Practice Advice in Evaluation and Performance Measurement
Managing Evaluation Activities Strategically (OECD)
Description: Central government agencies play an important role in managing the evaluation process; however, the actual evaluations can be decentralised to different actors at all levels of government.
Commentary:
- Organisation of evaluation should correspond to needs and priorities in different policy areas. It may be appropriate to systematise and institutionalise evaluations in key policy areas where the costs of collecting data is high and information limited. However, a more flexible approach will often produce better results and prevent evaluations from becoming paperwork exercises. Special attention should be given to evaluation of activities that cut across many organisations.
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Development of evaluation skills in different organisations ensures the necessary range of evaluation methods and perspectives (e.g., drawing from both internal and external evaluators), and that each evaluation is designed in accordance with its unique set of issues related to objectives, focus, credibility and intended use.
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Special funds for financing evaluations can serve as an important incentive for evaluating public policies; however, they may also serve to encourage use of evaluation when other performance management approaches may be more appropriate.
Source: OECD (1998) Best Practice Guidlines For Evaluation at http://www.oecd.org/governance/budgetingandpublicexpenditures/1902965.pdf (accessed 23 November, 2012).
Page Created By: Matthew Seddon on 23 November 2012. Updated by Ian Clark on 2 January 2013. The content presented on this page is drawn directly from the source(s) cited above, and consists of direct quotations or close paraphrases. This material does not necessarily reflect the official view of the publishing organization.