Evaluation as profession and practice Archives

Snippet: How data visualisation can mislead

January 9, 2019 Zenda Ofir 3

**2 min read** We live in an era of ‘big data’ and ‘big information’. We work in an increasingly quantified world devoid of the nuance that qualitative information provides. We also live in an era of ‘scanning’. We don’t want ... Read more »

Snippet: Evaluation shelfies

January 6, 2019 Zenda Ofir 0

A while ago Michael Quinn Patton urged us in one of our Young and Emerging Evaluator posts to share the 10 evaluation classics that inspire us most. And now we have the great phenomenon on Twitter – #SHELFIES! That special ... Read more »

Evaluation for Transformation. The one big mindset change we need in 2019

January 3, 2019 Zenda Ofir 2

**5 min read** In its very essence, the concept of evaluation is beautiful, I argued long ago in one of my first blog posts. Evaluation is also in principle powerful, more so than scientific research. Just like science, it aims ... Read more »

Updating the DAC Criteria, Part 11 (FINAL). From Evaluation Criteria to Design Principles

October 13, 2018 Zenda Ofir 4

**10 min read** Evaluation criteria used in development contexts do not only show what evaluation commissioners, evaluators and other stakeholders value. They also provide an indication of the issues that could – and likely should – be a focus in ... Read more »

Updating the DAC Criteria, Part 10. Sleepwalking towards irrelevance

October 10, 2018 Zenda Ofir 10

**8 min read** We are sleepwalking towards irrelevance. Not because we do not do some worthwhile things. We do. But because those with power – and evaluation professionals in general – appear to be unaware or unmoved by much of ... Read more »

Weronika Felcis’s Top Tip not only for YEEs: The resilience of evaluation in turbulent times

September 21, 2018 Weronika Felcis 0

**8 min read** Apart from being a leader in evaluation in different capacities, Weronika is one of the most thoughtful evaluation specialists I have ever met. Her perspectives on evaluation strongly resonate and align with mine – including the content ... Read more »

The Responsibility of Evaluators

September 18, 2018 Zenda Ofir 0

**3 min read** What is the responsibility of evaluators in the era in which we live today? This is one of the issues I raised in my keynote presentation at the UK Evaluation Society earlier this year, and which I ... Read more »

Updating the DAC Evaluation Criteria, Part 9. Our responsibilities, our obligations

August 16, 2018 Zenda Ofir 0

**6 min read** Our evaluation criteria are fundamental to the credibility and utility of our evaluations. Yet we have allowed one set of criteria – the DAC criteria – to dominate the focus of our evaluations. What they become, or ... Read more »