Appreciative inquiry approach to evaluation practices in South Asia

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.