I would say that EAs are missing large parts of M&E, including: - The formal setting of key questions / assumptions that form the basis of what you will focus on trying to answer - Creating formal monitoring frameworks (e.g. a log frame) that takes these questions / assumptions and identifies practical indicators and a method of measuring them - I think EAs don’t use the full diversity of M&E tools. In my experience we tend to over-index on surveys (vs., say, interviews, focus group discussion, or observational data) - I think considering the frequency of use of surveys, we could generally up-skill in high-quality survey design - Using a diverse set of evaluation types (EAs generally know about RCTs, but these are such a narrow slice of the available evaluation types)
In general I think we care about M&E but lack experience in the formal processes of it, especially monitoring. So application is patchy and not generally in line with best practices.
I should perhaps clarify that I am mostly talking about the non-global development side of EA. I think their norms for M&E are significantly better.
Intrac’s M&E universe is one place to see an overview of what M&E entails. I think also The Mission Motor intends to create more resources on these topics in the future :)
For sure!
I would say that EAs are missing large parts of M&E, including:
- The formal setting of key questions / assumptions that form the basis of what you will focus on trying to answer
- Creating formal monitoring frameworks (e.g. a log frame) that takes these questions / assumptions and identifies practical indicators and a method of measuring them
- I think EAs don’t use the full diversity of M&E tools. In my experience we tend to over-index on surveys (vs., say, interviews, focus group discussion, or observational data)
- I think considering the frequency of use of surveys, we could generally up-skill in high-quality survey design
- Using a diverse set of evaluation types (EAs generally know about RCTs, but these are such a narrow slice of the available evaluation types)
In general I think we care about M&E but lack experience in the formal processes of it, especially monitoring. So application is patchy and not generally in line with best practices.
I should perhaps clarify that I am mostly talking about the non-global development side of EA. I think their norms for M&E are significantly better.
Intrac’s M&E universe is one place to see an overview of what M&E entails. I think also The Mission Motor intends to create more resources on these topics in the future :)
Great, thanks for sharing these!