Stage 1Activity 1 (of 4)

Outline purpose, audience and resources

Learn how to outline the key aims and reasons for conducting your evaluation. This helps you to identify your main audience and determine what resources and timelines are needed.

Step 1

You first need to understand the core aspects of your initiative. Use the PICO framework to help you answer the following questions:

• What is your Population? (The group of people who receive your initiative)
• What is your Intervention/initiativeand what parts need evaluating (especially with a complex initiative)?
• What is your control or Comparator group? (If there is no group of people not receiving your initiative, can you at least measure changes in the same group of people before and after they receive your initiative?)
• What are your key Outcomes?
• For a more detailed breakdown, head to this PICO model explainer.

Step 2

Identify who the people are who will vet your evaluation – known as your primary users – and work out how they will use the results. This step will help you tailor the evaluation to meet their needs.

• For guidance, check out the Better Evaluation resource on identifying your primary users and evaluation aims.

Step 3

Assess the time and resources available for your evaluation including budgeting and staffing requirements.

• For allocating resources and reducing cost strategies, check out the Better Evaluation guidance.

Step 4

Organise and prioritise your evaluation tasks, remembering to focus on importance and feasibility so you have a clear roadmap.

• Check out this IBM toolkit for more information on creating a clear and understandable list of priorities.