Theory of Change

NOTE: this article is only a stub. Please add content!

A theory of change describes how the intervention is expected to affect the outcomes of interest(based on theory) but it does not demonstrate whether the intervention causes the observed outcomes. It usually includes the most important outcomes(intermediate and final) that are critical to the casual chain, even if not all will be measured(see example).

Read First

A theory of change sets the structure for the hypotheses, evaluation questions, and outcomes of interest. It also lists key indicators for developing the implementation protocol and IE monitoring system aimed at understanding what is being evaluated, and whether the critical intervention activities/components were implemented/taken up as planned.

Guidelines

• organize information on the topic into subsections. for each subsection, include a brief description / overview, with links to articles that provide details

Back to Parent

This article is part of the topic Impact Evaluation Design

Additional Resources

• For detailed explanations and examples, see: http://www.theoryofchange.org/

From theoryofchange.org: Theory of Change has the power to radically enhance the capacity of social change organizations and initiatives to achieve their goals and demonstrate their impact. It grounds planning and strategy in the reality and evidence base of what is necessary to achieve change. Theory of Change is also critical to evaluation, providing a framework that allows organizations to know what to evaluate and when. It builds on – and can usefully incorporate data gathered through – other approaches that have been developed to improve planning and evaluation, including ‘logic models/logframes’ and ‘results frames’.