Impact assessment and the quest for the Holy Grail
نویسنده
چکیده
Conducting focus group discussions in Lake Naivasha Evaluation is seen as vital for both accountability and learning purposes. This involves understanding not only what worked but also the process of change and why and how an intervention worked. Donors, programme managers and evaluators often claim to seek not only successful outcomes, but the ‘holy grail’ of impact. This paper surveys the minefield of what impact is and how it can be reliably assessed, from the perspectives of proponents favouring (quasi)experimental, quantitative designs to those oriented towards the qualitative. It is noted that most programmes do not have sufficient budgetery resources for large scale (quasi)experimental designs and on the other hand purely qualitative designs often lack the rigour or sample sizes to accurately measure impact, even if they are often good at describing processes and perceptions of change. The paper discusses why mixed-methods approaches can be a good option for evaluating many programmes, depending on what is being mixed. The paper concludes that ‘impact assessment’ is not a term confined to a particular design or method, but that it is most important to apply a design which is appropriate to the intervention, and of course – that elephant in the room – the budget.
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