Evaluation in Practice: A Practical Guide to Knowing What Works, Why, and Do Next

Evaluation in Practice is a practical guide for people who need to know whether their work is actually making a difference - and what to do next if it is not.Across public, private and community settings, organisations are under growing pressure to demonstrate value, improve performance, use resources well and make better decisions. Yet many still confuse activity with impact, reporting with evaluation, and data collection with judgement.This book explains how to design, conduct and use evaluation in ways that are credible, practical and decision-focused. It covers the foundations of good evaluation, including theory of change, evaluation questions, indicators, methods, causality, value for money, ethics, analysis, reporting and organisational learning.Rather than treating evaluation as a technical exercise for specialists, Evaluation in Practice presents evaluation as a disciplined way of thinking. It helps readers move beyond assumptions and make sounder judgements about what is working, for whom, why, at what cost, and what should happen next.Ideal for evaluators, analysts, policy teams, programme managers, funders, public sector professionals, community organisations and decision-makers who want stronger evidence and better judgement.