"Between 2008 and 2011, CommunityBased Adaptation in Africa (CBAA) – an action research project – tested tools for community adaptation and knowledge generation in eight African countries while building the capacity of its partners and local communities. Through participatory methods, the proj
...
ect helped the selected communities to adapt to climate change and share lessons learnt with key stakeholders at local, national, regional and international levels. The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) invited InsightShare to pilot participatory video for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of this project to support their internal learning processes, inform the action research, and amplify community voices in relation to local adaptation to climate change. Between 2009 and 2010, InsightShare held workshops in four of the eight participating countries: Malawi, South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe. InsightShare passed on skills in participatory video and monitoring and evaluation to build the capacities of community members and staff from the communitybased organisations (CBOs) and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) implementing CBAA in each country. This enhanced the partners capacity to listen to the community members in their search for local adaptation strategies, and to monitor their pilot projects and climaterelated indicators." (Initiative overview, page 1)
more
"Die anvisierte Leserschaft dieser Landkarte ist die entwicklungspolitische Fachwelt, die mit der Analyse von tatsächlichen, das heißt empirisch nachprüfbaren (de facto) Wirkungen befasst ist und die einen schnellen, informativen Zugriff auf das Vorhandene benötigt. Dies sind in erster Linie Pro
...
jekt- und Programmverantwortliche in den Entwicklungsorganisationen in Geber- und Empfängerländern, die gehalten sind, die Wirkungen von Entwicklungsmaßnahmen nachzuweisen und in ihren Berichten zu dokumentieren; Mitarbeiter/-innen von Evaluierungs- und Qualitätsmanagementeinheiten, die Wirkungsanalysen zumeist als Teil von (Querschnitts-)Evaluationen in Auftrag geben; Wissenschaftler/-innen, die bei dem Design von empirischen Wirkungsstudien beraten oder diese selbst durchführen; sowie Gutachter/-innen und Berater/-innen, die vor der Aufgabe stehen, Wirkungsanalyseverfahren anzuwenden oder in einer Organisation einzuführen. In der vorliegenden Landkarte wurde versucht, alle, insbesondere im deutschsprachigen Kontext bekannten und in der Praxis erprobten, gut beschriebenen Wirkungsanalyseverfahren aufzunehmen, wobei ein Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit nicht erhoben werden kann. Dabei liegt der Schwerpunkt nicht nur auf qualitativen und partizipativen Verfahren, die selbst oft zusätzliche quantitative Elemente enthalten, sondern es werden auch quantitative experimentelle und nicht-experimentelle Designs beschrieben, die mitunter als „rigorose“ Verfahren bezeichnet werden. Dabei werden hier keine Bewertungen im Sinne von gut oder schlecht ausgesprochen. Ziel ist es stattdessen, den Nutzern dieser Landkarte die Möglichkeit zu geben, Verfahren nach rein sachlichen und pragmatischen Erwägungen für einen bestimmen Untersuchungszweck oder -auftrag auszuwählen." (Vorwort)
more
"Explores the application of systems ideas to investigate, evaluate, and intervene in complex and messy situations. The text serves as a field guide, with each chapter representing a method for describing and analyzing; learning about; or changing and managing a challenge or set of problems. The boo
...
k is the first to cover in detail such a wide range of methods from so many different parts of the systems field. The book's Introduction gives an overview of systems thinking, its origins, and its major subfields. In addition, the introductory text to each of the book's three parts provides background information on the selected methods. Systems Concepts in Action may serve as a workbook, offering a selection of tools that readers can use immediately. The approaches presented can also be investigated more profoundly, using the recommended readings provided. While these methods are not intended to serve as "recipes," they do serve as a menu of options from which to choose." (Publisher description)
more
"The primary advantage of in-depth interviews is that they provide much more detailed information than what is available through other data collection methods, such as surveys. They also may provide a more relaxed atmosphere in which to collect information—people may feel more comfortable having a
...
conversation with you about their program asopposed to filling out a survey. However, there are a few limitations and pitfalls, each ofwhich is described below. Prone to bias: Because program or clinic staff might want to “prove” that a program is working, their interview responses might be biased. Responses from community members and program participants could also be biased due to their stake in the program or for a number of other reasons. Every effort should be made to design a data collection effort, create instruments, and conduct interviews to allow for minimal bias. Can be time-intensive: Interviews can be a time-intensive evaluation activity because of the time it takes to conduct interviews, transcribe them, and analyze the results. In planning your data collection effort, care must be taken to include time for transcription and analysis of this detailed data. Interviewer must be appropriately trained in interviewing techniques: To provide the most detailed and rich data from an interviewee, the interviewer must make that person comfortable and appear interested in what they are saying. They must also be sure to use effective interview techniques, such as avoiding yes/no and leading questions, using appropriate body language, and keeping their personal opinions in check. Not generalizable: When in-depth interviews are conducted, generalizations about the results are usually not able to be made because small samples are chosen and random sampling methods are not used. In-depth interviews however, provide valuable information for programs, particularly when supplementing other methods of data collection. It should be noted that the general rule on sample size for interviews is that when the same stories, themes, issues, and topics are emerging from the interviewees, then a sufficient sample size has been reached." (Pages 3-4)
more
"Ethnography is a form of research that can give grant makers — and, often, grantees — a close, nuanced, and evolving look at an organization, a culture, or a process of change. Trained as participant observers, ethnographers work from a vantage point that is both inside and outside the object o
...
f their study. As outside observers, ethnographers bring a fresh eye, professional skills of documentation and analysis, and an understanding of the unfolding work. In the words of a researcher who employs the technique, they “can explore what the people inside are taking for granted.” As inside participants, they involve themselves deeply in that work, so as to experience its detail and broad themes. This dual perspective allows a sensitive ethnographer to distill knowledge from practice in a way that’s rarely possible for full insiders or more distanced outsiders." (Page 2)
more
"Der Begriff der Nachhaltigkeit hat seit seinem Aufkommen den Anspruch an die entwicklungspolitische Zusammenarbeit enorm erhöht und den Fokus auf die Wirksamkeit einzelner Projekte und Programme gesetzt. Ex-post Evaluationen gewinnen von daher mehr und mehr an Bedeutung. Vor diesem Hintergrund zei
...
gt die Autorin auf, wie die Qualität der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit in der Praxis adäquat nachgewiesen werden kann: Die Themen Evaluation, Nachhaltigkeit und Methoden werden unter Berücksichtigung wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse konzeptionell gelungen miteinander verknüpft. Es wird überzeugend die Notwendigkeit von angemessenen Konzepten und Methoden aufgezeigt. Der Autorin gelingt es nicht nur, Klarheit in die vielfältig vorherrschende Begriffsverwirrung zu bringen, sondern die Debatte auch konstruktiv voranzutreiben. Im zweiten Teil des Buches werden die Instrumente exemplarisch anhand einer vom Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) durchgeführten Evaluationsstudie angewendet." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
more
"The purposes of this checklist are to guide evaluators in determining when qualitative methods are appropriate for an evaluative inquiry and factors to consider (1) to select qualitative approaches that are particularly appropriate for a given evaluation’s expected uses and answer the evaluation
...
s questions, (2) to collect high quality and credible qualitative evaluation data, and (3) to analyze and report qualitative" (Page 1)
more