Development of evaluation indicators in psychosocial projects: balance between a creative challenge and research rigor

Abstract

Evaluation of psychosocial and community oriented projects includes a series of procedures to determine if project outcomes are achieved by an activity planned to help reach an individual or socially relevant goal. Typically, various stakeholders have an interest in evaluation of psychosocial projects. These may include project stai and manager, donors, authorities, bene¢ciaries and the community. Sometimes their interest in evaluation seems to be in con£ict, but clari¢cation of interests can lead to complementary positions. Evaluation is basically a decision making tool about the future of a project. The basic assumption in evaluation is that it should identify observable or measurable outcomes (consequences, results) that can be used to demonstrate that the project is reaching the goal and objectives. One of the crucial elements in this process are evaluation indicators which need to satisfy several universal criteria, while their speci¢c content and data collection method should re£ect the speci¢cs of the project under evaluation.