12.2 Introduction

Monitoring is a “cousin” to evaluation research questions we covered in previous chapters. As related concepts, they complement and sometimes rely on each other, yet they are different. Monitoring is an exercise that compares different aspects of the intervention to some norms. It is used to record the intervention evolution as it tries to achieve some pre-determined objectives. Monitoring is intended to gather information about the performance of an intervention or an organization. Unlike evaluation research—which examines causal relationships between elements related to the intervention—monitoring does not seek to establish causality (McDavid et al., 2019). Instead, it focuses on tracking progress through selected indicators to provide an ongoing sense of how the intervention is unfolding.

The arrows in Figure 4.3 illustrate the possible monitoring focal points: resources, activities, and intervention results. Monitoring information can be used in some evaluative research projects, but its main purpose and how it is conducted are different. Monitoring is used mainly for management purposes, including learning, control, and accountability (Van Dooren et al., 2015).