Appreciative inquiry approach to evaluation practices in South Asia (English version)

Appreciative inquiry approach to evaluation is a recent development in the evaluation realm. Though some evaluators have used this approach independently, it has been used partially to complement other evaluation approaches in many cases. Similar to other evaluation it measures the changes, develops programme logic model, clarifies the evaluation purpose, identifies the stakeholders, determines the evaluation key questions, develops indicators and develops evaluation plan. Dissimilar to other evaluation approaches that lay emphasis on finding out the root causes of programme not meeting the set results, the appreciative approach focuses on what worked in the organisation, why it worked and how it worked. Unlike other evaluation where the evaluator plays major role in designing, conducting, and interpreting evaluation results, this approach involves all stakeholders into the evaluation cycle. The evaluation is complete only when the evaluation results are used for refining vision/goal/objective, redefining strategy and refining plan of work of programme being evaluated. Since evaluation results are used right way to improve the programme, this evaluation is considered as user-focused evaluation. These are the findings of the review of the literature and the author’s own experience regarding appreciative inquiry approach to evaluation.