Blog Posts

A doctorate will place you on a whole new trajectory when it comes to your field of specialisation. As the field of Monitoring and Evaluation grows, so are the opportunities for focused doctoral study expanding across fields, while also deepening in their technical specificity. Whether your strengths lie in the …

Although there is no formal or internationally accepted body which accredits M&E practitioners and experts, there are a range of certificates which will add credibility to your M&E CV, and which will certify that you hold a specific and critical skillset. Whether you are looking to learn the basics, or …

Focus groups and individual interviews are both excellent means of collecting data and information to support your M&E work. Both collect qualitative information directly from participants and should provide detailed and rich data. But knowing which one to use in certain circumstances is key to getting the most out of …

A semi-structured interview is one of the most effective tools for systematically gathering qualitative and quantitative data. This is a method which allows you to ask predetermined questions, determined, perhaps, by the theoretical framework or theory of change underpinning the project, or by your research hypothesis. It is also one …

Developing M&E is a process which is integrated with conceptualizing the project implementation itself. The M&E should ideally form a kind of critical dialogue, which upholds the reality of beneficiaries, and the complex context at the forefront. Step 1: Needs Analysis Where a project is not responding to a real, …

Working in Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) can be extremely challenging at first, as you navigate your way through deep theory, and complex implementation. This article covers a few basic challenges you might encounter, as well as how best to tackle them. #1 Bad Data There can be no doubt that …

Anything that involves feedback which has no direct quantitative measure against a numeric scale is qualitative data. Qualitative data is categorical. It can be used to analyze language, and through this, to develop an understanding of subjective perception. Qualitative data describes characteristics. It is usually gathered from interviews, observations, surveys, …

Monitoring and evaluation are essential to any project or program. Through this process, organizations collect and analyze data, and determine if a project/program has fulfilled its goals. Monitoring begins right away and extends through the duration of the project. Evaluation comes after and assesses how well the program performed. Every …

Normally when we plan something, a trip, a holiday, a project, the first thing we do is to buy tickets, book the museum, define activities, read about the places we are going to visit, find out about the weather, etc. It’s hard to imagine that the first thing we do …

By reading this article, you will get a general idea of what is meant by the theory of change and what specific vocabulary is used. What is a theory of change? A Theory of Change (ToC) of a project describes why change is needed and how it will happen. In …