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Glossary

You have seen the word “efficiency” in many of our resources but wonder what it really means? You need the definition of a word for a reference? Please find below a complete glossary of organizational assessment.  With over 100 definitions available, this glossary should help you clarify the terms you need to understand organizational assessment in a comprehensive manner. You can find the words either by searching alphabetically or by selecting the exact word you are looking for in the list.

a
Accountability
Activity
Analytical tools
Appraisal*
Assessment*
Assumptions*
Attribution
Audit*
b
Base-line study
Baseline/Baseline data*
Benchmark
Benchmarking*
Beneficiaries
Bias*
c
Capabilities*
Capacity building*
Capacity development*
Capacity*
Case Study*
Case*
Cluster evaluation
Conclusions
Counterfactual
Country Program Evaluation (Country Assistance Evaluation)
d
Data Collection Tools
Development Intervention
Development objective
e
Economy
Effect
Effectiveness*
Efficiency
Enabling environment*
Evaluability
Evaluation*
Ex-ante evaluation
Ex-post evaluation
External evaluation
f
Feedback
Financial viability*
Finding*
Focus group*
Formative evaluation
g
Goal
Governance*
i
Impacts
Independent evaluation
Indicator
Infrastructure*
Input*
Inputs
Institution*
Institutional Development Impact
Institutional ethos*
Internal evaluation
j
Joint evaluation*
l
Leadership*
Lessons learned
Likert scale*
Logic models*
Logical framework (Logframe)
m
Meta-evaluation
Mid-term evaluation
Missing data*
Monitoring*
Motivation*
n
Niche management*
o
Objective*
Ongoing relevance*
Opportunity cost*
Organization*
Organizational Assessment*
Outcome*
Outputs*
p
Participatory evaluation
Partners
Performance indicator
Performance measurement
Performance monitoring
Performance*
Primary data*
Process evaluation
Program evaluation*
Program rationale*
Program*
Project evaluation
Project or program objective
Project trap*
Project*
Purpose
q
Qualitative data*
Quality Assurance
Quantitative data*
Questionnaire*
r
Reach
Recommendations
Relevance*
Reliability*
Results
Results Chain
Results framework*
Results-Based Management
Return on investment*
Review
Risk analysis
Rules*
s
Sample*
Sector program evaluation
Self-evaluation*
Stakeholders*
Success*
Summative evaluation
Sustainability
t
Target group
Terms of reference
Thematic evaluation
Triangulation
u
Unit of analysis*
v
Validity of an evaluation*
Validity*
Variable*
w
Work plan*

All definitions are taken from the following source: 
OECD - Development Assistance Committee Network on Development Evaluation. (2002). Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results-Based Management. 40 pp.

This glossary is also available in French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Japanese, Kiswahili, Russian, Swedish, and Turkish at the following website: http://www.oecd.org/.

The definition of terms followed by an asterisk symbol (*) was either slightly modified for simplicity reasons or was taken from:
Lusthaus, C., Adrien, M.-H., Anderson, G., Carden, F. & Montalván, G. P. (2002). 
Organizational Assessment: A Framework for Improving Performance. 210 pp.

The book can be read, downloaded or even ordered at the following website http://www.idrc.ca/.

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