The specific work involved in evaluation requires the systematic application of a method of planning, information-gathering, data processing and interpretation so as to issue a rigorous and reliable value judgment.
If the method is the strategy of action, the technical tools are the panoply of operational options available.

Evaluation enlists the quantitative and qualitative tools of the social sciences and the techniques of public management so as to arrive at a better understanding of the reality it examines.

The Agency aims to provide guidance rather than dogma, and thus lays out a wide spectrum of methodologies from which evaluators can choose. The Agency will likewise pay special attention to developing new methodologies so as to deploy the most suitable approach to the complex and multidimensional realm in which public policy takes place.

A methodology must always:

- avoid methodological dogmatism;

- use as a key element the perceptions, opinion and value judgments of the various major audiences and actors involved;

- take a pluralistic approach and seek actively to involve key actors; and

- commit to using the results of the evaluation through promotion of appropriate measures.