Introduction to evaluation for practitioners and policy makers

NatCen Learning

This course is designed to introduce some of the key ideas and concepts of programme evaluation to an audience that has little prior experience of either commissioning or undertaking evaluation. Some basic understanding of social science methodology and terminology will be assumed. The target audience for this course is policymakers, social scientists and practitioners in local and central government, or in the charitable sector who are having to get to grips with and commission evaluations as part of their work.

The course will comprise a mix of lectures and participatory problem solving activities, and will draw heavily on practical, real life examples.

Course outline

This course will cover the following topics:

What is evaluation
- Defining evaluation
- Overview of approaches & questions
- Evaluation - why now?
Developing evaluation questions
Practical issues in designing an evaluation
Evaluation methods and approaches
- Programme theory
- Process evaluation and monitoring
- Impact evaluation
- Efficiency and value for money
Controversies in evaluation
Challenges and prospects

Who is it aimed at?

This course will be useful to you if you are:

A policy maker working in central and local government, a public body or the not for profit sector.
A practitioner responsible for the delivery of social policies programmes in the areas of public health, education, crime and public order, welfare and employment
A researcher in any sector new to the evaluation of social policies and programmes

Learning outcomes

By the end of the workshop, participants will:

be able to define evaluation and its role in shaping policy and practice
be able to describe the processes and outcomes of monitoring systems and their role in evaluation
be able to specify the key roles, stages and challenges in the commissioning and management of evaluation projects
be able to describe the different range of methods used in evaluation
have had experience of formulating appropriate evaluation questions and choosing an appropriate blend of methods for those questions
have an improved understanding of key issues in contemporary evaluation debates

Cost and booking

The full price of this course is £500.

We offer discounts to students, academics and those working in the voluntary sector.

Participants will be limited to a maximum group size of 14.