Welcome

What are you trying to do?

Something I need to watch regularly in agencies, ngos and programme evaluation.

Before you start. Monitors currently run from the command line rather than from a page. The engine works and is tested; the interface for setting them up is still being built, so this route is the least finished of the four.

Your path

Create the study

One study holds the whole series.

Chart it before you judge it

A control chart separates ordinary variation from a real change. Most month-to-month movement is noise, and acting on it makes a process less stable rather than more.

Set up a monitor

A saved analysis with a cadence. It re-runs and reports what moved, without claiming the movement is significant - two consecutive estimates are not independent samples.

Read the series, not the last point

Twelve points tell you what one never can.

What people in your field ask

In agencies, ngos and programme evaluationthe full guide

Define the indicator - sample defensibly - collect with consent - compare against baseline - report what the design can and cannot support.

Did the programme change anything?independent t
We could not randomise. Can we still claim an effect?propensity matching
How many people are affected, and how sure are we?survey proportion
Our survey used clusters. Does that change the numbers?survey mean
Which communities are worst affected?getis ord

Watch for: Reporting a before-and-after difference as programme impact when anything else changed in the same period.

Create your first study The full guide for agencies, ngos and programme evaluation Start again