#EvalTuesdayTips

Lesson #5: Make sure that the data you collect throughout the evaluation process is high quality but remains private!

2021-09-14 14:05

A Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) can be used to measure performance and ensure data privacy laws are incorporated into each step of the d...
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#EvalTuesdayTip, Lesson 4: Consent forms are compulsory!

2021-09-07 13:11

Khulisa has created an Informed Consent Form to provide to evaluation respondents. The completion of this form for participation in any evaluation ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip, Lesson 3: Every piece of data you collect needs a purpose!

2021-08-31 13:04

It is tempting to collect lots of data whenever you conduct an evaluation. Today’s privacy laws and practices summarized in our blog make it even m...
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#EvalTuesdayTip, Lesson 2: All evaluators need a public data privacy policy

2021-08-24 13:36

Our second lesson on Data Privacy and Confidentiality encourages evaluators to collaboratively develop their data protection policy. Khulisa has a da...
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#EvalTuesdayTip, Data Privacy & Confidentiality Lesson 1: Understand the regulations but don’t drown in them!

2021-08-17 13:06

Our first lesson provides links to data privacy regulations in the United States, Europe, and South Africa. It also provides a link to the United Sta...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Throwback to 6 tips for gender responsive evaluations

2021-08-10 15:05

In our Throwback #EvalTuesdayTip, we highlight an #EvalTuesdayTip titled 6 tips for gender-responsive evaluations. Our researchers Jhon Lugo and M...
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Communicate evaluation findings effectively using color!

2021-08-03 13:12

Today’s throwback #EvalTuesdayTip was first published on May 1, 2018 and focuses on communicating data by using color in your evaluations: Color...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Biden’s emphasis on evidence generated by M&E

2021-07-27 16:18

by Jesse Smith “There has never been greater urgency for actionable evidence to inform decision-making to serve the needs of the American people...
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#EvalTuesdayTip #4: Developing and Validating Evaluation Tools: How to Integrate Feedback

2021-07-20 16:11

By: Zamokuhle Thwala, David Ndou, and Leticia Taimo Khulisa last three #EvalTuesdayTips determined 1) if your evaluation requires primary data col...
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#EvalTuesdayTip #3: How to develop and validate evaluation tools

2021-07-13 16:04

EvalTuesdayTip #3 Piloting / Pre-testing the tools By: Zamokuhle Thwala, David Ndou, and Leticia Taimo Over the years Khulisa has developed man...
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#EvalTuesdayTip : #2, Design and Set Up Data Collection Tools

2021-07-06 16:02

#EvalTuesdayTip: Design and set up data collection tools By: Zamokuhle Thwala, David Ndou and Leticia Taimo In the first #EvalTuesdayTip in t...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: How to develop and validate tools for fieldwork

2021-06-29 14:07

Over the years, Khulisa has developed countless evaluation tools. This development process often involves a number of steps until the tool is validat...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: How to Account for Gender Inequality in Remote Data Collection

2021-06-22 15:13

It’s an online world with offline problems. Although data collection may be done remotely, it is still vital to ensure that you consider and accoun...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: What are Evidence Gap Maps and How Can They Help You

2021-06-15 11:44

Khulisa is developing an evidence gap map (EGM) for our Scaling Up Nutrition Learning and Evaluation (SUN LE) project in Zambia. In a previous #EvalT...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: How to Select Technologies for Remote Data Collection

2021-06-08 14:18

Remote data collection is now a firm feature of the evaluation landscape. But what are the best practices and technologies for collecting data when c...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Innovative ways to assess enumerator language competency

2021-06-01 07:12

Many evaluation practices have had to move online and virtual interviews have become the norm. This includes interviewing and hiring enumerators for ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: gLOCAL Evaluation Week: How to Register and What Free Webinars to Watch out For

2021-05-25 09:14

Have you registered for gLOCAL Evaluation Week yet? It begins in less than a week! And, this year, you can attend from your couch, anywhere around th...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: What are the origins of Rapid Cycle Evaluation?

2021-05-18 06:31

You’ve more than likely heard about “Agile Development,” or about using “Scrum” for project management. Agile is an iterative project...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: How do you know if a program is ready for evaluation?

2021-05-11 16:23

Have you heard of the term ‘evaluability assessment’ before? It’s an assessment to determine how ready a program is for evaluation. All current...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Enabling and Inhibiting Factors for Emergent Evaluators

2021-04-27 06:32

In our recent blog post on Young & Emergent Evaluators (YEEs), Khulisa chatted to one of our own emerging evaluation stars, Heather Dixon. In Oct...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Feminist Evaluation #3: Guidelines for Implementing FE – How Can You Best Use FE?

2021-04-20 14:41

How can you implement FE in your evaluations? In this final of our three-part series on FE, Khulisa continues to pick the brilliant brain of feminist...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Feminist Evaluation 2: Feminist Evaluation and Gender Approaches – What’s the Difference?

2021-04-13 12:07

When should an evaluator choose the feminist approach over a different gender approach? This second part of our three-part FE series compares and con...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Feminist Evaluation 1: What is Feminist Evaluation?

2021-04-06 12:47

Recently, Khulisa was fortunate to learn about Feminist Evaluation (FE) from author and ace evaluator Professor Donna Podems. Over the next ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Improve your evaluation company by using metrics

2021-03-30 11:29

In our latest blog, we reflected on how following our own advice isn’t always easy. While we advise clients to use metrics to improve performance...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Data Storytelling: The Evaluators' way to visualize key insights

2021-03-24 07:11

Khulisa has extensively used data visualization in its evaluations over the last 10 years. Our first infographic was used to convince policy makers t...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Cognitive Bias #5 - How the Bandwagon Effect stunts growth

2021-03-16 12:59

This is the final week in our series on cognitive biases and, for this last edition, we will be looking at the Bandwagon Effect and how it can stunt ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Cognitive Bias #4 - The Backfire Effect

2021-03-09 14:55

We are in week four of our series on Cognitive Biases and why evaluators need to be aware of them. This week we will look at a subset of confirmation...
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EvalTuesdayTip: Cognitive Bias 3: The Dunning-Kruger Effect

2021-03-02 10:45

In week 3 of our series on cognitive biases, we will be looking at the Dunning Kruger Effect and how it can change the way evaluators look at “pre�...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Cognitive Bias 2: Confirmation Bias

2021-02-23 13:44

The third #EvalTuesdayTip from our 6 week series on evaluator blind spots is on confirmation bias. Evaluators (as well as all other me...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Cognitive Bias 1 - The Narrative Fallacy

2021-02-16 09:30

This is the second #EvalTuesdayTip in our 6 week series on our evaluator blind spots, cognitive biases. The Narrative Fallacy is the human tendency t...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Evaluators’ Blind Spots (Cognitive Biases!)

2021-02-09 09:57

Evaluators can get very caught up in their own expertise and forget that common cognitive biases affect us all. Especially when working as a single e...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Measuring Evaluator Competencies

2021-02-02 09:25

Evaluator competencies are critical for ensuring quality, and Khulisa is excited that there is a new tool to assess evaluator competencies. It was de...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Improved Data Cleaning Techniques

2021-01-26 11:28

Clean data is vital to generate accurate results for evaluations. Most organizations use excel for all data processing and don't have the skill...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Evaluation evolves around data collection. Does Big Data have a future with evaluation?

2021-01-19 14:43

Evaluation is an activity based on data literacy, data collection and data analysis. But obtaining data is the challenge of the moment. With the glob...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 10 M&E New Years’ resolutions for 2021

2021-01-12 17:33

It’s that time of the year again… We make new plans for exercise, sign up for Veganary and vow to reduce plastic use. No matter...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Transforming PowerPoint presentations to versatile video messaging

2021-01-05 05:23

Many evaluators are unaware of the versatility of PowerPoint as a media creation platform. The application is commonly used only for presenting, but ...
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#Evaltuesdaytip : Evaluators take a break

2020-12-29 01:00

Reflecting on 2020 and its many challenges and triumphs, Khulisa is taking a well-deserved break for two weeks. We encourage all evaluators to relax ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Looking back at our 2020 Thought Leadership

2020-12-22 13:00

Looking for a good read to end the year? Here are Khulisa’s blogs from 2020 Setting reading benchmarks for languages in SA – Khulisa cont...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Use Benchmarks as a valuing criteria

2020-12-15 15:37

Setting reading benchmarks for African languages and English First Additional Language has taken a step forward in South Africa. Khulisa, in collabor...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Crowdsourcing creativity

2020-12-08 10:53

Khulisa loved participating in the LEGO Foundation’s Play Activity last week! LEGO asked all partners to get their creative juic...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Using mentoring to build M&E capacity of South African NGOs

2020-12-01 12:17

Non-government and civil society organisations in South Africa often struggle to find hands-on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) training courses t...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: New UNICEF tool measures ECD

2020-11-24 13:09

Today, UNICEF Data launched its Early Childhood Development Index 2030 (ECDI2030) – a new tool to measure Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indica...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Framework for integrating scalability

2020-11-17 10:29

We are applying the thinking on scalability in this Framework for Understanding Transformation Change in a learning brief by ITAD. In Khulisa’s PER...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Data Quality Auditing – 6 areas of inquiry

2020-11-10 10:59

Our latest blog looks at Khulisa’s growing expertise in performance audits, referencing a multi-sectoral nutrition programme being implemented at p...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 6 steps for using Photo Elicitation with research participants

2020-11-03 11:58

Photo elicitation involves using a photograph, or other visual material, in a research interview. Previously Khulisa published a blog on visual metho...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Data Viz – how not to do it!

2020-10-27 13:22

This week we reference an excellent article in Medium about the Seven Deadly Sins of Data Visualization, written by Slava Shestopalov, design manager...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Engendering Evaluation resources

2020-10-20 11:04

Our Engendering Evaluation presentation and Blog is a rich resource that examines: The differences between sex & genderGender analysis in ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Starting an eval consultancy? 5 niching strategies

2020-10-13 10:24

This year, Jennifer Bisgard will again host her hands-on workshop on tips for entrepreneurial-minded evaluators at the virtual SAMEA conference. (See...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 5 thought leadership content building tips

2020-09-29 12:04

Recently, we celebrated the publishing of 150 #EvalTuesdayTips! We wrote a blog about our journey, and specifically how the humble #EvalTuesdayTip ha...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: When is ethics approval necessary?

2020-09-22 08:41

Khulisa discovered a handy table that helps you compare the characteristics of human subject research with other project types, in a bid to establish...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Using SoPact’s Impact Cloud

2020-09-15 12:03

Khulisa is expanding our services in impact investing measurement. We work with impact investors and fund managers to create measurable theories of c...
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150+ #EvalTuesdayTips and counting – we celebrate & take stock!

2020-09-10 12:03

In November 2017, Khulisa introduced a new initiative to help us be more diligent about posting regular thought leadership content on our website. ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Virtual competitions – 3 lessons & highlights

2020-09-08 13:15

Khulisa evaluated our first-ever virtual Evaluation Design Competition, that took place in June during gLOCAL 2020. Using interviews, and a short sur...
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#EvalTuesdayTips: Using rubrics in #Eval

2020-09-01 13:57

Khulisa often applies rubrics and scorecards in assessment processes. Better Evaluation defines rubrics as frameworks that “set out criteria and st...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Using Photo Elicitation in Education –7 insightful resources

2020-08-25 14:01

Khulisa’s blog on Visual Methods attracted wide interest. In the blog we unpack three visual methodologies to use in evaluations: Autophotography, ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 14 quick links to great Evidence Maps

2020-08-18 13:19

Khulisa Inc is currently developing an evidence map under our Scaling Up Nutrition Learning and Evaluation (SUN LE) project in Zambia. As part of thi...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Wonderful Source of Secondary Data: Attitude database from 34 African countries

2020-08-11 10:42

Evaluators often only rely on primary data for their evaluations, but secondary data is very valuable and allows both triangulation and validation. A...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 3 Visual Methods for Evaluation

2020-08-04 12:37

Khulisa recently held a learning session to explore visual methodologies in evaluation. In this blog we take a look at three key methods and how they...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Hands-on tips for launching a Virtual Evaluation Competition in 4 steps

2020-07-28 09:47

In our latest blog Khulisa documents our Virtual Evaluation Competition experience and provides easy-to-follow pointers on how to host a virtual eval...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Learning briefs in a time of Covid19

2020-07-14 13:09

In May 2020, the South African Monitoring & Evaluation Association (SAMEA) has launched EduCOVID, a Topical Interest Group (TIG) to tackle the ma...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Exit interview as #learning tool

2020-07-07 10:22

Khulisa recently evaluated the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation’s programmes. To capture some of the lessons of this journey, we conducted an exit inter...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Dashboards for evaluation

2020-06-30 14:10

Khulisa has curated the following list of desktop and online dashboard creators for better data visualisations: Desktop Tableau - table...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 7 resources on Evaluative Thinking

2020-06-23 14:49

Khulisa Associate and star Young Emerging Evaluator (YEE) Mayibongwe Manyoba is leading the embedding and adoption of Evaluative Thinking within all ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Covid-19 – tips & forecasts on work, social life & policy

2020-06-16 14:25

Although, it took several years to readjust after unexpected catastrophes like the Spanish flu and the two world wars, these changes were mostly posi...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 2 Data quality assurance resources

2020-06-09 11:03

Khulisa is currently using these resources to ensure data quality while collecting data: Sample Google sheets for daily tracking by SurveyCTO ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: gLOCAL guidelines for virtual events

2020-06-02 13:08

In the spirit of the excellent organization and communications from the gLOCAL Evaluation Week 2020 team, we’re sharing their tips and best practic...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 6 tips for gender-responsive evaluations

2020-05-26 11:25

Here are six best practice guidelines with text box tips to ensure that you design and implement more gender sensitive evaluation approaches. ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 4 tool validation lessons learnt to enhance evaluation rigor

2020-05-19 12:40

Validity is an ongoing process over time, and the deeper and more rigorous the analysis and greater the range of samples, the stronger the case for v...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Team collaboration platforms that work

2020-05-12 15:03

Khulisa recently launched an evaluation design competition for YEEs, in partnership with Play Africa. The competition closed on Friday, and we receiv...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Catchy Covid-19 graphic packs

2020-05-05 12:40

Khulisa, like many other evaluators, is being asked to evaluate COVID 19 related assignments. We use Freepik for most of our visualizations and eva...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Decision tree tools & visualizers

2020-04-28 12:01

Decision-making is unavoidable in a time of crisis and change. But with so many uncertainties about new projects, travel arrangements or future event...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Collaboration Mapping for analysing network strength

2020-04-21 10:14

Measuring the effectiveness of a network at connecting different individuals and organizations is complex. Collaboration Mapping is a learn...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Covid-19 and the SDGs

2020-04-14 12:30

Country-level evaluations increasingly need to align to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But how is the new Covid-19 landscape influencing t...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Guides to remote data collection

2020-04-07 15:04

Like many other evaluators, Khulisa had to transform from face-to-face data collection to remote data processes due to the Covid-19 crisis. We find t...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 5 resources for Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA)

2020-03-31 09:22

One of the earliest gender analysis frameworks, the Gender Roles Framework or Gender Analysis Framework, was developed by the Harvard Institute ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Journaling COVID-19 experiences

2020-03-24 14:55

We are now sailing through unchartered waters. The world as we know it is changing, from the way we work, socialise, study, shop, invest, consume ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: The power of #dataviz in a time of COVID-19

2020-03-17 14:17

Accurate information is critical during a health pandemic. Often one of the most powerful ways to convey information accurately is through data visua...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 7 Lessons from Made in Africa evaluation failures

2020-03-10 12:23

In a recent article in Evaluation Matters, published by the Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) at the African Development Bank, Khulisa unpack...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Rapid Group Surveys – an alternative to household surveys

2020-03-03 10:38

Household Surveys are costly and time-intensive, and often the collected data is not analysed or reported. Khulisa used Rapid Group Surveys as a cost...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 5 Tips for Measuring reach

2020-02-25 12:30

Measuring reach is complex. In our latest blog, Khulisa highlights the most common pitfalls to avoid when measuring how many beneficiaries a pro...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Scalability & the science of using science

2020-02-18 14:34

Many excellent interventions fail to be scaled because of a discrepancy between research conditions and implementation conditions. This Freakonomics ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Evaluating value for money

2020-02-11 13:26

Evaluators increasingly need to assess whether a programme yield a return, or in simple terms: did the investment demonstrate any value for money (Vf...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Useful equity indicators

2020-02-04 08:40

The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2020 report uses eight indicators to measure the legal differences between men and women as they move ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Evaluation report one-pagers

2020-01-28 13:15

Communicating your evaluation report in a single page requires careful messaging and visualisation. Khulisa collated the following quick links from a...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Blobs for evaluation

2020-01-21 13:19

Khulisa is very interested in the Blob Tree, an innovative evaluation method that could be used in various contexts, including when children are the ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Identifying relationships between evaluation & research

2020-01-14 11:02

Evaluation and research are closely related (see our previous #EvalTuesdayTip here). In this article, author Dana Linnell Wanzer describes five poten...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 10 M&E New Years’ resolutions

2020-01-07 14:09

It’s that time of the year again… We all arrive at the spin class on time with a green smoothie in hand and buy local the ideal of going complete...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: A look at the early adopters of the infographic

2019-12-31 09:11

Khulisa was inspired by these set of historic infographics, developed by activist W.E.B. Du Bois in 1900, to challenge white supremacy. It’s soberi...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Guide to Index for social impact measurement

2019-12-24 07:18

Next Generation Consultants have published this useful guide about its trademarked Investment Impact Index. The guide includes background informatio...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: M&E framework for interventions

2019-12-17 11:51

Although developed for M&E of digital interventions, Khulisa finds this framework applicable to any intervention that involves scaling. ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Baseline vs Benchmark? Ann-Murray Brown sets the record straight

2019-12-10 15:20

Khulisa is a big fan of the work of Ann-Murray Brown! We found this video explaining the difference between a baseline and a benchmark specifically u...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Letter-writing – an engaging conference presentation format

2019-12-03 12:58

Most evaluators attend at least one conference per year. When developing presentations, we often use traditional PowerPoint formats to convey our fin...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Are your communication strategies effective?

2019-11-26 13:10

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) on measuring the effectiveness of communication-related initiatives are sparse.Khulisa searched for a few resourc...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Impact Investing and Evaluation

2019-11-19 11:58

Many lively discussions took place under the ‘Investing for Impact’ strand at the 7th South African Monitoring & Evaluation (SAMEA) Conferen...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Mind-mapping made easy

2019-11-12 14:05

Khulisa really likes Coggle, an interactive tool for creating and sharing mindmaps and flow charts. It allows you to drag-and-drop images to your dia...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: A great systems visualizer!

2019-11-05 10:43

Evaluators apply systems thinking in many of their projects. Khulisa discovered this interactive and super handy tool to visualize and simulate compl...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Free guide on seeking ethical approval

2019-10-29 13:37

We are often asked if our M&E activities need ethical approval. This handy one-page resource guides you through some of the questions around ethi...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: How to get the most of your next Evaluation Conference

2019-10-22 08:59

This week, SAMEA holds its 7th biennial conference in South Africa. Conferencing is hard work, so we put together five to optimize your next Evaluati...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 3 hashtag tracking & visualizing tools for twitter

2019-10-15 13:50

From time to time, evaluators have to track the reach and influence of Communication for Development (C4D) campaigns or other programs relying on soc...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Statistics CrashCourse

2019-10-08 14:55

A basic grasp of statistics is an essential skill for any evaluator. Khulisa feels CrashCourse is a great YouTube resource for introductory cou...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Evaluation vs. Applied Research

2019-10-01 12:23

We often get asked, ‘What is the difference between Evaluation and Research?’ This visualisation still presents one of the best explanations to ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: A Fabulous Evaluation Checklist

2019-09-24 09:24

Our guest editor, Benita Williams uses the evaluation checklist proposed by Dr. Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead(@b_mmoorhead) and James C. Griffith ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Social Norms Diagnostic Tool

2019-09-17 10:00

Oxfam has developed an interesting Social Norms Diagnostic Tool that will help both evaluators and social change campaigners to identify social norm...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: New ways to continuously measure impact

2019-09-10 10:24

Internal evaluators are becoming more important, combined with donors who expect projects to apply adaptive management and learning principles. ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 200 free & useful survey templates

2019-09-03 15:46

Survey Monkey has a depository of 200 free survey templates, all developed by experts, covering specialised areas. For example, Khulisa uses the N...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: What does the competent evaluator look like?

2019-08-27 14:16

Evaluation is a relatively new profession around the world. What makes a professional evaluator is contested in many countries. Khulisa is impres...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 8 evaluation trends you can’t afford to miss!

2019-08-20 08:37

We love this blog by London-based impact consultants, NPC, in which they mapped the eight most notable innovations in evaluation practice (very aesth...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 7 #DataViz heroes we love

2019-08-13 12:03

Our seven favorite experts to follow for fresh insights on information design and data visualisation (and their link to evaluation): Ann K Eme...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Applying the Iceberg Theory in evaluation

2019-08-06 09:09

The Iceberg Theory presents an interesting way to work with evaluands to construct their theory of change. Download ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Process mapping for design evaluations

2019-07-30 10:31

Creately, an online diagram visualising tool, has developed this useful guide on process mapping. Khulisa is currently using some of the principles i...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Resources on evaluation complexity

2019-07-23 13:00

Evaluation Uncertainty is an interesting blog series tackling a wide-ranging view of how research and theory in the domain of “complexity” can co...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Finally, a functioning audio transcription tool!

2019-07-16 11:40

Khulisa is finding Otter incredibly useful for automatic voice-to-text transcriptions of interviews and meetings and is using it for several evaluati...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Measuring sustainability

2019-07-09 13:39

We are intrigued by the concept of sustainment, since sustainability is so often a concern of our clients and partners. This paper, by Eric Sarriot a...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Interview scheduling made easy

2019-07-02 11:14

Scheduling interviews can take up way too much of an evaluator’s time. Khulisa recently discovered Setmore, a cloud-based appointment scheduler, an...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Excel shortcuts you cannot do without

2019-06-25 10:16

Exceljet has developed this useful list of Excel shortcuts. It is cleverly categorized by functionality such as File, Ribbon, General, Tables and Fil...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: A deeper look at data viz chart selections

2019-06-18 08:55

Information visualisation specialist Steven Franconeri gives this in-depth perspective on choosing the best visualisations for your data. It’s part...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: ToC quality test

2019-06-11 11:21

Do your implicit assumptions need to become a little more explicit, or are there ways in which you can improve the logic of your Theory of Change? ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: ImpactMapper for meta-analysis

2019-06-04 10:56

Khulisa is intrigued by ImpactMapper as a really interesting way to conduct a meta-analysis of evaluation reports and learning documents. It is also ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Blue River for Evaluation

2019-05-28 11:36

Evaluators often need methodologies to facilitate discussions with participants and help them reflect on their individual, collective and organisatio...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Process evaluation guide

2019-05-21 12:09

Khulisa has conducted several process evaluations, including a detailed evaluation of the Farmer Voice Radio project. Often challenges emerg...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Evaluation results in game format

2019-05-14 12:08

Evaluations can bring together people to share ideas in a safe space that allows for diverse experiences, new insights and collective recommendations...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Use & choose good indicators

2019-05-07 09:57

M&E language can easily become convoluted and abstract. That’s why this indicator guide, developed by the UK’s National Health Service, presen...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Integrating analysis techniques

2019-04-30 12:18

All evaluators talk about mixed methods, but most find it difficult to integrate their qualitative and quantitative data analyses. This Clustering M...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: “Paddle moments” for participation

2019-04-23 11:32

Engaging people forms an essential part of collecting data for MEL, so why not make that process more fun and interactive? A useful idea Khulisa came ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: A cool way to tell your big data story

2019-04-16 12:26

What to do with big data? Evaluators are often required to tell impact stories over time but struggle to find systematic, yet compelling ways to do so...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Adobe Typekit and other free font libraries

2019-04-09 08:40

Selecting the best font family for an evaluation report may sound like a low priority. However, it’s an important factor to consider if you want to ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: QuIP casebook released

2019-04-02 09:20

QuIP, an acronym for qualitative impact analysis protocol, is specifically useful in making qualitative data more transparent. In March 2019, James Co...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Evaluating partnerships

2019-03-26 13:01

Is a partnership on course, or is it ineffective? Does it require intervention, and if it does, what kind? The Connective Impact Partners...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Handy list of offline data collection tools

2019-03-19 09:58

When conducting evaluations, we sometimes need to collect data where there is no connectivity. Khulisa recently participated in an online discussion a...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Before you create THAT Piechart

2019-03-12 09:16

Do you know how to get your data ready and start visualizing? Or why visuals work better than text for communicating your findings and recommendations...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Understanding impact in qualitative terms

2019-03-05 11:42

The Measuring Impact Qualitatively paper is an evaluation must-read. We find the conclusion that evaluations have long sought to understand and assess...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Net Promoter Score for measuring client satisfaction

2019-02-26 08:49

Evaluators always look for valid, reliable, and easily collected data. A key challenge is low response rates, particularly when a survey is long and c...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Use UNDP’s updated #evaluation guidelines

2019-02-19 10:13

UNDP has released its latest evaluation guidelines. Khulisa thinks that this is an extraordinarily useful example of an Evaluation Framework and ‘Ho...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Visualised health data

2019-02-12 09:22

Often #evaluators do not use secondary sources of data, for this reason Khulisa likes the Global Burden of Disease data and how it’s visualised! It ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Visual essays – a cool #dataviz reference

2019-02-05 08:26

Khulisa recently discovered this interactive website that “explains ideas debated in culture with visual essays”. Our #evaluators are inspired bec...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Useful guide on digital safeguarding

2019-01-29 10:57

The Digital Safeguarding Tips and Guidance report is a must-read for #evaluators. Developed by Girl Effect, the guidelines provide a big picture on da...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Indicator toolkit for relief interventions

2019-01-22 10:01

These indicator sets for relief and development projects are very useful for #evaluators. They are from IndiKit, a tool developed by the Czech NGO Peo...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: QuIP for qualitative impact assessments

2019-01-15 09:36

This interesting qualitative impact analysis protocol, called QuIP is useful for many of Khulisa’s clients. They write: “A common issue with quali...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Social network visualizer

2019-01-08 07:05

Mentionmapp is an excellent tool for visualising social media influence on twitter. The platform allows you to feed in hashtags and see how it spread ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Cut the capitals

2019-01-01 08:19

One of Khulisa staff members is a self-proclaimed recovering addict from the overuse of capitalisation in evaluation reports. We all fall prey to usin...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Who to accept and reject on LinkedIn?

2018-12-25 05:09

LinkedIn is a very useful social platform for evaluators – whether using it to secure new contracts, find resources or stay abreast of opportunities...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Impact tracking catalogue for small organisations

2018-12-18 08:35

Khulisa likes this Impact Tracker Technology – a catalogue featuring various low-cost, technology-based tools that helps small- to medium size organ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Tools for case comparison

2018-12-11 11:06

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a case-based method that enables evaluators to systematically compare cases to document impact. It was first...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Improving your visual vocab

2018-12-04 14:23

Are you staring at a datasheet wondering what would be the best way to visualise them? Khulisa discovered this excellent visual vocabulary by to help ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip – Evaluation in a flash

2018-11-27 15:43

Michael Quinn Patton’s updated evaluation flashcards, developed for the Otto Bremer Trust, provide a great summary of all the steps you need when yo...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Using Mentimeter in evaluations

2018-11-20 13:42

At some point in the evaluation process, an evaluator engages stakeholders to understand their expectations, validate the findings an...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: New evaluation guide to UN Women’s ISE4GEMs approach

2018-11-13 12:22

ISE4GEMs is a lengthy acronym for Inclusive Systemic Evaluation for Gender equality, Environments and Marginalized voices. And although it may sound l...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: A guide to evaluation building blocks

2018-11-06 09:29

This is a great M&E resource from our evaluation friends in New Zealand. The Kinnect Group developed a guide to “building blocks in evaluation�...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Evaluation Reporting – keep it short and sweet

2018-10-30 13:36

Khulisa loves looking at report examples for dataviz inspiration and to enhance evaluation utilization. The Praekelt Foundation’s 2017 annual report...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Write like Hemingway

2018-10-23 10:11

Evaluators often fall into the trap of using highly academic and complex writing styles that alienate audiences. The Hemingway app is a useful tool to...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Clickable enterprise development evidence map

2018-10-16 10:02

This is a really cool way for evaluators to show the evidence supporting a Theory of Change in a (clickable) evidence map for economic development. Ch...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Theory of Change pitfalls

2018-10-09 08:24

Khulisa loves the evaluation insights found in Rick Davies’ article entitled “Representing Theories of Change: Technical Challenges with Evaluatio...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Google’s dataset search is here

2018-10-02 05:15

Access to secondary data is a challenge for many evaluators. Khulisa is excited to learn about Google Dataset Search, a new initiative by the search e...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Making maps with Data Wrapper

2018-09-25 11:38

Data Wrapper is the go-to data viz platform for media and publishing professionals. Media houses like the Washington Post and the Guardian use it to i...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Theory of Change as a wardrobe

2018-09-18 08:50

This video explains the components of a theory of change in a simple, conceptual way using the assembling of a wardrobe as analogy. The drawers of the...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Why we use flaticon in our reports

2018-09-11 09:25

Khulisa uses icons in many of our evaluation reports to draw our readers’ attention to important messages, illustrate themes and simplify complex co...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Research Quality Plus (RQ+) for evaluating research

2018-09-04 13:12

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has developed a new approach for measuring the quality of research, aside from peer reviews. &...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Measuring girls’ empowerment for impact evaluations

2018-08-28 11:57

Khulisa found this practical guide from the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) useful to measure women and girls’ empowerment through imp...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: 10 alternatives to impact management

2018-08-21 11:34

Khulisa continues to advise clients on the importance of a data culture, focussing on the collection, analysis and use of data. This excellent article...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Put your evaluation report writing to the test

2018-08-14 09:34

Good evaluation reports require strong writing. Khulisa has started to use WritersDiet, a cool test developed by Prof Helen Sword, to help us assess...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Free Qualitative Analysis software now available

2018-08-07 09:22

Khulisa is thrilled about the launch of ATLAS.ti’s fully web-based version of its new cloud software. We use ATLAS.ti to analyze qualitative data fr...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Evaluating film & documentaries impact

2018-07-31 07:45

Khulisa finds the series of tools curated by ImpactGuide.org useful to measure the effects of advocacy through films or documentaries. For example, Co...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Use Switchit to enhance your next evaluation or MERLtech conference

2018-07-24 13:15

Khulisa recently discovered Switchit – an innovation that lets you share your digital business card with anyone, via text, whatsapp or email. &nb...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Creating an Enabling Environment for Evaluation

2018-07-17 11:39

Khulisa often works with organizations who only have a partial evaluation culture. This article by Evaluation into Action called Building a Cult...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Useful tools in participatory research

2018-07-10 09:17

Khulisa finds the many new (and previously used) participatory research tools in this handbook very useful in client evaluations.Some of the practical...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Tools and tutorials for your charts

2018-07-03 10:03

The Chartmaker Directory is a useful website to find the right tool to create charts for communicating #evaluation findings. The directory includes mo...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Scaling up?

2018-06-26 10:00

Khulisa is often asked to measure the potential for projects to scale up their activities. This freely downloadable document called “Taking Innova...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Smarter referencing

2018-06-19 06:00

Khulisa finds Mendeley to be one of the best free referencing tools because of its user-friendliness. Mendeley is a desktop application that has a MS ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Use this video to explain Logframes

2018-06-12 09:20

Khulisa finds this fun video by Ann-Murray Brown about logframes in evaluation helpful and used it to introduce M&E to BRIDGE’s Early Childhood ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Ripple Effect Mapping in Evaluation

2018-06-05 10:19

Ripple Effect Mapping (REM) is an interesting type of impact evaluation methodology that uses elements of Appreciative Inquiry, mind mapping, and ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Awesome Early Childhood Development Measurement Toolkit

2018-05-29 10:34

Khulisa is using this World bank Toolkit for Measuring Early Childhood Development (ECD) . The Toolkit comes with a measurement invent...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Dataviz! Free, editable map templates

2018-05-22 12:44

Khulisa uses these fully-editable PowerPoint map templates on yourfreetemplates.com. They include geographic maps of continents, countries, and ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Use ZipGrade to rapidly grade multiple choice assessments

2018-05-15 07:32

Khulisa will use ZipGrade on an assignment which calls for assessing over a thousand teachers. Until 2011, we used an expensive OCR/form ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Contribution analysis in real-life

2018-05-08 09:46

Contribution analysis is a useful evaluation methodology that helps iteratively map evidence against a theory of change and understand to what extent ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Colour matters for evaluation reporting

2018-05-01 10:24

Colour is critical for good data visualization in evaluation. Here’s a few tips on how Khulisa uses colour in evaluation reports: Select your c...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Tool to Summarize Evaluation Comments

2018-04-24 14:54

Our clients usually give us feedback on draft evaluations and other reports in comments embedded in the MSWord report. We use DocTools ExtractData ,...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Using a Cynefin Framework for Evaluation

2018-04-17 10:10

Khulisa often uses the the Cynefin Framework to contextualize and frame the evaluand and thus identify appropriate evaluation methodologies. Cynefin...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Contribution tracing

2018-04-03 11:49

Here’s a great article on a rigorous quali-quantitative approach to establish the validity of contribution claims in impact evaluations. Other acces...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: DIY flowcharts and process diagrams

2018-03-27 10:48

Khulisa recently started to use Draw.io to diagram clients’ Theory of Change. This open-source application allows you to make fabulous flowcharts, ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Classroom Snapshot Instrument

2018-03-20 13:39

Khulisa finds the generic “Stallings Classroom Snapshot Instrument” useful for classroom observation in education evaluations. It was developed by...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Communications MEL toolkit

2018-03-13 09:13

Khulisa uses this Communications Monitoring, Evaluating & Learning (MEL) Toolkit to improve our communication practices and monitoring use and qua...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Visualising statistical significance

2018-03-06 08:47

Visualizing statistically significant p-values is often tricky. Khulisa recommends these tips these tips by Ann K. Emery on communicating statistical ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Gender and M&E Toolkit

2018-02-27 09:42

Khulisa recently started to use the excellent MEASURE Evaluation Gender and M&E toolkit funded by USAID. If you need inspiration and selling poin...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Methods to Measure Influence

2018-02-20 09:10

Khulisa is often asked to evaluate advocacy or other activities that are intended to change attitudes or behaviour. This free resource summarizes Meth...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Developmental Evaluation Toolkit

2018-02-13 10:36

Khulisa recommends this free toolkit from the Spark Policy for Institute developmental evaluations. ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Lean data

2018-02-06 12:48

Khulisa finds Acumen’s Lean Data approach useful in cases where time constraints and data volumes affect data collection and analysis. Acumen’s we...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Free impact evaluation sampling tools

2018-01-30 08:28

Khulisa is using E-valuate app which usefully provides (and combines) sample size calculator, power calculator and effect size calculator. ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Interactive maps

2018-01-23 10:49

To visualize data geographically, Khulisa often uses SocialCops’ free interactive mapping tool: https://viz.socialcops.com/. It allows you to upload...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Facebook content analysis

2018-01-16 12:46

Do your indicators require social media data? Khulisa is currently using Power Query for an evaluation to analyze Facebook content, including the or...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: IRIS’s performance metric catalogue

2018-01-09 10:34

Do you want to start using indicators in your organisation, but are unsure of what to measure? Khulisa often advises organisations to refer to the Glo...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: DCED Standard for Measuring Results

2018-01-02 08:00

Khulisa is often asked to help organisations develop the monitoring systems. The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) has developed a us...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Unpacking Impact Evaluations

2017-12-19 08:00

Khulisa uses this handy methods summary when planning Impact Evaluations. The summary details requirements such as comparison groups, assumptions and...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Data Visualisation Icons!

2017-12-12 10:25

Today’s #EvalTuesdayTip is on icons. Khulisa uses icons as a key data visualisation tool for presentations and reports to communicate ideas and brea...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Calculating Minimum Detectable Effects

2017-12-05 10:21

Khulisa used Optimal Design freeware to successfully calculate Minimum Detectable Effects (MDEs) for a longitudinal evaluation design. Se...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: Linear Theories of Change

2017-11-28 13:38

Linear Theories of Change (ToC) are useful in many contexts but not always for complex programmes. Khulisa is using Kumu, a great open source Systems ...
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#EvalTuesdayTip: The Alkin’s Tree

2017-11-21 13:33

Today’s #EvalTuesdayTip comes from our first #datacafe which was held at the South African Monitoring and Evaluation (SAMEA) conference where Khulis...
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