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Evaluation Essentials: Methods for Conducting Sound Research

Beth Osborne DaPonte

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2nd ed. (2025), x, 198 pp.

"This nuts-and-bolts introduction to program evaluation is also applicable to evaluation of policies and evaluation of organizational performance. It is rich with over 40 examples from public policy, public health, non-profit management, social work, arts management, education, international assista ... more

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A scoping review of digital health interventions for combating COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation

Katarzyna Czerniak, Raji Pillai, Abhi Parmar, Abhi, Kavita Ramnath, Joseph Krocker, Sahiti Myneni

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, volume 30, issue 4 (2023), pp. 752-760

"We provide a scoping review of Digital Health Interventions (DHIs) that mitigate COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation seeding and spread. Materials and Methods: We applied our search protocol to PubMed, PsychINFO, and Web of Science to screen 1666 articles. The 17 articles included in this pa ... more

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Countermeasures for Mitigating Digital Misinformation: A Systematic Review
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Zurich: International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) (2023), 40 pp.

"This Synthesis Report provides a formal systematic review of scientific literature on countermeasures for mitigating digital misinformation. 588 peer-reviewed global publications from many disciplines were the focus of this study in order to highlight the most effective countermeasures for mitigati ... more

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Evaluation Roots: Theory Influencing Practice

Marvin C. Alkin, Christina A. Christie (eds.)

New York; London: Guilford Press, 3rd ed. (2023), ix, 318 pp.

"Showing how evaluation practice looks when guided by theory, the third edition of the influential "theory tree" book is significantly revised with over 80% new material, including a greater focus on equity and theories over theorists. Chapters from leading authorities describe the goals of each the ... more

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What do we study when we study misinformation? A scoping review of experimental research (2016-2022)

Gillian Murphy, Constance de Saint Laurent, Megan Reynolds, Omar Aftab, Karen Hegarty, Yuning Sun, Ciara M. Greene

Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, volume 4, issue 6 (2023), 57 pp.

"We reviewed 555 papers published from 2016–2022 that presented misinformation to participants. We identified several trends in the literature—increasing frequency of misinformation studies over time, a wide variety of topics covered, and a significant focus on COVID-19 misinformation since 2020 ... more

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Impact Evaluation in International Development: Theory, Methods and Practice
Key Guidance

Paul Glewwe, Petra Todd

Washington, DC: World Bank (2022), xix, 401 pp.

"This book is written to provide detailed, rigorous guidance on how to conduct impact evaluations of government and nongovernment programs and projects. It covers all the leading quantitative impact evaluation methods, explaining the assumptions required for them to provide unbiased estimates and th ... more

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How to Perform Impact Assessments: Key Steps for Assessing Communication Interventions

James Dennison

International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD);EUROMED Migration (2020), 29 pp.

"This report brings together disparate terminology, findings and recommendations from the private and public sectors and academia to synthesise a set of five general steps for practitioners when performing impact assessments. Impact assessment (IA) compares a variable of interest after an interventi ... on (e.g. a communication campaign) to what it would it be if that intervention had never happened. Accompanying each of the five steps are examples of how migration communicators can assess the impact of campaigns to, first, change attitudes and, second, change behaviour. Step 1: Set objectives for the intervention that define what the desired effect is. Ideally, this should (1) meet the SMART criteria of specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timebound; (2) focus on ultimate outcomes, rather than only outputs; (3) avoid a number of common mistakes in setting objectives and (4) carefully consider what the—as specific as possible— target audience is. Step 2: Identify a measure of the impact(s) that the intervention has as its objective. These should be (1) clearly defined and unambiguous; (2) externally valid (they act reliably if used for other interventions) and (3) internally valid (they measure what they claim to measure). There already exist long-lists of measures (also known as indicators) to choose from. Step 3: Estimate what would have happened had there been no intervention, known as a ‘counterfactual’. Ideally, but not necessarily, this requires performing a pre-intervention measurement, also known as baseline assessment. However, this is not always possible. This should not dissuade practitioners but instead assumptions of any IA, as discussed below, should be made openly. A long list of methods for measurement, including sampling considerations, are provided. Step 4: Perform the intervention. This may involve separating a randomised sample into a treatment group(s)—that receives the intervention(s)—and a control group—that does not. If this is not feasible, other forms of counterfactual are possible that ‘construct’ a control group. This section also overviews: (1) types of communication campaigns; (2) the MINDSPACE checklist of behavioural influences for interventions; (3) key recommendations on persuasive interventions from ICMPD’s previous work; (4) recommendations on campaigns deterring irregular migration. Step 5: Post-intervention measurement and analysis: (1) those receiving the intervention should be measured post-intervention (ideally, as well as, either a genuine or constructed control group); (2) the impact must be calculated: usually the difference in the variable of interest pre- and post-intervention and/or between the treatment and control group; (3) theoretical consideration of why and what aspect of the campaign caused an impact; are the findings likely to be universalizable?; (4) creation (and, in some cases, incorporation) of recommendations based on combination of impact and theoretical considerations." (Executive summary) more

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Program Evaluation: Methods and Case Studies

Kenneth J. Linfield, Emil. J. Posavac

New York: Routledge, 9th ed. (2019), viii, 333 pp.

"This text provides a solid foundation in program evaluation, covering the main components of evaluating agencies and their programs, how best to address those components, and the procedures to follow when conducting evaluations. Different models and approaches are paired with practical techniques, ... more

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Randomised Control Trials

Nigel Simister, Dan James

INTRAC (2017), 6 pp.

"In a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) different units are randomly assigned to separate groups. One group receives a development intervention and the other does not. Changes in the two groups over time are then compared to accurately measure the effect of the intervention. RCTs have been much debated ... more

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Quasi-Experimental Approaches

Dan James, Anne Garbutt, Nigel Simister

INTRAC (2017), 6 pp.

"Experimental approaches work by comparing changes in a group that receives a development intervention with a group that does not. The difference is then attributed to the intervention. In a full experimental approach, units are randomly allocated to two groups – one that receives the intervention ... more

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Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation

Kathryn E. Newcomer, Joseph S. Wholey, Harry P. Hatry (eds.)

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 4th ed. (2015), xl, 864 pp.

"The Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation provides tools for managers and evaluators to address questions about the performance of public and nonprofit programs. Neatly integrating authoritative, high-level information with practicality and readability, this guide gives you the tools and process ... more

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Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)

Howard White, Shagun Sabarwal, Thomas de Hoop

Florence: UNICEF (2014), 11 pp.

"A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is a way of doing impact evaluation in which the population receiving the programme or policy intervention is chosen at random from the eligible population, and a control group is also chosen at random from the same eligible population. It tests the extent to whi ... more

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Evaluation Theory, Models, and Applications
Top Insights

Daniel L. Stufflebeam, Chris L. S. Coryn

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2nd ed. (2014), xxxiii, 766 pp.

"The book begins with an overview of the evaluation field and program evaluation standards, and proceeds to cover the most widely used evaluation approaches. With new evaluation designs and the inclusion of the latest literature from the field, this second edition is an essential update for professi ... more

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Running Randomized Evaluations: A Practical Guide

Rachel Glennerster, Kudzai Takavarasha

Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press (2013), x, 467 pp.

This book provides a comprehensive yet accessible guide to running randomized impact evaluations of social programs. Drawing on the experience of researchers at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, which has run hundreds of such evaluations in dozens of countries throughout the world, it offer ... more

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Evaluating Democracy Assistance

Krishna Kumar

Boulder, Colo.: Rienner (2013), x, 241 pp.

"A comprehensive, practical guide to the on-the-ground tasks of evaluating and monitoring democracy assistance programs, from planning and implementation to preparing and presenting evaluation reports." (Publisher description)

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Democracy, Governance and Randomised Media Assistance
Top Insights

Devra C. Moehler

London: BBC Media Action (2013), 26 pp.

"This paper focuses attention on randomised field experiments in the developing world that explicitly address the use of media to achieve democracy and governance (DG) outcomes [...] The first section describes the growth of DG assistance and the increasing interest in DG field experiments. The seco ... more

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Impact Evaluation in Practice

Paul J. Gertler, Sebastian Martinez, Patrick Premand, Laura B. Rawlings, Christel M. J. Vermeersch

Washington, DC: World Bank (2011), xvi, 244 pp.

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Impact Evaluation in Practice

Paul J. Gertler, Sebastian Martinez, Patrick Premand, Laura B. Rawlings, Christel M. J. Vermeersch

Washington, DC: World Bank (2011), xvi, 244 pp.

"This book off ers an accessible introduction to the topic of impact evaluation and its practice in development. Although the book is geared principally toward development practitioners and policy makers, we trust that it will be a valuable resource for students and others interested in impact evalu ... ation. Prospective impact evaluations assess whether or not a program has achieved its intended results or test alternative strategies for achieving those results. We consider that more and better impact evaluations will help strengthen the evidence base for development policies and programs around the world. Our hope is that if governments and development practitioners can make policy decisions based on evidence—including evidence generated through impact evaluation—development resources will be spent more eff ectively to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. The three parts in this handbook provide a nontechnical introduction to impact evaluations, discussing what to evaluate and why in part 1; how to evaluate in part 2; and how to implement an evaluation in part 3. These elements are the basic tools needed to successfully carry out an impact evaluation. The approach to impact evaluation in this book is largely intuitive, and we attempt to minimize technical notation. We provide the reader with a core set of impact evaluation tools—the concepts and methods that underpin any impact evaluation—and discuss their application to real-world development operations. The methods are drawn directly from applied research in the social sciences and share many commonalities with research methods used in the natural sciences. In this sense, impact evaluation brings the empirical research tools widely used in economics and other social sciences together with the operational and political-economy realities of policy implementation and development practice. From a methodological standpoint, our approach to impact evaluation is largely pragmatic: we think that the most appropriate methods should be identified to fit the operational context, and not the other way around. This is best achieved at the outset of a program, through the design of prospective impact evaluations that are built into the project’s implementation. We argue that gaining consensus among key stakeholders and identifying an evaluation design that fits the political and operational context are as important as the method itself. We also believe strongly that impact evaluations should be candid about their limitations and caveats. Finally, we strongly encourage policy makers and program managers to consider impact evaluations in a logical framework that clearly sets out the causal pathways by which a program works to produce outputs and influence final outcomes, and to combine impact evaluations with monitoring and complementary evaluation approaches to gain a full picture of performance." (Preface) more

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Handbook on Impact Evaluation: Quantitative Methods and Practices

Shahidur R. Khandker, Gayatri B. Koolwal, Hussain A. Samad

Washington, DC: World Bank (2010), xx, 239 pp.

"This book reviews quantitative methods and models of impact evaluation, presenting an analysis of the quantitative research underlying recent programme evaluations and case studies prepared for a series of impact evaluation workshops in different countries, sponsored by the World Bank Institute (WB ... more

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Monitoring and Evaluating Social Programs in Developing Countries: A Handbook for Policymakers, Managers, and Researchers

Joseph J. Valadez, Michael Bamberger

Washington, DC: World Bank (1994), xxviii, 519 pp.

"This book provides a comprehensive review of the available techniques for monitoring and evaluating social programs. Specifically the book discusses: (a) methods of evaluating social and economic projects; (b) methods for participatory and rapid assessment; (c) quasi-experimental designs; and (d) t ... more

Countermeasures for Mitigating Digital Misinformation: A Systematic Review Top Insights

Impact Evaluation in International Development: Theory, Methods and Practice Key Guidance

Evaluation Theory, Models, and Applications Top Insights

Democracy, Governance and Randomised Media Assistance Top Insights

Countermeasures for Mitigating Digital Misinformation: A Systematic Review
Top Insights

Impact Evaluation in International Development: Theory, Methods and Practice
Key Guidance

Evaluation Theory, Models, and Applications
Top Insights

Democracy, Governance and Randomised Media Assistance
Top Insights