Dealing With Complexity in Development Evaluation: A Practical Approach

Bamberger, Michael; Vaessen, Jos; Raimondo, Estelle

doi:10.4135/9781483399935

Cited by 70 publications

(51 citation statements)

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“…Again, the goal is to establish a plausible contribution of the intervention to the observed change, rather than a statistically significant probability attribution model. Evaluators are increasingly embracing systems theory approaches to understand complex systems and to isolate effects of the programme, project, strategy or policy that is the evaluand (Bamberger et al., ). A complex system is characterised by how its elements act in interconnected and interdependent ways, and how feedback loops and intervening factors produce unexpected consequences and discontinuities.…”

Section: Implications For Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Environment‐poverty Nexus in Evaluation: Implications for the Sustainable Development Goals

Uitto

2016

Global Policy

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The article emphasizes the importance of evaluation in the context of sustainable development. It focuses on the so called environment-poverty nexus where issues of environmental conservation and management meet the social and economic development needs. Given the threats to the global environment and the forces of economic development that work against it, it is crucial that environmental policies, strategies, programmes and projects are designed and implemented in an effective manner producing lasting impacts. Evaluation is a central tool for analysing what works, why and under what circumstances to inform policy making and programme design. Environmental evaluation faces specific challenges due to the complex nature of the environment-poverty nexus. Based on a review of evaluation literature and practical experiences with evaluations conducted on the nexus in the international development arena, the article draws lessons for evaluating sustainable development. It concludes by suggesting that strong evaluation be built into the new Sustainable Development Goals.This article focuses on approaches to evaluate the nexus between environment and poverty in international development. The first section briefly reviews where the international community stands now that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been approved by member states. The next section highlights challenges that are posing strains on the global environment and sustainability of human societies. The article then moves on to evaluation, drawing lessons from evaluation studies that have been conducted in the context of international cooperation. The following section considers the implications for evaluation approaches. The article concludes by suggesting implications for evaluating the SDGs and pulling together some lessons for the evaluation of the environment-poverty nexus and sustainable development.

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Section: Implications For Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Environment‐poverty Nexus in Evaluation: Implications for the Sustainable Development Goals

Uitto

2016

Global Policy

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“…As development programs grow in size and complexity, evaluators are becoming aware of the limitations of conventional experimental and quasi-experimental designs in capturing how multiple interventions, operating in complex contexts, with complex interactions among multiple stakeholders, contribute to multiple intended and unintended outcomes (Bamberger et al, 2016b). As yet, no widely accepted approaches to the evaluation of complex development interventions are available, although some agencies are experimenting with new approaches (USAID, 2013) ICT makes real-time feedback from multiple sources possible for tracking complex, nonlinear causal paths and implementation processes.…”

Section: Lack Of a Program Theory In Evaluation Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of new information and communication technologies in equity-focused evaluation: Opportunities and challenges

2016

Self Cite

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ICT is being rapidly introduced into development evaluation. Evaluators need to keep abreast of these important evolutions in the field in order to stay current and continue shaping the future of development work through their practice. ICT is helping to resolve some age-old issues that evaluators face, especially in terms of time, resources and data quality constraints. At the same time, the introduction of ICTs into evaluation brings a series of new ethical, political and methodological challenges that evaluators need to address. The article also weighs the potential opportunities for ICT to strengthen equity and empowerment-focused evaluation against concerns that these new technologies could result in more 'extractive' approaches whereby it becomes easier for international agencies and donors to collect information remotely thereby reducing the ability of local communities and civil society to participate in the development dialogue. KeywordsEvaluation, equity and social exclusion, information and communication technology (ICT), threats to validity, impacts of mobile phones on women

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“…Similar initiatives were introduced in the Gauteng Evaluation Frame and Provincial Evaluation Plan for the Period 2012/2013 to 2015/2016(Gauteng Planning Commission, 2012.…”

Section: Improving Government Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence it can be burdensome. Collection and analysis of data that lead to evaluations and future solutions are founded on measurements, knowledge, rigour, discipline and accountability in order to lead to concrete information on cause and effect at all operational levels (Bamberger et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability Against Corruption: A South African Case Study

Mantzaris¹,

Pillay²

2019

J. Rev. Global Econ.

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The article is an empirical effort to research and analyse the dialectical relationship between public sector monitoring and evaluation relations, structures and processes with corruption and accountability. The case study is the Gauteng Department of Health that has been the subject of this research for the last two years as a part of a wider health-related project.Following a brief exposition of the concept of monitoring and evaluation that has been covered extensively in international and national literature, its relationship with accountability is explored. The existing legislative national and provincial legislature as well as the existing state rules and regulations are presented before the description of the project's research methods and design. This is a research project utilising a qualitative-based research design and framework consisting of thorough content analysis of primary and secondary sources including government official documents, newspaper articles and face-to-face interviews with a wide range of carefully selected public administrators, political figures and representatives of the public sector. The paper presents an analysis of corruption trends within the department as identified in the latest Auditor General's report, a corruption-ridden case and the wide-ranging responses of the interviewees. The latest evidence-based Corruption Index follows.

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Dealing With Complexity in Development Evaluation: A Practical Approach

Cited by 70 publications

References 0 publications

The Environment‐poverty Nexus in Evaluation: Implications for the Sustainable Development Goals

The Environment‐poverty Nexus in Evaluation: Implications for the Sustainable Development Goals

The role of new information and communication technologies in equity-focused evaluation: Opportunities and challenges

Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability Against Corruption: A South African Case Study

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