"This paper is a peer review of journals addressing the issue of the impact of development communication in a number of development projects and programs. It provides an overview of this discipline and then discusses the evidence about the impact of development communication according to a typology
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developed on the basis of the articles reviewed. This study is part of a wider process that provided support to the First Congress on Communication for Development, an event that took place in Rome on October 2006." (Back cover)
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"Impact assessment is one of a variety of monitoring tools available to ensure that a community radio effectively works towards set objectives and aspirations. In Mozambique a ‘bare-foot’ impact assessment methodology has been designed, tested, revised and implemented with eight community-owned
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stations between 2000 and 2005. The present article explores the three separate areas of attention focused upon in this methodology: (1) an internal assessment of the radio's way of functioning as an organism; (2) an assessment of the capacity of the community producers through their programmes to meet the needs and desires of the community; and (3) the overall objective of it all: assessing the extent to which impact can be registered vis-à-vis a positive development change within the community, empowerment, mending of the social tissue, etc. resulting from the work of the community radio." (Abstract)
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"This handbook can stand alone as a guide on how to design and construct a results-based M&E system in the public sector. It can also be used in conjunction with a workshop developed at the World Bank entitled “Designing and Building a Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation System: A Tool for Pub
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lic Sector Management.” The goal of the handbook is to help prepare you to plan, design, and implement a results-based M&E system within your organization. In addition, the handbook will also demonstrate how an M&E system can be a valuable tool in supporting good public management. The focus of the handbook is on a comprehensive ten-step model that will help guide you through the process of designing and building a results-based M&E system. These steps will begin with a “Readiness Assessment” and will take you through the design, management, and, importantly, the sustainability of your M&E system. The handbook will describe these steps in detail, the tasks needed to complete them, and the tools available to help you along the way." (Preface, page xii)
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"This book is the product of 30 years of experience with program evaluation. During this time, both service recipients and educational and social programs have experienced major cultural and political shifts in service delivery philosophy, including a focus on quality, mainstreaming, deinstitutional
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ization, community inclusion, and an emphasis on measurable outcomes. Recently stakeholders of these programs have demanded more than just the provision of service, forcing program administrators to evaluate their programs’ effectiveness and efficiency. The “era of accountability” is here, and my major goal in writing this book is to help current and future program administrators understand that they need to look beyond simply the provision of service. Indeed, they need to be competent in outcome-based evaluation, which I define as a type of program evaluation that uses valued and objective person-referenced outcomes to analyze a program’s effectiveness, impact or benefit-cost." (Preface to the first edition)
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"This publication, Guidelines for Evaluators, is the first in the companion series to the Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluating for Results. The Handbook provides an overall context for results-based monitoring and evaluation and reviews tools and techniques for planning and managing monitoring and
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evaluation activities. The Handbook, however, is primarily directed to programme managers. This publication is specifically for those who actually conduct evaluations. It complements the Handbook by providing guidance on outcome evaluations as they relate to the evaluators. Guidelines for Evaluators presents a conceptual review of outcome evaluation, identifies key differences between outcome and project evaluations, and provides a framework methodology for conducting outcome evaluations. It also includes a sample outline for an outcome evaluation report." (Introduction, page 5)
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"For social change, a model of communication is required that is cyclical, relational and leads to an outcome of mutual change rather than one-sided, individual change. In Section 1 of this report we provide a description of such a model. The model describes a dynamic, iterative process that starts
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with a “catalyst/stimulus” that can be external or internal to the community. This catalyst leads to dialogue within the community that when effective, leads to collective action and the resolution of a common problem. The catalyst in the model represents the particular trigger that initiates the community dialogue about a specific issue of concern or interest to the community. This catalyst is a missing piece in most of the literature about development communication, which often assumes that the community spontaneously initiates dialogue and action. The model describes Community Dialogue and Action as a sequential process or series of steps that can take place within the community, some of them simultaneously, and which lead to the solution of a common problem." (Executive summary, page iii)
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"This publication addresses the monitoring and evaluation of development results. It is intended to support country offices in aligning their monitoring and evaluation systems with results-based management (RBM) methodology—specifically in tracking and measuring the performance of UNDP interventio
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ns and strategies and their contributions to outcomes. It aims to provide simple, flexible and forward-looking tools." (Preface)
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"This manual is intended as an introduction to the theory and concepts of Outcome Mapping and as a guide to conducting an Outcome Mapping workshop. Although Outcome Mapping may be appropriate in various contexts, it has primarily been tested by development research organizations and programs working
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in Canada, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. This manual reflects that perspective and Outcome Mapping may have to be adapted to be used with groups other than our constituency of researchers, scientific organizations, government officials, policymakers, and NGOs (for example, communities). Outcome Mapping has been developed in organizations where monitoring and evaluation are primarily intended to help with program learning and improvement. The tenor of a program’s approach to Outcome Mapping will necessarily be influenced by its own and its donor’s perspectives on monitoring and evaluation. Outcome Mapping will only be as empowering, participatory, and learning-oriented as the program that implements it. Outcome Mapping takes into consideration the threats and anxiety that can be associated with planning, monitoring and evaluation, especially in a donor/recipient relationship. It offers a participatory methodology that can help programs develop a system that can meet both accountability and learning needs." (Preface)
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"Este manual intenta proporcionar a los administradores de proyectos y a los analistas de políticas las herramientas necesarias para evaluar el impacto de los proyectos. Está destinado a lectores con conocimientos generales de estadísticas. Para algunos de los métodos estadísticos más profundo
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s analizados, el lector es remitido a la literatura técnica sobre el tema. En el Capítulo 1 se presenta una visión general de los conceptos y métodos, en el Capítulo 2 se analizan los pasos clave y temas relacionados que hay que considerar durante la implementación, en el Capítulo 3 se ilustran diversas técnicas analíticas a través de un estudio de casos y en el Capítulo 4 se incluye un análisis de las lecciones aprendidas de un valioso conjunto de evaluaciones de “prácticas óptimas” de los proyectos de pobreza que se revisaron para este manual. Los estudios de casos, incluidos en el Anexo I, se seleccionaron de una variedad de evaluaciones realizadas por el Banco Mundial, otras agencias de donantes, instituciones de investigación y empresas consultoras privadas. Se eligieron por su rigor metodológico, en un intento por cubrir una amplia combinación de escenarios de países, tipos de proyectos y metodologías de evaluación. En los Anexos también se incluyen muestras de los principales componentes que serían necesarios al planificar cualquier evaluación de impacto: muestras de términos de referencia, un presupuesto, indicadores de impacto, un marco lógico y una matriz de análisis." (Prólogo, páginas 5-6)
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"Evaluation (or assessment) of impact is generally regarded as an essential part of the project cycle, and is already well known and widely used in many disciplines - for example, environmental and social sciences, social psychology - and there is increasing evidence of its application to agricultur
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al research. The same pressures as are being felt in agricultural research apply in agricultural information: new technology, in the form of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is increasing the ability to access, collect, process and generate information, but there is also pressure to justify investment, and to demonstrate results (benefits). However, while the 'information/knowledge' culture may be burgeoning due to new ICTs, neither the methodology nor the culture of information impact studies is yet fully developed. There are as yet few methodologies and applications relating to information management in developing countries, and even fewer which have been or could be applied specifically to agricultural information management. This selective review seeks to engender wider knowledge, acceptance and application of evaluation in the field of agricultural information management by showing how it has been approached in other disciplines, in agricultural research, and most recently in information science and management, with some key examples relating to information management in developing countries. Finally, to give some indication of how it works in practice, some recent examples as applied to information management in developing countries are summarised as case studies." (CTA Website Sept. 11 2007)
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"Building on the experience of many different agencies, this book provides a comprehensive discussion of the difficulties, dilemmas and opportunities of understanding the outcomes of social development programmes and projects. The book shows that while there are no easy solutions to evaluating impac
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t, a range of methods and approaches can be employed in order to provide an adequate understanding of social change. Case studies are presented of how NGO's have succeeded in evaluating these complex social processes within the constraints imposed by resources, staff skills, existing monitoring and requirements and external pressures. The book illustrates genuine, innovative attempts to bring the rhetoric of evaluating impact into the reality of ongoing development programmes." (Catalogue Intermediate Technology Publications 2000)
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