Aims to review the literature on evaluation and to examine research, theory and practice in relation to two key questions: What is evaluation and What is its contribution? Evaluation is increasingly a contemporary concern owing to growing demand for verification of programme results and the current political and economic climate. With the growth in evaluation activity in diverse fields, especially within new domains, those involved in health-care delivery can benefit from an overview of the universal fundamentals of research and theory that translate into improved practice. To evaluate effectively, there is a need for a full understanding of evaluation's nature, purposes and concepts. Identifies and reviews the key subdomains of evaluation, namely: definitions; theoretical underpinning; formulation of goals and objectives; specification of the programme; and cost-benefit analysis.