- 2080 Bhadra · 2+4 marks
Monitoring vs evaluation; quality control tools
Short answer
Monitoring is continuous tracking of progress against plan; evaluation is periodic assessment of outcomes and impact. Quality control tools include inspection and testing, check sheets, histograms, Pareto charts, cause-and-effect diagrams, scatter diagrams, control charts, flow charts, and statistical sampling.
Differentiate between monitoring and evaluation. What are the different tools of project quality control?
Difference between monitoring and evaluation
| Basis | Monitoring | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Continuous tracking of progress against plan | Periodic assessment of results and value |
| Time | Throughout implementation (daily, weekly, monthly) | Mid-term, end of project, post-project |
| Focus | Inputs, activities, outputs (are we doing the work right?) | Outcomes, impact, relevance (did we do the right work?) |
| Done by | Project staff and managers (internal) | Often external or independent team |
| Purpose | Early warning and day-to-day correction | Judgement, learning, future decisions |
| Output | Progress reports, variance reports | Evaluation report with recommendations |
| Frequency | Frequent | Occasional |
Tools of project quality control
- Inspection and testing of materials and work (cube test, slump, field density, bitumen test).
- Check sheet: a form to record the number and type of defects.
- Histogram: shows the frequency distribution of measured values.
- Pareto chart: ranks causes of defects, showing the vital few (80/20 rule).
- Cause-and-effect (fishbone) diagram: traces the root cause of a defect under man, machine, material and method.
- Scatter diagram: shows the relation between two variables, e.g. water-cement ratio and strength.
- Control chart: plots results against upper and lower control limits to show whether the process is stable.
- Flow chart of the process and statistical sampling plans.
✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)
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