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SERVICESEvaluation | "Evaluation examines the outturn of a policy, programme or project against what was expected and is designed to ensure that the lessons are fed back into the decision-making process. This ensures government action is continually refined to reflect what best achieves objectives and promotes public interest".
(HM Treasury 2003: The Green Book on Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government, p.45)
TEP specialises in evaluating public sector interventions (such as projects, programmes, policies or pieces of legislation) by international, national, regional or local organisations, agencies and government departments. An evaluation is a systematic and objective analysis of a planned, on-going or completed intervention, its design, implementation and results. This analysis is usually guided by a set of evaluation issues including:
Relevance: Are the intervention's objectives pertinent to the needs, problems and issues to be addressed?
Coherence: Is the intervention logic consistent and non-contradictory? Does the intervention contradict other interventions with similar objectives?
Effectiveness: To what extent have the set objectives been achieved?
Efficiency: Are the desired effects achieved at a reasonable cost?
Sustainability: How likely are the positive effects to last after the intervention has terminated?
Utility: Do the effects correspond with the needs, problems and issues to be addressed?
To answer these and other similar evaluation questions, TEP uses a variety of multidisciplinary approaches and methodologies. Once the underlying problems, needs and objectives of the intervention have been clearly identified and spelled out, TEP uses different data collection methods, including desk research as well as participatory methods such as interviews, surveys or expert panels, in order to gather the information necessary to make an informed judgment of the intervention's success (or lack thereof).
This data is analysed using an appropriate combination of qualitative and quantitative tools and techniques, which may include a benchmarking and/or best practice analysis exercise.
Ultimately, by providing sound answers to the above questions, based on a thorough and in-depth analysis and interpretation of purposefully collected data, TEP's evaluations create value for clients by:
Contributing to the design of interventions and providing input for setting political priorities
Assisting in the efficient allocation of resources
Improving the quality and maximising the positive impact of the intervention
Enhancing accountability by reporting on the achievements of the intervention | |
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