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Scope of work
How to Prepare an Evaluation Scope of Work
The SOW is the plan that lays out in a fair amount of detail all of
the specifics regarding the evaluation—the who, what, where, why,
how, and when of the evaluation. The SOW helps the individual or team
managing the evaluation as well as the team conducting the evaluation.
The SOW's structure allows you to organize all of the information about
the evaluation from all of the evaluation's stakeholders.
The second role of the SOW is to communicate. The SOW is the key communication
tool for the evaluation's stakeholders around the world. It also serves
to inform team members about the evaluation, whether they are internal
or contractors. The SOW, used in a competitive bidding process, is the
basis for contractors' proposals.
Outline of an SOW
There is a fairly standard conventional organization for an SOW. That
standard outline with approximate page lengths is as follows:
I. Title and Results Framework Linkage (½
page)
II. Purpose of the Evaluation (½ page)
· Why the evaluation is being done, who is the audience and what will
be done with the findings?
III. Background (1-2 pages)
· What problem did the project address? What are the assumptions and hypotheses
about the problem and the solutions?
IV. Evaluation Focus (1-4 pages)
· What is the scope of the program or project being evaluated? What is
included and what is not? The SO description, project design documents,
program reviews and related material need to be provided to the evaluator.
A. Priority questions
· What are the research questions that the evaluation should address?
B. Subordinate issues
· What has been learned from other USAID projects in other countries?
Is there World Bank or other literature that could help answer the questions?
V. Methods and Procedures
(1-2 pages)
· What type of evaluation is needed and what methodology will be used?
What variables and indicators can be used to measure performance, impact,
cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability? What type of data
collection and analysis will be used?
VI. Team Composition (1 page)
· What is the evaluation team composition? What skills are needed, and
why?
VII. Reporting Requirements (½ page)
· What "deliverables" will the evaluator produce? When will they be completed?
What is the Mission's marketing or utilization plan for the evaluation
findings?
VIII. Logistics (1 page)
· What are the work plan, schedule, personnel, logistical and budget requirements?
IX. Budget (1 page)
Illustrative evaluation scopes of work:
While these SOWs cover topics that may differ from your evaluation, they
provide a good organization and listing of tasks that have proven useful
to evaluators. They are good generic models.
Evaluation Guidance Documents:
Publications that provide evaluation methodological
guidelines USAID ADS Sections on Evaluation (203.3.6).
Also see sections on Performance Management Plans (203.3.3) and PMP Performance
Indicators (203.3.4) from http://www.usaid.gov/pubs/ads/200/203.doc
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A good evaluation scope of work makes clear what is expected and what
questions need to be answered. Points to consider when you draft your
evaluation scope of work include:
Why the evaluation is being done, who is the audience and what will
be done with the findings?
What problem did the project is address? What are the assumptions and
hypotheses about the problem and the solutions?
What is the scope of the program or project being evaluated? What is
included and what is not? The SO description, project design documents,
program reviews and related material need to be provided to the evaluator.
What are the research questions that the evaluation should address?
What has been learned from other USAID projects in other countries?
Is there World Bank or other literature that could help answer the questions?
What type of evaluation is needed and what methodology will be used?
What variables and indicators can be used to measure performance, impact,
cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability?
What type of data collection and analysis will be used?
What is the evaluation team composition? What skills are needed, and
why?
What are the work plan, schedule, personnel, logistical and budget
requirements?
What "deliverables" will the evaluator produce? When will they be completed?
What is the Mission's marketing or utilization plan for the evaluation
findings?
How to Create a Budget
Break down the evaluation into manageable parts and then make estimates
which are "rolled up" into a total. The work is broken down into a series
of tasks and subtasks, much like an outline. Then estimate the number
of labor hours it will take to perform each subtask (or the smallest
unit in the outline). Sum these up by task and then arrive at a grand
total. That is the level of effort or total number of labor hours required.
Direct costs:
In addition to labor, there usually are other sorts of
costs: travel, hotel, per diem, and other direct costs (ODCs). Other
direct costs sounds a little mysterious, but usually include costs like
photocopying, report binders, or database charges for a literature review-think
of it as a miscellaneous column. These costs and labor should be provided
by task; that way, you can look at the cost for each task and if one
looks way too expensive for what you get, you can comfortably cut it
out and know how it will affect your bottom line.
Click on the link below to see a sample budget. Budgets are nearly always
done in spreadsheets as this one was. Sample
Budget
You may notice that we took an added step of subdividing the number
of hours for each task by person. This added detail can be especially
helpful when we know who will be involved or have contractors who charge
by the hour. If we added a column of hourly labor costs for each labor
category it would be easy to convert the level of effort into a total
labor cost.
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