IA Step 2
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Conduct an Evaluability Assessment.
An evaluability assessment is an initial appraisal of whether an impact assessment should be conducted on the project and, if so, what is the most appropriate methodology to do so. An important part of the evaluability assessment involves sitting down with project staff to work through a causal model for all the project activities to be covered in the impact assessment. This means determining what exactly the project is doing or will do, over what time period, and with which expected outputs, outcomes, and impacts. If this discussion indicates that the hypothesized relationships between project activities and impacts are unrealistic, or if the project time frame is unsuitable (as a general rule, a minimum of two years is necessary for sustainable impacts to occur), then the impact assessment is not worthwhile.
The evaluability assessment should also consider the purposes that would be served by the impact assessment, its potential audience, its cost-effectiveness, and its potential credibility, along with the the best timing for conducting the impact assessment.
The evaluability assessment is conducted prior to conducting the baseline impact assessment. It is also important, however, to conduct a modified evaluability assessment prior to conducting the follow-up impact assessment. The purpose in this case is to determine (1) whether it is worthwhile to invest in the follow-up assessment at all or (2) whether to reduce the scope of the impact assessment light of events that have occurred since the baseline.
For more on causal models, see the Impact Assessment Series article #4, "Developing a Causal Model for Private Sector Development Programs."
For more on evaluability assessments, see the forthcoming Impact Assessment Primer Series article #5, “Evaluability Assessment: The First Step in Assessing Impacts.”
The PSDIAI team has produced the following examples of evaluability assessments, which include corresponding casual models for each program:
- Evaluability Assessment of USAID/Brazil's Micro and Small Enterprise Trade-Led Growth Program
- Evaluability Assessment of the PROFIT Zambia Program
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