This document discusses indicators for monitoring and evaluating projects. It defines indicators as variables used to measure project outputs and impact. Key points made include: indicators are important for defining how effectiveness will be measured, aiding managers assess progress, and providing a basis for evaluation. The document outlines three types of indicators - process, outcome, and impact - and gives examples for a water project. It stresses that good indicators must be precise, reliable, valid, measurable, and practicable.

1. PROJECT EVALUATION
Unit 2 : Indicators

2. Last class we learned

3. Monitoring Evaluation
 Observe, check
 Record, account
 Day-to-day
decisions
 Provide info for
evaluation
Judge, & value
Asses
Major decisions
Provide info for
planning
 During
implementation
 Continuous
Before or after
Periodic
Why?
When?

4. Key Uses of M&E
• Improve performance of ongoing projects
• Accountability
− Warn of deviations from goals
− Review inputs, activities, and results
− Performance Reporting
• Decision making
– Improving implementation
– Periodic review
– Improving planning

5. Monitoring Indicators

6. MONITORING INDICATORS

7. MONITORING INDICATORS
What is an indicator?
An indicator is a variable that is normally
used as a benchmark for measuring
program or project outputs. It is “that
thing” that shows that an undertaking
has had the desired impact.

8. MONITORING INDICATORS
It is on the basis of indicators that
evidence can be built on the
impact of any undertaking.
Most often, indicators are
quantitative in nature, however, in
some few cases, they are
qualitative.

9. IMPORTANCE OF INDICATORS
 At the initial phase of a project:-
indicators are important for the purposes of
defining how the involvement will be
measured
 It help to pre-determine how effectiveness
will be evaluated in a precise and clear
manner.

10. IMPORTANCE OF INDICATORS
During project implementation:
indicators serve the purpose of aiding program
managers assess project progress and highlight
areas for possible improvement.
 These indicators are measured against project
goals, managers can be able to measure progress
towards goals and inform the need for corrective
measures against potential catastrophe(Disasters
).

11. IMPORTANCE OF INDICATORS
At the evaluation phase:- This
indicators provide the basis for which
the evaluators will assess the project
impact.
 Without the indicators, evaluation
becomes an uncertain responsibility.

12. TYPES OF INDICATORS
The three widely acknowledged
types of indicators are process
indicators, outcome indicators and
impact indicators.

13. TYPES OF INDICATORS…
Process indicators: This indicators
are used to measure project
processes or activities.
For example, in a Safe Water project,
this could be “the number of chlorine
dispensers installed at water points”

14. TYPES OF INDICATORS…
Outcome Indicators: Are
indicators that measure project
outcomes. Outcomes are medium
impacts of a project.
 For example, in the case of a Safe
Water project, outcome indicators could
be “the proportion of households using
chlorinated drinking water”

15. TYPES OF INDICATORS…
Impact Indicators: Are indicators
that measure the long term
impacts of a project, also known
as the project impact.
In the case of the Safe Water
project, it could be, “the
prevalence of under 5 mortality.”

16. Factors to consider when
selecting project indicators

17. FACTORS TO CONSIDER…..
Precise/Well defined: the most
important characteristic of indicators is
that they should be precise or well
defined. In other words, indicators must
not be confusing. Otherwise, different
interpretations of indicators by different
people implies different results for each

18. FACTORS TO CONSIDER…..
• Reliable: Reliability here implies that
the indicator yields the same results
on repeated trials/ attempts when used
to measure outcomes. If an indicator
doesn’t yield consistent results, then it
is not a good indicator.

19. FACTORS TO CONSIDER…..
Valid: Validity here implies that the
indicator actually measures what it intends
to measure. For example, if you intend to
measure impact of a project on access to
safe drinking water, it must measure exactly
that and nothing else.

20. FACTORS TO CONSIDER…..
Measurable: Needless to say that an
indicator must be measurable. If an
indicator cannot be measured, then it
should and must not be used as an
indicator.

21. FACTORS TO CONSIDER…..
Practicable: In other cases, although an
indicator can be measured, it is impracticable
to do so due to the cost or process
constraints. An indicator must be able to
utilize locally available resources while at the
same time being cost effective.