Using multiple lines of evidence and independent teams to enhance the credibility of evaluations

Abstract

The utilization of evaluation findings is an ongoing issue among evaluators. This article presents an approach to conducting evaluations that can be used to enhance the credibility of findings and to facilitate the production of adequate documentation in support of evaluation findings. The concepts of multiple lines of evidence and the use of independent teams are discussed. Use of this approach is expected to improve the utilization of evaluation findings. Two program evaluations that were undertaken at Canada's federal department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs are presented. To undertake the data collection and analysis, these studies were broken into separate “evaluation modules, ” each one undertaken by an independent team. The teams reported to an in-house study director, responsible for weighing the evidence and findings of each of the teams and writing the final evaluation report.