Why we monitor and evaluate
The value of the HRB’s active funding commitment exceeds €200 million at any given time. As this is public money, there is an onus on the HRB to account to government and other stakeholders, including the public, for the proper use of the funds it allocates and the value of the research it supports. Therefore, it is imperative that the HRB measures the extent to which this portfolio of funding is achieving HRB strategic goals and delivering the intended benefits.
Well planned and designed monitoring and evaluations activities can provide evidence for:
- Accountability and validation: To understand how well projects are delivering against their goals: to enable to the HRB to demonstrate the effective use of public funds, and to justify previous decisions made, by providing evidence of achievements and value for money.
- Scheme performance and impact: To identify and assess the outputs, outcomes and impacts of HRB-funded initiatives; to provide information to HRB as to how a scheme is performing, leading to improved processes and increased effectiveness.
- Strategy and Planning: To explore the operation of funding initiatives or broader research fields; to identify the best mechanism to delivery on their aims and intended outcomes; to identify priority areas to fund and inform funding strategy.
- Policy and advocacy: To build the evidence to demonstrate the impact and success stories of the research supported by the HRB; to inform the development of research policies and decisions around the allocation of limited resources.
- Organisational learning: To identify research achievements and where funding has made a difference; to identify the impact of a specific investment; to determine whether there are more appropriate, effective and/or efficient ways to achieve the intended outcomes.
How we monitor and evaluate
The HRB has in place, or is currently enhancing, processes to underpin all the key stages of the grant lifecycle, for example:
- Logic charts at call design stage
- Pre-award quality assurance and peer review
- In-life quality control and monitoring
- Post-investment evaluation of outcomes and impacts
Evaluation methodologies
The HRB employs a mix of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, depending on the goals of the evaluation, the key questions being asked and the type of information and data to be collected. Table 1 provides a brief description of the different methodologies available. However, this is not an exhaustive list and the HRB may employ other methodological tools from time to time where appropriate to the evaluation study.