Welcome to our monthly roundup of new and noteworthy evaluation news and resources – here is the latest.

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New and Noteworthy — Reads

Research vs. Evaluation

Ah, the age-old topic! This blog post by Viable Insights reflects on an activity with a group they were working with where they reflected on what evaluation is compared to research. In this post they outline five distinguishing features: 1) Underlying motivation, 2) Outcome use, 3) Generalizability, 4) Conclusive goals, and 5) Collaboration. Do you agree?

Evaluation Guru – A New Video Series

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Independent Evaluation Department (IED) recently started a new video series called Evaluation Guru. The series illustrates, how to design, implement and manage evaluations. In the first episode, Nathan Subramaniam (Director of Independent Evaluation Sector projects) walks people through Evaluating Private Sector Operations in an 11-minute whiteboard video.

Systems Diagrams: A Practical Guide

Bob Williams recently released a book that outlines six approaches to system diagrams, including: 1) Rich Picturing, 2) Influence Diagrams, 3) Causal Diagrams, 4) Cynefin, 5) Viable System Model (VSM) and 6) Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). The book provides an overview of each system diagram, their purpose, examples of what they look like, and steps on how to draw them.

Telling Your Story of Change

Tamarack Institute recently posted an article that discusses Solutions Storytelling. In this article, the author argues that the work non-profits do “carries enormous potential to be shared with a broader audience in the form of insights, and stories that offer concrete solution and reflection to many of the conversations our society is having right now” – enter Solutions Storytelling. In short, Solutions Storytelling is about bringing the same attention and rigor to stories about responses to problems as is often done with the problem themselves. As evaluators, Solutions Storytelling might offer a new approach for how to present our findings.

New and Noteworthy — Events

Tensions: A Dialogue

Organized by: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) & Equitable Evaluation Initiative (EEI)

Date: August 4, 2021

Moderator: Marcia Cone, Director of Practice Engagement & Evolution at Equitable Evaluation Initiative

CDC Applied Research and Evaluation Fellowship

Organized by: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Application Deadline: August 18, 2021

Next-level logic models for your ATE proposal and beyond

Organized by: EvaluATE

Date: August 18, 2021

Presenter: Lyssa Wilson Becho

Working with values: values literacy for evaluation

Organized by: Australian Evaluation Society

Dates: August 20 & August 27, 2021

Facilitator: Keryn Hassall

Developmental Evaluation

Organized by: Clear Horizon Academy

Start Date: August 27, 2021