Evidence Planning

This module has been written to support your understanding and use of the Evidence Planning Tool from the DIY Toolkit. You should look at the Evidence Planning Template before working through the module. You will find it helpful to have a print out of the Evidence Planning Template (which can be found on page 10 of the DIY Toolkit [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] ) with you while you work through this module.

Sometimes we need a quick way to reconnect with the goal of a project in order to improve the chances of realising it. The Evidence Planning Tool helps you to re-examine why you are doing what you do, and whether your approach is the best one. It helps to reveal the assumptions and evidence upon which you are basing your present pathway. It also challenges you to think about the impact of your project, helping you to construct an evidence-based case for the effect you want to have.

This module will help you to understand why evidence planning is used, and how you can apply it in your own context to gain insight that will help you move forward your project or other activity.

Learning outcomes

After studying this module, you should be able to:

  • describe what evidence planning is and when you would use it (SAQ 1)
  • understand the Evidence Planning Tool and its usefulness for constructing an evidence base for the impact of a project, organisation or business (SAQ 2)
  • explain the difference between implicit and explicit assumptions (SAQ 3)
  • use evidence planning to identify your mistakes, and what you want to retain and change (SAQ 4).

1 What is evidence planning? When would you use it?