A 5. Theory-based Evaluation in Practice

Trainer: Jozef (Jos) Leonardus Vaessen
Level: Beginning/Intermediate
Language: English 

Workshop description:

Interventions are theories and evaluation is the test. This well-known reference is indicative of an influential school of thought and practice in evaluation, often called theory-driven or theory-based evaluation. While having been around for more than four decades, over the last decade theory-based evaluation has received new impetus and has become part and parcel of the toolkit of program evaluators across the globe.
The past decade has also seen a dramatic increase in impact evaluation debates and practices. While theory-based evaluation has often been cast as an alternative to quantitative counterfactual-based impact evaluation, in practice the two can reinforce each other. At the same time, the scope for applying different expressions of theory-based evaluations is much broader than impact evaluation only. The workshop will address the following main themes:
What is theory-based evaluation and why is it important?
What are useful principles for reconstructing a program theory?
How can we apply theory-based evaluation in practice?

Learning modalities:
Short interactive lectures;
Group exercise and presentations on the basis of an empirical case.

Learning outcome:

After this course, participants have developed an initial (but sound) understanding of the role of theory in evaluation and how to apply theory-based evaluation in practice.