J
PLANNING AN EVALUATION
The
essence of good evaluation lies in
in
clear
clear definition
of
policy objectives,
good judgement and commonsense
in the selection of evaluation methods, and imagination
and flair in the general approach.
5 The best time to plan evaluation is before the policy
Some of the reasons are obvious:
is introduced.
appraisal
a
there may have been a thorough
at which the important questions were explored;
b
everything is fresh in the mind of the policy
manager and he is
then in a good position to
think of what is likely to be important later on;
C
the
arrangements
for getting
can be set up from the
the required
start.
This
information
is usually the cheapest way;
6
d
a
good procedure
can
be
its
this will
planned. At
simplest, for a policy of any substance,
include special files and regular planned meetings.
there may be a unique opportunity to compare out- turns before and after the new policyis introduced.
Ministers
instructed that policy evaluation
e
have
all new policy initiatives and all
should be built into all
policy reviews. In addition, all policy proposals with
value
for
implications money
in
Cabinet
and
Cabinet
2
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