2. Think Tank Initiative
Policy Engagement and
Communications Workshop
Monitoring and Evaluation Strategies
April 28, 2014
Shubha Jayaram and David Olson
3. M&E: The results chain
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Inputs
• The things needed for implementation, e.g. money or staff
Activities
• The actions undertaken, e.g. hosting a seminar or meeting
Outputs
• Quantifiable, short term results, e.g. number of people attending a seminar or meeting, policy
briefs, tweets, or Facebook followers
Outcomes
• Medium term results, e.g. better informed policymakers
Impact
• Long term results, e.g. policy change
Measurement is often heavily skewed towards outputs and activities
as they are easier to measure!
4. Potential Metrics for PEC*
I. Exposure (many are outputs)
• Media mentions
• # and type of publications
• Citations
• Government citations or
references
• Ratings
II. Resources
• Quality, diversity and stability of
funding
• Reputation of researchers
• Influence (e.g. quality and
extent of networks)
III. Demand (many are outputs)
• # and quality of events
• Digital traffic
• Official access to policymakers
• # of publications sold /
downloaded
IV.Policy Impact
• Policy recommendations
adopted
• Testimonials and feedback
• Quality of work
Experts suggest 15 possible metrics
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* Adapted from Communications and Impact Metrics for Think Tanks, CIGI, 2013
5. Group activity (20 minutes)
Each think tank to find one other organization to work with
Each pair to discuss and share the following:
What is your M&E strategy?
What are the M&E tools that you use?
What metrics are you adequately capturing and in what areas do you
face difficulties?
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