Working with Assumptions in International Development Program Evaluation

Apollo M. Nkwake works as International Technical Advisor on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning. He previously worked as Associate Research Professor for monitoring and evaluation at The George Washington and Tulane Universities. He has worked for international agencies across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Apollo holds a PhD from University of Cape Town and is designated as Credentialed Evaluator by Canadian Evaluation Society. Dr. Nkwake is a recipient of American Evaluation Association’s 2017 Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator Award. He has authored three other books, several journal papers/book chapters and has guest edited two special journal volumes. He is the author of Credibility, Validity, and Assumptions in Program Evaluation Methodology (2015, Springer), and Working with Assumptions in International Development Program Evaluation (2013, Springer); His edited journal volumes include Working with assumptions: Existing and emerging approachesfor improved program design, monitoring and evaluation (Evaluation and Program Planning Journal) and Catalyzing and measuring women’s leadership and empowerment in African agricultural research and development (Journal Gender, Agriculture and Food Security).

• Chapter 1. Introduction.- Part I: Designing and Evaluating Complex Development Programs.- Chapter 2. Attributes of Complex Development Programs.- Chapter 3. Designing Complex Development Programs.-Chapter 4. Evaluating Complex Development Programs.- Part II: Evaluation Theory and Assumptions.- Chapter 5. Theory in Evaluation.- Chapter 6. What are Assumptions?.- Chapter 7. Why are Assumptions Important?.- Part III: Explicating Tacit Program Assumptions.- Chapter 8. Normative and Diagnostic Assumptions.- Chapter 9. Prescriptive Assumptions.- Chapter 10. Transformation Assumptions.- Part IV: Working with Assumptions in Program Evaluation.- Chapter 11. Evaluating Assumptions.- Chapter 12. Challenges of Explicating Assumptions.