M&E specialist

Question 1

According to Dart and Davies (2003), what 7 steps are necessary for implementing the Most Significant Change (MSC)? Elaborate on the tool

Answer 1

MSC Is a participatory monitoring and evaluation method that collects and discusses stories of change instead of using predefined quantitative indicators.

The focus is on dialogue about which changes are most significant

Question 2

Which 7 steps does MSC have?

Answer 2

1. The selection of domains of change to be monitored
2. The reporting period
3. The participants
4. Phrasing the question
5. The structure of participation
6. Feedback
7. Verification

Question 3

The selection of domains of change to be monitored

Answer 3

The people managing the MSC identify the domains they think need to be evaluated

The domains are loose, because the actual users will define them later

Question 4

The reporting period

Answer 4

Identify how and when the stories will be collected

Question 5

The participants

Answer 5

Stories of significant change are collected from those most directly involved for example beneficiaries, clients and field staff

It is then up to the respondents to allocate their stories to a domain category

Also they need to report why they consider the change to be the most significant one

Question 6

Phrasing the question

Answer 6

The stories are collected with the help of a simple question: “During the last month, in your opinion, what was the most significant change that took place in the program?

Question 7

The structure of participation

Answer 7

The stories are analyzed and filtered up through the levels of authority typically found within an organization or program

Each level of the hierarchy reviews a series of stories sent to them by the level below. They then select the most significant story of change within each of the domains. Each committee sends the winning stories up to the next level of the hierarchy

So each level of the hierarchy selects the most significant story and passes it up to the next level.

Question 8

Feedback

Answer 8

Each time stories are chosen, the reasons for choosing them are written down and shared to all interested stakeholders, so future story selection can learn from past choices.

At the end of each period a document is produced with all the selected stories and the reason for the selection. This document will be sent to the program funders

Question 9

Verification

Answer 9

The winning stories can be verified by visiting the sites of the described event

The purpose of this is to:
- Check that the storytellers are reporting accurately and honestly

• Opportunity to gather more detailed information about events seen as specially significant
• Can also see what has happened since the event was first documented

Question 10

Compare the concepts of “monitoring” and “evaluation” in projects. In your answer refer to IFRC (2011).

Answer 10

According to IFRC (2011), monitoring and evaluation are both essential parts of project management but serve different purposes.

Question 11

Explain monitoring

Answer 11

Monitoring means regular collection and analysis of information to see if the project is going as planned and meeting the standards.

Can help with
- Are activities being implemented on time?
- Are resources being used efficiently?
- Are we achieving outputs as planned?

IFRC provides different types of Monitoring. In our project we used results monitoring, process monitoring and beneficiary monitoring

Question 12

Explain evaluation

Answer 12

Evaluations involve identifying and reflecting upon the effects of what has been done, and judging their worth

The findings allow project/programme managers and stakeholders to learn from the experience and improve future interventions

Question 13

Difference between monitoring and evaluation

Answer 13

Main difference is their timing and focus of assessment

Monitoring → ongoing and focus on what is happening

Evaluation → conducted at specific points in time to assess how well it happened and what difference it made

But monitoring and evaluation are also closely linked. Monitoring typically provides data for evaluation, and elements of evaluation occur when monitoring

Question 14

According to Sartorius (1991), the LFA has “indicators” as markers for project success. Assess their use as monitoring tools

Answer 14

LFA is a project design tool, that gives a view of the overall project design

Question 15

LFA´s use as Monitoring tools

Answer 15

Because LFA provides an overall picture of what a successful project should look like its useful for both monitoring and evaluation.

Sartorius says that the indicators and the means of verification lay the basis for project monitoring and evaluation plans.

Question 16

Why are the Objectively Verifiable Indicators in the LFA helpful for monitoring?

Answer 16

In the LFA indicators are used to measure if a project is on track (Objectively Verifiable Indicators) - these can be helpful for monitoring because
- Shows how much was done, how well and when
- Help track progress at different levels (goal, purpose, outputs and activities)
- Also comes with means of verification, which explain how to collect the data

So the indicators give clear and measurable information, so project managers can see if things are going as planned. But Sartorius also warns that they need to be realistic, not too expensive, and designed with input from people involved in the project.