Limitation of Monitoring and Evaluation
No Thumbnail Available
Date
0000
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Monitoring and evaluation should be straightforward In projects, monitoring compares what is going on with what was anticipated Evaluation essentially answers three questions what has changed, what caused the change, and is the change what was originally intended? In terms of the criteria set above, however both monitoring and evaluation are difficult for NGDOs in practice, partly because intended outcomes are infrequently identified in advance.
Description
Monitoring compares ongoing project activities with original plans, while evaluation looks at what changed, why it changed, and whether the change matched the intent. For NGOs, these tasks are challenging due to unclear outcomes and complex cause-effect relationships. Evaluating change needs a defined baseline, but identifying all relevant factors early on is difficult. Most monitoring ends up focusing on measurable activities and outputs, often neglecting deeper qualitative impacts. NGOs must set realistic boundaries and clarify limitations to donors.
Keywords
Boundaries in evaluation, Indicators, Outcomes and impacts, Quantitative vs Qualitative, Project comparison
Citation
STRIKING A BALANCE A guide to enhancing the effectiveness of NGOs in Internal Development (1997) - Alan Fowler, Earthscan