from a Theory ... http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/theory-of-change-versus-theory-of-action/ I've just posted an article on the evolution of the logic model within evaluation. Over the last couple of decades, increasing numbers of evaluators have started using logic models. For those not familiar with what logic models are - they are simply tabular or visual representations of all of the ... http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/the-evolution-of-the-logic-model/ In response to a series of 'How many evaluators does it take to change a light bulb?' jokes on the evaluators list EVALTALK, I whipped up an outcomes model (logic model) for a Changing Light Bulbs Project (some days one does wonder if this is what evaluators do for fun, ... http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/how-many-evaluators-does-it-take-to-change-a-light-bulb/ On various lists I am on I often see requests by people wanting to develop what is called an M&E plan. This terminology is often used in the international development area. It refers to a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan. The way these requests are made makes me think that the ... http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/developing-an-me-plan-using-a-visual-approach/ I've been quiet for some time on the blogging front as I've been developing a number of resources on outcomes modeling (logic modeling), evaluation and related topics. Now Christmas is over and I'm back to work I'll be blogging in the next few weeks about these resources. I'll also be ... http://outcomesblog.org/index.php/christmas-is-over-back-to-blogging/