Evaluation in Practice

The aim of this page is to present links to guides on specific evaluation practices, including methodological approaches and technical skills. 

Approaches to Evaluation


The number of methodological approaches to different evaluation contexts is large, and impossible to comprehensively list due to the evolving nature of evaluation work. 

The following links are examples of resources related to specific evaluation approaches and methodological techniques, including:


Logic models -  DataViz for Nonprofits: Living Logic Models; KU Community Toolbox: Developing a Logic Model or Theory of Change

Needs assessment - Needs Assessment: A comprehensive resource site

Systems Concepts in Evaluation - Systems Methodologies, Methods and Tools

Capacity-building - University of Wisconsin Extension: Building Capacity in Evaluating Outcomes (PDF)

Evaluation Advocacy - EvalPartners Evaluation Advocacy Toolkit


Technical Advice

Literature Review and Systematic Reviews:

Ten Simple Rules for Writing a Literature Review (Article)

Cochrane Library: Cochrane Reviews; The Campbell Collaboration: Systematic reviews, evidence synthesis

Data Cleaning & Statistics:

Brief Introduction to the 12 Steps of Evaluation Data Cleaning (Slideshare)

Penn State University Statistics Online 

Prof. Andy Field's YouTube Lectures

Claremont Graduate University WISE Videos

Applying Statistics to Evaluation Projects:

Causal Evaluation

Research Methods: 

Conjointly Research Methods Knowledge Base 

Stats Software Help:

UCLA IDRE Data Analysis Examples (SAS, MPlus, SPSS, Stata, R)

R for the Rest of Us 

YaRrr! The Pirate's Guide to R

The tidyverse (R package collection) style guide

R Graphics Cookbook, 2nd edition

R for Data Science