Collecting information
This step will help you to:
- find different ways to collect information about the difference you are making and
- fit evaluation into your project or organisation.
Getting Started
Do you know why evaluation is important? Are staff and managers motivated to get started? Do you have clear statements about the difference you want to make as an organisation?
Collecting Information
Do you have statements that help you recognise the impact that you have? Do you have the right systems to enable you to measure what you do, and the difference that you make?
Using Consultants (Optional)
Do you know what you want from an external evaluation, and can you communicate that? Do you know how to go about commissioning consultants?
Analysing & Reporting
Do you know how to analyse the information you collect? Can you write a report about what you've done and the difference you've made?
Learn from your Findings
Do you know how to use the findings to improve your service? Do you know how to share your findings with others?
Events & Training
Be sure to read this booking information.
Resources
Case Studies
ESS Case Study: Community Food and Health - Little Leithers
The Community Food and Health Scotland (CFHS) Self-evaluation Collaborative is a partnership between CFHS, ESS and six community food and health projects. It involves three ...
ESS Case Study: Community Food and Health Scotland: Hidden Gardens
The Community Food and Health Scotland (CFHS) Self-evaluation Collaborative is a partnership between CFHS, ESS and six community food and health projects. It involves three ...
ESS Case Study: Granton Youth
The Peer Leader Project at Granton Youth Centre was looking for more exciting ways to collect information on its outcomes. The young people involved in the project liked the visual methods learnt ...
ESS Support Guides
ESS Support Guide 2.1: Developing and using indicators
Evaluation is about working out what difference you are making through your services or activities. The changes or differences you hope to make are your outcomes (see Evaluation Support Guide 1 ...
ESS Support Guide 2.2: Using interviews and questionnaires to evaluate your project
This guide covers some of the more traditional approaches to collect information for your evaluation: questionnaires, interviews and group interviews (focus groups) and gives advice on how to ...
ESS Support Guide 2.3: Visual Approaches
This guide covers some visual approaches you can use to collect information for evaluation: relationship maps, service use maps, lifelines, body maps and evaluation wheels and gives advice on how ...
ESS Support Guide 2.4: Using Technology to Evaluate your Work
This guide covers some ways you can use technology to collect information for evaluation: video, digital photographs and audio recording. These can be used independently or ...
ESS Support Guide 2.5: Storing Information
This guide looks at how to store the information you need to use in evaluation.
ESS Support Guide 3.4 - Using Qualitative Information for Evaluation
This guide will help you to think through how you can make use of qualitative information in evaluation. It looks at what qualitative information you might ...
Thematic Guides and resources
A handbook to data collection tools: companion to “a guide to measuring advocacy and policy”
This is a compendium of examples of tools and approaches to gathering evaluation data in relation to advocacy and policy. It covers six main outcome areas: shifts in social norms; ...
Addressing the challenges for evaluation
This paper is for people with a role in commissioning, funding or evaluating ...
Becoming More Effective
This is an introduction to monitoring and evaluation for refugee community organisations.
Befriending and Mentoring Evaluation Resource Pack
This resource pack was comissioned by Befriending Network Scotland, Scottish Mentoring Network and Evaluation Support Scotland to support projects to undertake monitoring ...
Carers Checklist
A free downloadable tool that can be used to assess the needs of people with people with dementia and their carers and to evaluate the outcomes of the service being delivered. Carers were ...
Creating Confidence Handbook
A handbook for professionals working with children to explore the issue of building confidence, particularly in relation to the Curriculum for Excellence. There is a critique of work in ...
Data Protection Act
All the information you need on the Data Protection Act.
Data Protection for Evaluation
Aimhigher East Midlands considers data protection to be of paramount importance to its Monitoring and Evaluation Database. As such, safeguards are in place to protect any personal information ...
Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 3: Designing an Evaluation
This is the third in the Scottish Executive Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation series. This Guide aims to explain the planning stage of an evaluation by describing the steps necessary in ...
Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide 4: Implementing an Evaluation
This is the fourth in the Scottish Executive Effective Intervention Unit's Evaluation series. This Guide aims to explain the implementation stage of an evaluation.
Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation Guide10: Evaluating Community Engagement
This is the tenth guide in the Scottish Executive Effective Interventions Unit Evaluation series. It looks at evaluating community engagement strategies and activities. It discusses the ...
Equality Monitoring
This page gives useful guidance on appropriate questions for equalities monitoring in relation to transgender individuals. The website provides additional information on equalities ...
ESS Support Guide 3.4 - Using Qualitative Information for Evaluation
This guide will help you to think through how you can make use of qualitative information in evaluation. It looks at what qualitative information you might ...
Ethical Evaluation
Advice for ethical evaluation, specifically of interest to those involved in learning and teaching but with wider relevance.
Evaluating Community Projects - A Practical Guide
by Marilyn Taylor, Derrick Purdue, Mandy Wilson and Pete Wilde These guidelines were developed as part of a Joseph Rowntree Foundation Programme to help 20 community and voluntary ...
Evaluation Cookbook
A practical guide, aimed at lecturers who are interested in evaluating materials for their effectiveness in achieving specific learning objectives. Cookbook contributors were selected on the ...
Evaluation Guidance for Practitioners: A Practical Guide to Evaluating Drug Education and Prevention Services for Young People (by Richard Ives)
This guide introduces the process of evaluation. It looks at the basics (what is the difference between monitoring and evaluation) as well as specifics of evaluating drug education and ...
Evaluation Journey
This is an introductory guide to evaluation in Plain English with a good number of case studies. Published by Ash Scotland it focuses on health work but is useful for anyone who needs a good ...
Evaluation Ladder (Drugs and Housing)
This ladder was adapted by Kevin Callaghan from Cyrenians in West Lothian to use with the service users he works with. This is an excellent example of how tools can be adapted to different ...
From Access to Action - Impact Pathways for the IDS Knowledge Services
IDS Knowledge Services do not view access to information as an end in itself but as a contributor to development processes and social change. Individual stories from users of the IDS Knowledge ...
General Evaluation Advice for learning and Teaching
This group of resources from the University of Sheffield provides general advice for those planning to undertake an evaluation of change in their learning and teaching who have little or no ...
Making the Case - Social Added Value Guide
The guide helps organisations in the social economy to demonstrate the social added value that is intrinsic to services they deliver. It offers a recognised way to measure the ...
Managing Outcomes - A Guide for Homelessness Organisations
This guide has been written for people working in the homelessness field. It provides definitions and examples of identifying outcomes, explores the different perspectives of stakeholder groups ...
Measuring Impact Toolkit
A free, downloadable, colourful and visual guide that covers all aspects of getting to grips with measuring impact. It is particularly relevant to organisations working with children and ...
Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 1: Evidence Based Practice
This is the first in a series of Evaluation Guides that aim to encourage, support and improve standards in the evaluation of mental health improvement initiatives. This guide aims to help ...
Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 2: Measuring Success
This guide aims to help develop indicators to gauge progress and assess the effectiveness of mental health improvement interventions. Covers the use of consultation to develop robust, valid and ...
Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 3: Getting Results
This is the third in a series of Evaluation Guides, which aim to encourage, support and improve standards in the evaluation of mental health improvement initiatives. This guide gives an overview ...
Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 4: Making an Impact
This is the fourth in a series of Evaluation Guides, which aim to encourage, support and improve standards in the evaluation of mental health improvement initiatives. impact. This guide discusses ...
Mental health Improvement: evidence and practice Guide 5 Selecting scales to assess
This is the fifth in the series of evaluation guides and focuses on how to select a validated scale to assess aspects of mental well being. In the guide approximately 50 scales are ...
Monitoring and Evaluating: Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Programme
This is an introductory guide to monitoring and evaluation for workers in the field of youth substance abuse prevention. It is not a detailed guide on how to evaluate but contains useful ...
Monitoring and Evaluation for Paths to Health Projects
This guide, produced by Paths for All outlines the evaluation and monitoring needs of Paths to Health projects. It also outlines how to evaluate an overall programme of Paths for All projects.
Outcomes Star for Homelessness
This tool measures the outcomes of work with homeless people. It was developed by Triangle Consulting, originally for St Mungo’s, and subsequently widely tested and revised for the ...
Outcomes Star website
The Outcomes Star™ is a unique tool for supporting and measuring change when working with vulnerable people. It is widely used and is: Underpinned by an explicit model of change
Passport to Evaluation
This guide produced by the Home Office and updated May 2009, looks at the basic techniques used to evaluate crime reduction projects. It explains evaluation within a ...
Paul Hamlyn Foundation Evaluation Resource Pack
This comprehensive pack from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation takesd the reader through the whole process of evaluation. It is clearly written and well explained, covering the pros and cons of a ...
PROJECT: engaging artists in the built environment
Comedia was commissioned by Public Art South West to evaluate PROJECT: engaging artists in the built environment in July 2004, before any awards had been made. The research ...
Prove it - Measuring the effect of neighbourhood renewal on local people.
The handbook addresses questions such as ‘whether and what to measure’. It also looks at the benefits and pitfalls of involving local people. The handbook ...
Sample Equalities Monitoring Form
This free downloadable form gives sample questions for monitoring gender, age, ethnic origin and disability.
Step it Up - Charting Young People's Progress
This document contains a report of work commissioned by the Scottish Executive Education Department in 2001 and materials developed for evaluating youth work. The report identifies ...
The Confidence Research System
An on-line resource, that can be used to measure baseline and progress in relation to aspects of confidence in adults and children. These are self-efficacy, optimism, resilience, mindset, ...
The Evidence Guide
The Evidence guide pack contains five modules: Using research evidence in practice: an introduction Locating research evidence in five steps Appraising and ...
The Power of Proof - An Evaluation Primer
This is an online resource from the USA based Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium. It coers the whole process of evaluation from planning to reporting. It uses examples from tobacco control ...
The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation
This is a very clearly written guide to the evaluation process, covering self evaluation and external evaluation. It takes the reader through the whole process and includes lots of useful ...
The Programme Managers Guide to Evaluation (Children's Services)
Nine chapters cover what, why and how to evaluate and learn from evaluation. By US Department of Health & Human Services (December 2003) Chapter 1 looks at ...
The UNFPA Programme Managers' Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit
The toolkit is a supplement to the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) programming guidelines. It provides guidance and options for UNFPA Country Office staff to improve planning, monitoring ...
The W.K Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook
This handbook provides a fairly in-depth look at some basic questions, such as the limitations of scientific methods in evaluation. One of the key aims of evaluation for the Kellogg ...
Toolkit to Measure The Added Value of Voluntary and Community Based Activity
The toolkit is intended to enable both funders and ...
Tools
Big Picture Route Map
This cartoon map has different vehicles, routes and characters. This visual tool can help participants reflect on their current situation or experience of an event and to help start discussions ...
Employability Skills Wheel
A word document that gives an example of how a 'wheel' tool can be used to gather information on where clients feel they are in relation to a set of ...
ESS's Action Plan Template
This word template is a simple tool to help you plan your monitoring and evaluation. It makes you set out the indicators appropriately for each outcomes and then work out how you are going to ...
Evaluation Ladder (Drugs and Housing)
This ladder was adapted by Kevin Callaghan from Cyrenians in West Lothian to use with the service users he works with. This is an excellent example of how tools can be adapted to different ...
Evaluation Tree
This visual tool is often used with children and young people to explore how they feel, however it can be used in other settings and with other groups.
Evaluation Wheel
This tool is described in our "ESS Evaluation Support Guide 4: Using visual Approaches" to evaluate your Project. The wheel allows users to plot progress to or ...
Outcomes Star website
The Outcomes Star™ is a unique tool for supporting and measuring change when working with vulnerable people. It is widely used and is: Underpinned by an explicit model of change
Step it Up - Charting Young People's Progress
This document contains a report of work commissioned by the Scottish Executive Education Department in 2001 and materials developed for evaluating youth work. The report identifies ...
Survey Monkey
One of the pieces of data that fed into our 2006-7 self-evaluation report was the findings from our on-line stakeholder survey. We used
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