Latest entries
18 may 2013
What is true impact?
Howard White
Earlier this year I had a knee operation. So I turned to the Cochrane Library to find evidence on whether post-operative physiotherapy really works. What I found was a systematic review, which showed that post-operative physiotherapy has too little benefit to be worthwhile. Those assigned a course of physiotherapy had hardly any greater joint flexibility one year later than those who were not.
16 may 2013
Impact Evaluation Specialist, 3ie, New Delhi
3ie is looking for an Impact Evaluation Specialist in New Delhi to provide high-level technical oversight, management and support for multiple impact evaluations. Applicants should have a post-graduate degree in applied economics and experience with rigorous impact evaluations. When applying, please indicate ‘Impact evaluation specialist-New Delhi’ in the subject line of the email.
16 may 2013
Agence Française de Développement paper on evaluation of health insurance in rural Cambodia
The Research Department of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) has published the Ex Post collection of the following papers: Insuring health or insuring wealth? An experimental evaluation of health insurance in rural Cambodia and Sky impact evaluation, Cambodia, 2010, village monographs
Ian Ramage and David Levine, co-authors of these studies will be speaking at the Health Financing in Developing Countries Conference (Financement de la santé dans les pays en développement) on 27 and 28 May at AFD.
14 may 2013
New issue of Journal of Development Effectiveness
The latest issue of Journal of Development Effectiveness features papers on impact evaluation design for the Millennium Villages project in Northern Ghana and the effect of solar ovens on fuel use, emissions and health: results from a randomised controlled trial. The paper on 'Effects of the Frontiers Prevention Project in Ecuador on sexual behaviours and sexually transmitted infections amongst men who have sex with men and female sex workers: challenges on evaluating complex interventions,' is open access.
13 may 2013
Monitoring and Evaluation Director for East Africa, One Acre Fund
The M&E Director will help further the use of measurement for continuous improvement and innovation. S/he will play a major role in shaping how One Acre Fund builds its evidence-base in the coming years to help spark the agriculture microfinance movement.
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13 may 2013
When will the press ever learn?
Howard White
My last blog discussed the possible link between the dramatic reductions in crime in the UK and the adoption of evidence-based policing. But the Sunday Times recently ran a front page story which says that rather than solving crime, police are ignoring 850,000 cases a year which go uninvestigated.
12 may 2013
Impact-Evaluation Program Manager-Democracy and Governance, Social Impact, Arlington, Virginia
The IE PM will provide technical support to and oversee the management and logistics for multiple IEs and related studies, including select performance evaluations and survey based research studies. Apply by June 5, 2013.
12 may 2013
Inter-American Development Bank call for proposals: Citizen security impact evaluation studies
IDB invites proposals to evaluate the impact of key citizen security projects, in the context of the Regional Public Goods (RPG) under its Regional Evaluation System of the Impact of Public Policies in Security for Latin America initiative. Application deadline: June 6, 2013
12 may 2013
Impact evaluation: which way forward?
How should impact of development work be measured? Panelists at the recent discussion on the issue offer suggestions to demystify the process and ensure it supports accountability and learning.
07 may 2013
Research Assistants, World Development Report 2015, World Bank, Washington, DC
The World Bank is looking for Research Assistants for the World Development Report 2015. Undergraduates from any discipline are encouraged to apply, but knowledge of Economic development, behavioral economics, and economic history; Social, cognitive, and cultural psychology; Sociology; Anthropology, especially cognitive anthropology; Political science; Philosophy is expected.
06 may 2013
DIME seminar on 3ie-supported study: Wage subsidies and youth employment in South Africa
Gareth Roberts of University of Witwatersrand presents the findings of this study which led to a policy change in South Africa.
The study finds that those who were allocated a wage subsidy voucher were more likely to be employed both one year and two years after allocation. The impact of the voucher thus persisted even after it was no longer valid. This suggests that those young people who entered jobs earlier than they would have – because of the voucher – were more likely to stay in jobs. This confirms the important dynamic impacts of youth employment. It also suggests that government interventions which successfully create youth employment are important and have virtuous long-term effects.
06 may 2013
Impact Evaluation Databases: Can You Find EVERYTHING You’re Looking For?
Drew Cameron
We’ve all been there. You’ve just come up with an interesting international development research question, or your NGO or government agency is about to embark on a new project, and you need to find research evidence. You set off in search of the most rigorous kind available – impact evaluations (IEs). But where do you start? Perhaps your research library is expansive, and you have too many portals to choose from. Or maybe your organization is too small to afford annual database access. One thing is for sure, the search for relevant studies can be a time consuming, and frustrating endeavor.
03 may 2013
Theories of change for cash transfers
This report gathers together examples which attempt to explain how and why change happens as a result of cash transfers (CTs). It first presents a selection of theories of change about how cash transfers are expected to work in general, drawn from academic literature, and then a selection of theories as used in a few specific cash transfer programmes.
03 may 2013
Attribution of results through impact evaluations of humanitarian assistance
Pocast of presentation by Jyotsna Puri at the 28th Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP) meeting.
01 may 2013
Manager, Performance Management and Effectiveness, Children's Investment Fund Foundation, London
The Manager’s main objective is to ensure funded programmes within Strategic Priority Areas (SPAs) are effectively able to analyse and report performance in a timely manner and demonstrate impact consistent with the vision of the organisation.