An evaluation is strongest when it does more than collect accounts from people affected by a programme. It creates a disciplined opportunity for those people to interrogate the findings, challenge assumptions and help interpret what actually changed.
Participation as a source of evidence
Standard evaluations can privilege what programme designers expected to happen. Participants and implementing partners often hold insights about unintended outcomes, local adaptations and the barriers hidden within aggregate indicators. Involving them in analysis can reveal these dimensions while helping evaluators test alternative explanations.
What sensemaking adds
A participatory sensemaking process brings evidence back to a diverse set of relevant actors in a structured discussion. The purpose is not to manufacture consensus. It is to examine whether observations are plausible, identify where experiences differ, explain contradictory patterns and distinguish documented changes from interpretation.
The contribution of outcome harvesting
Outcome harvesting starts with observable changes in behaviour, relationships, policies or practice and works backwards to assess how an intervention may have contributed. It is particularly useful when change is complex and pathways are not linear. Its value still depends on careful verification, the explicit consideration of alternative influences and transparent limits on causal claims.
Make participation safe and consequential
Participation should be designed around power differences, language, accessibility, confidentiality and possible retaliation. People need to know why they are being asked to contribute and what can realistically change as a result. The quality of participation matters more than the size of a workshop or the number of voices recorded.
Close the loop
The evaluation process should end with more than a report. It should leave decision-makers with clear implications, transparent uncertainties and feasible adjustments. It should also communicate back to those who contributed how their perspectives were used. This is where evaluation becomes organisational learning rather than simply compliance.
Working through a similar challenge?
We support institutions and partners with diagnostics, research, practical advisory and capacity strengthening.
Connect to discuss