We’ve all been there – you get some data from a client or a survey you’ve run, and you can’t wait to start answering your evaluation questions. But you find one of your data columns is a complete mess because it was an open-ended text field.

Cleaning this messy data can be a day-ruining task - but this doesn’t have to be! I’m going to show you how to use OpenRefine to make this task a million times easier.

This series of posts walks you through how to reno your evaluation reports using six of Canva’s design lessons. Part 1 focused on how to take your audience on a journey using storytelling techniques. Part 2 in this six-part series focuses on how to format your report with a consistent, cohesive look using two formatting elements: colour and font.

Data visualization is an effective approach for improved data comprehension. Seeing the data presented in a clear, concise fashion drives your overall message home much better than cluttered tables. In this article I outline seven simple tips that will help to improve your visuals.

Evaluators are notorious for bad reporting. According to Jane Davidson it has to do with our training. Often evaluators are trained in social sciences – a world that prepares people for academic style research and how to write scientifically. The problem is this doesn’t work in the “real world.” Leaders and decision makers don’t want to comb through pages and pages of text to try and find findings and what they should do about them. #TLDR

Evaluators are equipped to ask and answer some pretty complex questions. We are not afraid to tackle abstract ideas and make sense of messy data. However, there is one question that can be tough to succinctly answer - what is evaluation?

The evaluation profession is not immune to structural racism - but what can we do about it? Caldwell and Bledsoe propose systemic changes to our professional organizations in evaluation to help unravel these systems of oppression.

On a summer morning, after several attempts to interview clients for an evaluation project, I arrived with a social worker at an overnight shelter. Finally, we had located Jules, who wanted to share her experiences with the program I was learning about. When we approached her and her friends, we noticed that she was sipping from a bottle of vodka.

Recently we used outcome harvesting as part of a developmental evaluation. As with most developmental and participatory techniques, using this method was a bit time intensive, but the results were worth it! Here we share how we used the methodology and what we wished someone had told us before we started.

When you are asked to conduct an evaluation for a program it can be like shopping for a bike - there are various types, sizes and budgets. Designing an evaluation that meets your stakeholders’ needs begins with a scoping process. There are a number of questions that you should ask to scope an evaluation, but ultimately scoping an evaluation focuses on purpose.

Sometimes online resources just aren’t enough. Some questions call for discussion, for a second opinion – a coach. That’s why Eval Academy is launching its new evaluation coaching service.

Evaluators have several options for transcribing audio from interviews, including voice-to-text software, outsourcing, and doing it ourselves. If you are taking the DIY approach, here are four tips to get you transcribing like a pro!

A recent study in the American Journal of Evaluation showed how three simple visual design principles could be applied to logic models to make them more effective and understandable. This article summarizes the findings of that study so you can improve your logic model.

Time and time again, we hear of people going through an evaluation only to be disappointed that the findings didn’t give them the answers they wanted. So I’m going to share three ways we help clients use the results from our evaluations.

Evaluators need to write clearly for their work to be used. Although not preferable, the written evaluation report must stand on its own, clearly conveying the key findings and messages. The 9 mistakes below are ones that I’ve come across in my years of writing, editing, and reading evaluation reports.

Evaluations are inherently political, which means they are fraught with ethical choices and decisions along the way. There have been many instances throughout my career where I faced an ethical dilemma - here are some things that have helped me silence the devil on my left shoulder and figure out the right thing to do.

Here, I share solutions to two challenges you are likely to come across while entering survey data: 1) coding complex question types and 2) dealing with unclear responses. Addressing these challenges will require some advanced coding that I did not cover in my first article.

When entering survey data, it is important that it is accurate, easy to analyze, and fast. Use these tips to prevent mistakes from the beginning.

The most exciting part about conducting a survey is seeing the results – finally your hard work has come to fruition, and you get to hear what everybody had to say! But before you can get to that step, you need to transform the stack of paper surveys on your desk into useable data.

In this article, I share my three-step system for making survey data entry as easy and painless as possible, which comes from my experience designing, entering, and analyzing survey data.

The process of writing an evaluation report is like cooking. It can be a joyful and meditative process for some and an annoying necessity for others. Both cooking and report writing take practice; the more you do them, the more you refine your processes and find your own groove. While there is no formula to create a perfect reporting process, there are some key steps that can set you up for success.

Recently I was asked by a client about an “evaluation literacy course” for its board. The client’s board members had just attended a strategic planning day and through that discussion felt they needed some “education on evaluation and metrics.” On one hand I thought “bravo, they want to know more about evaluation!”; on the other hand I thought “shit…., I’ve totally failed them as their evaluator – what have I been missing?”