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One-off data sources (Chapter 11: Evaluation and Research)
How this chapter is organized: Chapter 7 begins with background information and definitions relating to routine monitoring systems (Section 2). The desired results for this chapter follow in Section 3. The benefits of routine monitoring as part of a national M&E system are presented in Section 4, which explains that routine monitoring data provide information on program impact and size, and on input/output issues such as funding sources and program implementation protocols. Implementation issues are presented in Section 5. There is one HowTo Guide for this Component: how to design a new program monitoring system (Section 6). The Chapter closes with a summary of lessons learned (Section 7), and a practical exercise to cement what you have learned in the Chapter (Section 8).
2. Background Information and Definitions
Chapter 7
a)
Routine monitoring data: Routine monitoring data are data generated as part of the implementation of a program, activity or service e.g., attendance registers completed at schools every day. Routine monitoring data can be distinguished by the nature of the data (census data about the demand for services, routine program monitoring data about the supply of services, and routine financial monitoring data), or by the location where the data are generated (e.g., at health facilities or in the community), or by the types of organizations that generate the data (public sector, private sector and civil society). 1.
Types of routine data based on the nature of the data When categorizing routine data by type, you would usually ask, “What are the data?” Three general types of routine data can be distinguished:
• Census-type data about the need for (or demand for) services. These are data about the persons or groups who are in need of services, such as orphans and vulnerable children, poor households that are not coping with the economic downturn, or something similar. These data can also, for example, be about local government offices that need support, or community groups that need to be supported. These data are typically collected through either registers (e.g., a register of orphans in the district council offices) or through a census that determines who is in need. The fact that a person/group/organization is on a register or a list of who needs the service, does not mean that services will necessarily be provided. But it is useful to use such a list as a starting point for deciding which services need to be delivered in which areas and to 250
Making Monitoring and Evaluation Systems Work