Hello Loyal aea365 readers! I’m Sheila B Robinson, aea365’s Lead Curator and sometimes Saturday contributor with one question for you: What is it that YOU would like to read about on this blog?
I originally posted this blog about a year ago and we received some excellent responses from readers. I then shared these responses in a subsequent post and we received blog articles on some of the suggested topics from authors willing to answer the call. Here we go with some minor updates to reflect the times:
Lesson Learned: AEA365 has been going steadily since January 1, 2010 with 2150+ contributions from hundreds of evaluators across the globe. We accept individual submissions at aea365@eval.org on a rolling basis, along with inquiries about sponsored or themed weeks. Posts are about any and all evaluation-related topics, and anyone with something to share with fellow evaluators is welcome to contribute! If you are interested in sharing a tip, please be sure to check out our contribution guidelines here.
2015 was the International Year of Evaluation. The aim of designating 2015 as the International Year of Evaluation is to advocate and promote evaluation and evidence-based policy making at international, regional, national and local levels. EvalPartners is also facilitating a consultation to generate ideas for the Global Evaluation Agenda for 2016-2020. The Global Evaluation Agenda will guide mainstreaming evaluation at national level and global development agenda.
As a key learning tool for evaluation, aea365 can also be a fabulous vehicle for promoting evaluation and evidence-based policy. With that in mind, we would like to include your voice as we head into the new year as our aea365 team considers inviting authors and groups to contribute.
Hot Tip: Let’s crowdsource some ideas for aea365 in 2016 and make it the best year ever.
Please let us know what you would like to see in aea365 by responding to these questions in the comments:
1. What do YOU want to read or learn more about on aea365 in 2016?
2. Who do YOU want to hear from on this blog?
Thanks very much for your input and your loyal readership.
Happy New Year!
Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.
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I have heard that some people use t-test to analyze Retrospective Pre-Post Self-Assessment data (while others just present the results as suggested on the webinar). Some statisticians are against using the t-test in this kind of evaluations. What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear different comment on this line.
Thank you!!
Hi Sheila, AEA365 is one my favorite blogs. I learn SO much from it. Thank you for all that you do! It is a valuable resource to the community.
Perhaps we can invite experts from related fields to do guest blogging? Like get a statistical expert on how to use R or management experts on tips to manage projects.
I enjoy the sessions at conferences where evaluators share lessons learned from mistakes they’ve made or what people have learned as they’ve grown in their career. Perhaps a week on evaluation bloopers? EERS and AEA have both held sessions on bloopers and they were well attended with positive responses.
I’m also always looking for better ways to summarize and synthesize data from multiple sources when doing background research for a report, needs assessment, etc.
I’m following this blog since one year and it was so interesting to learn from so many different fields how evaluation is applied and used with many very practical advice. Thanks for all this sharing and all the effort behind it.
I work in the field of nature conservation and I find this thematic area is never really discussed. There are really “big” questions and challenges on how to measure changes / impacts influenced by programs/projects aiming nature conservation – sustainable development – environmental protection. I work for a foundation supporting in particular marine and coastal environment and in this kind of ecosystem it’s even worth to find an easy and cheap way to have an idea of the changes happening and if it was a result of a specific action.
Another interesting subject that I’m seeing more and more is the “storytelling”. More and more foundations go this road to share some of their impacts and give voice to their beneficiaries. How to go about “storytelling” / best way to develop good stories.
Thanks and happy New Year!
Nathalie
Happy New Year to you and aea365 readers. This is a great resource! I would like to read about statistical topics, especially with examples of appropriate use. And, I always appreciate the postings on how to make evaluation reports more readable. Thank you Stephanie Evergreen and others!
And thank YOU, Sheila,for aea365!!
AEA365 is already quite informative. While not every post is going to pertain to everyone, perhaps future content could focus on current trends of evaluation in respective areas (e.g. the topic interest groups listed in the right-hand column of this page). The question I often ask myself as an evaluator is: What are the latest trends of evaluation and how does one continue to stay current on them? Perhaps this is where crowd-sourcing and a sense of “evaluation community” can help others. Thanks again for the great posts.
I love AEA365, and read it avidly almost every single day. I often find myself saving copies, and sharing content with others. The posts I like and use the most often have a specific tool or method associated with them. Sometimes a seminal article reference is helpful too. Thanks so much for all of your hard work to keep AEA365 going!
First of all, kudos to you, Sheila, for filling this blog with excellent content!
Who else do I want to hear from on this blog? Why not reach out to Evalpartners to see if they’d be willing to highlight significant content from their conferences (e.g. reflections on the Year of Evaluation)? Perhaps they should be creating regional blogs of their own?
I’d also have no problem with this blog reposting content from other related bloggers out there. I suppose it depends on what a mature blog looks like (e.g., creating context vs. merely content).
Keep up the great work!
Chad
As a new evaluator, I would like more on the following:
A non-profit hires you after they have written a grant and the indicators for measuring “success” are poorly written if not unmeasurable. The evaluator is charged with developing an instrument that may or may not work given the poor indicator. How and when is it appropriate to ask the client about rethinking the indicators, especially if that means going back to the funder to do so?
I realize the ultimate solution is to include the evaluator during grant writing phase, but we are not always so lucky.
I would love a week of blogs on solutions and sources for instruments and good indicators – especially when facing bad ones.