A review of program and project evaluation models

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review Program and Project evaluation Models. The assessment of the Evaluation Model (metaevaluation) is a critical step in Evaluation, as it is at the basis of a successful Program/Project evaluation. A wide and effective review of EMs is a basic, as well as fundamental, support in meta-evaluation that affects positively the overall evaluation efficacy and efficiency. Despite a large number of reviews of EMs and a numerous population of EMs, developed in heterogeneous projects and programs settings, the literature lacks comprehensive collections and reviews of EMs that this paper addresses to provide a basis for the assessment of EMs.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a systematic literature review carried out via the Internet, and querying search engines, several models addressing program or project evaluation have been identified and analyzed. Following a process of normalization of the results gathered, they have been analyzed and compared according to key descriptive issues. They have been, at the end, summarized and rationalized in a comprehensive frame.

Findings

In recent years, evaluation studies have focused on the explanation of the mechanisms that underlie the transformation of projects’ and programs’ outputs into socio-economic effects, arguing that making them explicit allows to understand why a project or program is successful, as well as evaluating its extent. To assess and explain program’s and project’s effects, a basic, although fundamental, role in evaluation is played by the EM. A wide and heterogeneous set of 57 EMs has been identified, defined and framed in typologies, according to a systematic review research.

Originality/value

The approach to the review of EMs and the definition of a boundary of interest for management and economic researchers and practitioners represent an original issue of this paper.

Citation

Linzalone, R. and Schiuma, G. (2015), "A review of program and project evaluation models", Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 90-99. https://doi.org/10.1108/MBE-04-2015-0024