Your search
Results 97 resources
-
Realist evaluation has, over the past two decades, become a widely used approach in evaluation. The cornerstone of realist evaluation is to answer the question: What works, for whom, under what circumstances, and why. This is accomplished by explicating the causal mechanisms that, within a particular context, generate the outcomes of interest. Despite the central role of mechanisms in realist evaluation, systematic knowledge about how the term mechanism is conceptualized and operationalized...
-
In this provocation, the author attempts to cite the advantages of collective leadership while acknowledging the objections and fears of challengers. Collective leadership is seen as remote because it defies the traditional view of leadership as an individualistic attractive quality that not only protects us but is efficient when applied. Nevertheless, the collective alternative may not only be advisable but required in a connected world featuring a networked economy. The contemporary...
-
The concept of resilience has been used among a diversity of fields with a myriad of definitions. A systems approach to discovering the essence of resilience could aid in understanding its concept and provide opportunities to distinguish its systemic characteristics that can be identified, planned, or analyzed regardless of the field in which it is considered. In order to begin executing such an approach, a comprehensive study of the literature on the topic and circumstances in which...
-
This CDI Practice Paper by Pauline Oosterhoff, Sowmyaa Bharadwaj, Danny Burns, Aruna Mohan Raj, Rituu B. Nanda and Pradeep Narayanan reflects on the use of participatory statistics to assess the impact of interventions to eradicate slavery and bonded labour. It deals with: (1) the challenges of estimating changes in the magnitude of various forms of slavery; (2) the potential of combining participatory approaches with statistical principles to generate robust data for assessing impact of...
-
With roots in approaches to popular education and participatory action research that place the learner and the ‘beneficiary’ of development at the centre of enquiry and action, the participatory visualisation methods associated with Participatory Rural Appraisal have been widely used as tools for learning and accountability. In this article, I reflect on lessons learnt from using these methods in a participatory process evaluation of an educational programme aimed at addressing chronic...
-
While many knowledge workers may fear that the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) will threaten their jobs, this article argues that small evaluation businesses should embrace AI tools to increase their value in the marketplace and remain relevant. In this article, consultants from a research, evaluation, and strategy firm, Intention 2 Impact, Inc., make a case for using AI tools to disrupt business as usual in evaluation from theoretical and practical perspectives. Theoretically, AI may...
-
The use of theories of change (ToCs) is a hallmark of sound evaluation practice. As interventions have become more complex, the development of ToCs that adequately unpack this complexity has become more challenging. Equally important is the development of evaluable ToCs, necessary for conducting robust theory-based evaluation approaches such as contribution analysis (CA). This article explores one approach to tackling these challenges through the use of nested actor-based ToCs using the case...
-
Applied agricultural research institutes play different roles in complex agricultural innovation processes, contributing to them with other actors. To foster learning and usable knowledge on how research actions influence such lasting innovation processes, there is a need to identify the causal mechanisms linking these actions and the effects of the changes they enable. A participatory, theory-driven, ex-post evaluation method, ImpresS, was developed by the French Agricultural Research...
-
Although theories of change are frequently discussed in the evaluation literature and there is general agreement on what a theory of change is conceptually, there is actually little agreement beyond the big picture of just what a theory of change comprises, what it shows, how it can be represented, and how it can be used. This article outlines models for theories of change and their development that have proven quite useful for both straightforward and more complex interventions. The models...
-
The investigation of causal mechanisms has the capacity to provide donors and implementing institutions with a greater understanding of people's reasoning and reactions as they work with interventions. This chapter contributes to the literature by identifying behavioral mechanisms generated through engagement with climate-resilient agriculture interventions within a larger livelihood project in Ethiopia. It works through the steps that enabled the study to unpack the black box between the...
-
Theory of change (ToC) is currently the approach for the evaluation and planning of international development programs. This approach is considered especially suitable for complex interventions. We question this assumption and argue that ToC’s focus on cause–effect logic and intended outcomes does not do justice to the recursive nature of complex interventions such as advocacy. Supported by our work as evaluators, and specifically our case study of an advocacy program on child rights, we...
-
Over the past 10 years or so the “Field” of “Mixed Methods Research” (MMR) has increasingly been exerting itself as something separate, novel, and significant, with some advocates claiming paradigmatic status. Triangulation is an important component of mixed methods designs. Triangulation has its origins in attempts to validate research findings by generating and comparing different sorts of data, and different respondents’ perspectives, on the topic under investigation. Respondent...
-
Impact and process evaluations are increasingly used in international development; however they are generally retrospective in outlook. A more timely approach to evaluation aims to identify necessary, feasible and effective changes during a programme or intervention’s lifetime. This paper aims to identify, categorise, describe and critically appraise methods to support more timely evaluation in international development. Potential methods were identified through scoping seminar, public...
-
This article compares key attributes, strengths and weaknesses of three different approaches to monitoring development interventions: the logical framework approach, participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) and feedback systems. Academic and practitioner literature describes how logframes meet the needs of senior decision-makers to summarise, organise and compare projects. PM&E meets the needs of field staff to work sensitively with intended beneficiaries and support their learning and...
-
The United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) aimed to address global challenges to achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals through 12 interdisciplinary research hubs. This research documents key lessons learned around working with Theory of Change (ToC) to guide Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) within these complex research for development hubs. Interviews and document reviews were conducted in ten of the research...
-
Models for theories of change vary widely as do how they are used. What constitutes a good or robust theory of change has not been discussed much. This article sets out and discusses criteria for robust theories of change. As well, it discusses how these criteria can be used to undertake a vigorous assessment of a theory of change. A solid analysis of a theory of change can be extremely useful, both for designing or assessing the designs of an intervention as well as for the design of...
-
Evaluators who take a complexity-aware approach must consider tradeoffs related to theoretical parsimony, falsifiability, and measurement validity. These tradeoffs may be particularly pronounced with ex-post evaluation designs in which program theory development and monitoring frameworks are often completed before the evaluator is engaged. In this chapter, we argue that theory-based evaluation (TBE) approaches can address unique ex-post evaluation challenges that complexity-aware evaluation...
-
In recent years, the use of experimental methodologies has emerged as a central means of evaluating international aid interventions. Today, proponents of randomized control trials (so-called randomistas) are among the most influential of development experts. This paper examines the growth of this thought collective, analysing how uncertainty has become a central concern of development institutions. It demonstrates that transformations within the aid industry – including the influence of...
-
A quarter century ago, in 1987, Charles C. Ragin published The Comparative Method, introducing a new method to the social sciences called Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). QCA is a comparative case-oriented research approach and collection of techniques based on set theory and Boolean algebra, which aims to combine some of the strengths of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Since its launch in 1987, QCA has been applied extensively in the social sciences. This review essay...
-
In this paper, we focus on participatory evaluation in the context of international development and specifically on the emerging empirical knowledge base. In a prior review and critique of research on participatory evaluation (Cousins and Chouinard 2012), we examined 121 studies, with only 21 (17 %) situated in development contexts. However, the circumstances and challenges for international development and for development evaluation are distinct from those found in developed countries and...
Explore
Theme
-
MEL4 Adaptive Management
- Action Inquiry/Collective Leadership (2)
- After Action Reviews (1)
- Appreciative Inquiry (1)
- Artificial Intelligence (3)
- Case Study (2)
- Causal Mechanisms (11)
- Contribution Analysis (2)
- Cost-Benefit Analysis (1)
- Critical Friends (1)
- Developmental Evaluation (2)
- Empowerment Evaluation (1)
- Ethnography / Rapid Ethnography (1)
- Evaluating Multi-project programmes (1)
- Ex-post Evaluation (1)
- Feedback Systems (1)
- Impact evaluation (3)
- Indicator-based approaches (1)
- Knowledge Management (3)
- Logical Framework (8)
- Mapping Visualization Methods (4)
- MEL in International Development (9)
- Most Significant Change (1)
- Network Analysis (1)
- Outcome Harvesting (1)
- Outcome Mapping (2)
- Participatory Action Research (6)
- Participatory Evaluation (10)
- Participatory Learning and Action - PLA (1)
- Participatory Rural Appraisal - PRA, RRA (3)
- Policy Scientific Approach (1)
- Portfolio Management (2)
- Positive Deviance (1)
- Power Analysis (1)
- Process Tracing (5)
- Public Management Theory (1)
- Qualitative Comparative Analysis (2)
- Randomized Controlled Trials (3)
- Realist Evaluation (6)
- Rigour (2)
- Rubrics (1)
- Scenario Planning (2)
- Systems Mapping (1)
- Theory-based evaluations (4)
- TOC (Theory of Change) (15)
- Trans-disciplinary Research (1)
- Utilisation focused evaluation (1)
- Value for Money (1)
-
Adaptive Approaches [+]
(24)
- Adaptive Learning (6)
- Adaptive Management (8)
- Agile & Lean approaches (2)
- MSD - Market Systems Development (1)
- Other Adaptive approaches (1)
-
Other sectors
(1)
- Sport (1)
- Participation (2)
- PDIA (Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation) (1)
- PEA (Political Economy Analysis) (1)
- Systems Thinking / Complexity (8)
- TWP (Thinking & Working Politically) (2)
- Cases (10)
-
Development Actors Perspectives
(3)
- China (1)
- FCDO/DFID (UK) (1)
- USAID (1)
- World Bank (1)
-
Geography
(7)
-
Africa
(3)
- Eastern Africa (2)
-
Southern Africa
(1)
- South Africa (1)
-
Asia
(4)
-
Eastern Asia
(1)
- China (1)
-
South-eastern Asia
(1)
- Cambodia (1)
-
Southern Asia
(2)
- Bangladesh (2)
- Nepal (1)
-
Eastern Asia
(1)
-
Oceania
(1)
-
Melanesia
(1)
- Papua New Guinea (1)
-
Melanesia
(1)
-
Africa
(3)
-
Practical
(7)
- Tools (2)
-
Sectors [+]
(17)
- Agriculture (1)
- Alternative Development (3)
- Children (1)
- Citizen Engagement (1)
- Economic development (1)
- Governance and Accountability (1)
- Health (2)
- Knowledge to Practice (2)
- Research for Development (R4D) (4)
- Rural development (1)
Resource type
Publication year
-
Between 1900 and 1999
(5)
-
Between 1960 and 1969
(1)
- 1965 (1)
-
Between 1980 and 1989
(1)
- 1989 (1)
- Between 1990 and 1999 (3)
-
Between 1960 and 1969
(1)
- Between 2000 and 2024 (92)