Emergency & Rehabilitation Coordination Unit. 2 An organization is comprised of its projects...
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Monitoring and Evaluation Project Cycle June 7 th , 2012, Basics of M&E Emergency & Rehabilitatio n Coordination Unit
Emergency & Rehabilitation Coordination Unit. 2 An organization is comprised of its projects Understanding how the project cycle works is the first step
2 An organization is comprised of its projects Understanding
how the project cycle works is the first step to understanding how
monitoring and evaluation fits into the day-to-day operations of
the organization
Slide 3
Why learn the Project Cycle? An organization is comprised of
its projects Understanding how the project cycle works is the first
step to understanding how monitoring and evaluation fits into the
day-to-day operations of the organization 3
Slide 4
Need IdentifiedProposal DevelopmentDonor
ApprovalRecruitment/ProcurementImplementationMid-Term
EvaluationContinued ImplementationFinal Evaluation 4
Slide 5
Need Identified: A need can be identified in many ways: Through
previous projects Through assessments Through calls from Donors
Through calls for assistance from Government Etc... 5
Slide 6
Proposal Development: Numerous individuals are involved in
designing a project. Operations, Field Staff, M&E Staff,
Reporting, etc. The design of a proposal varies depending on the
donor, but there are some common elements: Background Information
Beneficiary Criteria Implementation Plan Risks Monitoring and
Evaluation Log Frame Budget 6
Slide 7
Proposal Development Continued: Background Information should
be linked to the identified need and should also explain why an
organization is qualified to implement the project. Beneficiary
Criteria defines the type of beneficiaries the project will target
(specifics vary, but vulnerable is a general criteria)
Implementation Plan outlines the activities that will take place
and where Risks allows the organization to identify possible
obstacles that may arise 7
Slide 8
Proposal Development Continued: Monitoring and Evaluation in
terms of the proposal, is how an organization provides
accountability to the donor. The Log Frame outlines what the
project seeks to achieve and how those achievements will be
measured Budget 8
Slide 9
Donor Approval: Once the Donor has approved and signed the
proposal it becomes a binding contract. The proposal is a legal
document that states, on the one side, the donor will provide money
to the organization, and on the other, that the organization will
achieve certain results using the money in the manner outlined in
the budget. 9
Slide 10
Recruitment & Procurement: After the funds are released
(and for some organizations, before) recruitment of staff and
procurement of inputs starts. This stage is primarily the
responsibility of logistics and HR with assistance from Operations
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Slide 11
Implementation: General activities. This varies greatly program
to program. In the case of FAO, implementation is largely covered
by implementing partners which requires Letters of Agreement (LOAs)
which are also legally binding documents outlining how the Service
Provider (SP) will use the funds/inputs provided. In the case of
FAO, though the addition of SPs is slightly more complicated,
activities are usually pretty straight forward. 11
Slide 12
Mid-Term and Final Evaluations Donors generally require at
least one interim report, and sometimes more. They also require a
final evaluation report. These reports should cover how the project
is fairing against the indicators outlined in the log frame. They
must also note any actions that deviate from the original proposal.
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Slide 13
Emergency & Rehabilitation Coordination Unit
Slide 14
There are two primary reasons for the monitoring and evaluation
of projects 1) To ensure the project is progressing in the best way
possible. 2) To measure whether the project is reaching (and has
reached) the goals outlined in the proposal.
Slide 15
One of the most common misconceptions about M&E is that it
is designed to show the bad in a project. Many organizations do not
report accurate data for fear that it will reflect badly on
them.
Slide 16
The goal of M&E is to determine how to improve a project,
rather than to police it. All project designs, to some extent, are
based on assumptions and though these may be rooted in experience,
they can sometimes be mistaken. It is important to identify where
changes need to be made Though problems may arise, they do not
necessarily reflect mistakes on the part of an organization or its
staff
Slide 17
By providing accountability and transparency organizations show
themselves to be honest Donors want to see that organizations are
implementing the projects they proposed. Identifying and rectifying
issues that arise in the field shows that an organization puts the
implementation of the project (and thus the beneficiaries)
first.
Slide 18
UNDP states that Monitoring and Evaluation should be Results
Oriented and provide assessments of the Relevance, Progress and
Success of a project
Slide 19
Need IdentifiedProposal DevelopmentDonor
ApprovalRecruitment/ProcurementImplementationMid-Term
EvaluationContinued ImplementationFinal Evaluation As a technical
team, M&E can assist in designing and implementing Needs
Assessments M&E should always have the final say on Indicators
M&E is responsible for providing the data for the Mid-Term
Evaluation Monitoring Continued Monitoring Data collected for
evaluation is used to describe the effects and outputs on an
intervention
Slide 20
There are two main ways to collect data during a project: 1)
Basic implementation facts These are generally recorded by all
organizations and include x number of inputs distributed to x
number of beneficiaries 2) Perceptions of beneficiaries and
stakeholders Often both qualitative and quantitative data is
collected to determine if the perceptions of the project are those
predicted The important component for monitoring and evaluation is
number 2
Slide 21
Qualitative Deals with descriptions and observations Cannot be
measured e.g. what is your favorite food? Quantitative Deals with
numbers Can be measured e.g. how many times a day do you eat?
Sample Size A portion that is used to represent a whole In very
simple terms, a piece of cake can determine what the whole cake
should taste like Based on scientific methodology
Slide 22
There are 3 standard methodologies for collecting data from
project stakeholders. 1) Key Informant Interviews Held with a
single person and often open ended Usually qualitative in nature 2)
Focus Group Discussions Held with a group, normally between 6 and
12 people Also usually qualitative 3) Surveys Cover a wide range of
people Usually more quantitative, though they often seek to
quantify qualitative data through the use of multiple choice
questions Often based on a sample size.
Slide 23
Since emergency projects take place in a short amount of time
and often cover a large population, qualitative data is not usually
possible to collect, and takes too long to analyze Surveys are
carefully designed based on project goals so that they can be
analyzed and eventually determine how a project progressed using
qualitative data in a way that can be quantified Due to the large
number of beneficiaries a sample size of the beneficiary population
is usually used.
Slide 24
Database vs. Analysis There is a significant difference in the
needs of a database system and an analysis system Database: The
primary concern for a database is how to store a large amount of
data in a small space Analysis Analyzing information requires that
the data itself be 1) Clean = Spelling and formatting are uniform
throughout the database and other sections have been checked and
reworded so they can be compared 2) Simple to read 3) In cases
where the data is to be merged/compared with other datasets, the
field headings and formatting needs to be exactly the same.
Slide 25
Reporting Results M&E Reports are quite different to
general reports. The goal of an M&E report is to state results
in a factual manner. Though there may be some need to explain some
results, conjecture should be avoided wherever possible M&E
uses information that can be verified though a technical
process
Slide 26
Emergency & Rehabilitation Coordination Unit
Slide 27
There are 4 standard methodologies for collecting data: 1) Desk
Review Review existing information 2) Key Informant Interviews
Usually held with a single person and often open ended Usually
qualitative in nature 3) Focus Group Discussions Held with a group,
normally between 6 and 12 people Also usually qualitative 4)
Surveys Cover a wide range of people Usually more quantitative,
though they often seek to quantify qualitative data through the use
of multiple choice questions Often based on a sample size.
Slide 28
A desk review can be an incredibly useful source of information
The first step of a desk review is to determine what data may
already exist on the population group being targeted in the study
(e.g. beneficiary population) This data can serve as a baseline or
may be useful for helping to design questions and determine what
type of data collection tool to use
Slide 29
Usually a One-on-One Open Ended Interview Qualitative. Allows
the interviewer to ask additional questions as the conversation
progresses Should try to keep it at one-on-one to help the person
being interviewed feel comfortable (and thus more likely to share)
Should try to respect the position of the person being interviewed
E.g. if the person being interviewed is high level government, then
it should be a very high level staff member conducting the
interview
Slide 30
How to record information As there is likely only a general
list of questions to ask, and the primary benefit is the ability to
ask questions in an ad hoc manner, it is important to ensure there
are detailed notes from such an interview. Ideally the interview
should be recorded but you must have the permission of the person
being interviewed in order to record them. Alternately take limited
notes during the interview (if you write the whole time you may not
hear important information, and it is awkward for the person
speaking.) Be sure to write detailed notes up right after the
interview is complete
Slide 31
Different Meanings of FGDs In academic terms, a focus group
discussion (FGD) is qualitative and involves a group of people
discussing a given topic. (As opposed to answering a multiple
choice question which does not involve the same discussion).
However, the terminology is now widely used to describe group
surveys, some of which may have pre-set answers. For the purpose of
this discussion, FGDs refers to the academic definition
Slide 32
Why Conduct an FGD? FGDs are used, primarily when you require
general opinions, and are useful for helping confirm or reject
assumptions. E.g. To understand the different roles and
responsibilities of men vs. women and how theyve changed over a
long period amongst a group of IDPs, you could hold FGDs with Men
and Women.
Slide 33
How to Conduct an FGD FGDs should have a facilitator and a note
taker. Ideally they should involve activities that illicit
responses. The most important thing to remember with FGDs is that
the participants should be doing the talking. It is very important
to try not to LEAD their answers
Slide 34
Difficulties Encountered Conducting FGDs
Slide 35
First Questions: What information do we need to know? What ways
can we collect this information? Do we need a baseline to compare?
What type of data collection tool should we use? (Open ended
qualitative or closed quantitative) Designing the Questions In
quantitative surveys, it is just as important to design the answers
as the questions Questions should be kept simple and in a format
that is easy to use in the field and the language and terms used
should be local where possible For surveys that are often reused,
they should be constantly examined and improved
Slide 36
Remember: Always keep the reason for asking the questions in
mind. Keep it Simple Try to keep is Short
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Emergency & Rehabilitation Coordination Unit
Slide 38
Important Component of Targeted Interventions Donors want to
know why an intervention is needed. Detailed assessments help to
illustrate why. Needs assessments take many different forms, but
can normally fall into Rapid or Detailed (though there are many in
between)
Slide 39
Emergencies In an Emergency it is important to collect
information as quickly as possible. 72 Hours 1 to 2 Weeks 1
Month
Slide 40
A coordinated assessment is always complicated. Important to
ensure everyone agrees before moving on to the next step
Slide 41
Steps: 1. Determine what the goals of the assessment are (what
the final report should be focused on) 2. Create a list of general
questions the assessment seeks to answer 3. Determine the tools to
be used and assign the general questions to respective tools 4.
Design the tools 5. Collect the Data 6. Clean and Analyze the Data
7. Produce the Report
Slide 42
These should follow a similar process to the Coordinated
Assessments
Slide 43
Important Note: Needs assessments determine where a project
will take place and what it should focus on They should not be the
sole responsibility of M&E or they may compromise the
independence of the M&E department
Slide 44
Emergency & Rehabilitation Coordination Unit
Slide 45
Most important part of the proposal for M&E Determines what
the organization is contractually (legally) obligated to report on.
Within the log frame there are overall goals and activity specific
goals Overall Goal What the project seeks to achieve as a whole
Specific Goals What each activity will achieve
Slide 46
The indicators listed under each activity must be reported on
They need to be MEASURABLE They need to be SIMPLE They need to be
easily UNDERSTOOD and not open to misinterpretation
Slide 47
Look at the Sample Log Frame provided. Please take 10 minutes
to go through it and identify indicators that you think are Good or
Bad
Slide 48
Using the same log frame, please work together to identify
alternative indicators for each activity. Be sure to think about
how they will be measured.
Slide 49
Emergency & Rehabilitation Coordination Unit
Slide 50
Designing an M&E Plan Examine the Indicators Determine what
information you must collect Identify any additional information
you should collect Determine the tools you will need to use Design
the tools Execute the Plan
Slide 51
Using the indicators you just agreed on, come up with a
monitoring and evaluation plan for the project. Beneficiary
Criteria is vulnerable individuals affected by floods