Guide to Project Evaluation: A Participatory Approach

Chapter 4: Defining Project Work

Evaluation isn't something that happens at the end of a project. It is a process that begins when the project begins with the development of goals and objectives, and it continues throughout the life of the project. It is through the evaluation process that we learn whether projects are meeting their goals and having an impact on the attitudes and health practices of Canadians.

4.1 Developing project goals and objectives

The project goals and objectives describe what the project wants to accomplish and provide the context in which the five evaluation questions are answered. If the project goals and objectives are not clear, it will be very difficult to answer the first evaluation question, "Did we do what we said we would do?"

Goals are general statements of what a project is trying to do.

Objectives are specific, measurable statements of the desired change(s) that a project intends to accomplish by a given time.

4.2 Writing Project Objectives

Clear project objectives are essential to project work and effective evaluation. Good project objectives set the groundwork for demonstrating the impact of the project. Writing project objectives, however, can be challenging for many groups.

Many people confuse objectives with activities. For example, a project may state that their objective is to create a video explaining how HIV/AIDS is transmitted. Creating a video is an activity. The objective the activity wishes to achieve is an increase in knowledge on how HIV/AIDS is transmitted.

There are two helpful guidelines to use in writing good project objectives: (1) identify the specific changes the project is designed to accomplish, and (2) ensure that these changes are measurable.

To help identify the specific project objectives, it is useful to ask the question:

What are we trying to change?

Projects generally focus on change in the following key areas:

• knowledge (increasing knowledge on a particular issue or subject)
• attitudes (creating an attitude that favours a desired behaviour)
• skills (developing the individual capacity to adopt a given behaviour)
• behaviour (maintaining or adopting a healthy behaviour)

These key areas may be seen as a kind of continuum of change. A change in knowledge can lead to new attitudes. Developing skills can enable people to make positive changes in their behaviour.

Once the areas of change have been identified, it is important to ensure that they are measurable. There are five important elements to consider when creating project objectives that are specific and measurable. These elements are listed below in random order:

• the date by which the change will occur
• the specific change desired (use action verb)
• a measure (number or percentage)
• the target group
• the location

Although their use may vary from one project to another, a good rule of thumb is to write project objectives that include these five elements.

For example, a project with the goal of increasing awareness of factors related to HIV/AIDS transmission among high school students might create a project objective that reads:

By August 1, 1996 (date)/the knowledge of the factors involved in HIV/AIDS transmission (specific change)/will increase by 30% (measure)/among high school students(target)/in Montréal(location).

Following is an activity that can help in practicing how to write good project objectives.

4.3 Activity: Writing Effective Project Objectives

Topic: Writing project objectives

Purpose:		To give project sponsors a chance to write effective project objectives for their project.
Time:		1-2 hours
Materials:		flipchart
		project proposal
		Guide to Project Evaluation, Chapter 4
Activity:		Have participants refer to the project proposal for their project.
		Working in small groups, have participants review the project objectives. Do the project objectives provide enough information to answer the question "What are we trying to change?"
		Have participants examine the project objectives to see if they contain the five key elements (refer to Chapter 4 of the Guide): date specific change desired measure of change target group location
		If the objectives contain the five key elements, have participants break down the objectives into the five elements. If the objectives do not contain the five key elements, have participants rewrite the objectives to include these elements.
		Bring all participants together to share their results and to discuss their ideas on which objectives are most useful and on how to keep the number of project objectives manageable given the scope and resources of the project.

4.4 Role of the outside evaluator

In small projects with limited resources, the evaluation can usually be done by the project sponsors. Larger projects, having correspondingly larger evaluation requirements, often hire an outside evaluator.

If an outside evaluator is being used, it is essential that project sponsors clarify the evaluator's roles and responsibilities.

Questions to consider when hiring an outside evaluator:

• What will be the relationship between the project sponsor and the outside evaluator?
• What work will the evaluator be responsible for? A detailed workplan should be agreed upon in advance.
• What credentials and experience will be required of the evaluator?
• How will the evaluator be informed of and held accountable to the evaluation framework and the principles on which it is based?
• How does the project sponsor plan to handle any disputes with outside evaluators?

To assist in the effective use of outside evaluators, it is helpful to have the following information available:

• a list of possible evaluators, including their profiles: what their strengths and weaknesses are, projects they have worked on, any experience working with them previously
• ideas on different roles for outside evaluators, e.g. working with project sponsors to develop the evaluation plan, developing some or all of the data collection tools, analysing the data, writing the summary reports
• sample contracts with outside evaluators
• guidelines on when to use outside evaluators for projects.

4.5 Points to Remember

Three tasks which need to be done at the start of an evaluation:

• Develop realistic and clear project goals.
• Develop specific, measurable project objectives and success indicators.
• Define the roles and responsibilities of the people involved in the evaluation.

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