Shagun Sabarwal

Shagun Sabarwal reviewed research and coordinates the quality assurance processes for grants funded under 3ie’s Policy Window and Open Window modalities. She is currently Director of Policy, Training and Communications at J-PAL South Asia, and Director of the CLEAR South Asia Centre.

Blogs by author

Collaborating with communities to improve vaccine coverage: a strategy worth pursuing?

Jyotsna Puri, Shagun Sabarwal 29 July 2015 blog  

It is unfortunate but distrust of vaccines remains widespread in the world today. In August 2003, a polio vaccination boycott was declared in the five northern states of Nigeria. Political and religious leaders argued that the vaccines could be contaminated with anti-fertility agents, HIV and cancer-causing agents. It took a full year to resolve the boycott but the one year period wreaked havoc on the status of polio across the world.

Calculating success: the role of policymakers in setting the minimum detectable effect

Shagun Sabarwal 24 November 2014 blog  
When you think about how sample sizes are decided for an impact evaluation, the mental image is that of a lonely researcher laboring away on a computer, making calculations on STATA or Excel. This scenario is not too far removed from reality. But this reality is problematic. Researchers should actually be talking to government officials or implementers from NGOs while making their calculations

Institutionalising evaluation in India

Shagun Sabarwal 26 March 2014 blog  
The launch event of Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) which happened in Delhi, included an eclectic mix of presenters and panelists consisting of key policymakers (including the chairperson of India’s planning commission), bureaucrats, India-based researchers and representatives from the Indian media. The discussions at the event brought to the fore several challenges that the IEO will face as it moves forward:

A pitch for better use of mixed methods in impact evaluations

Shagun Sabarwal 27 November 2013 blog  

At the opening session of 3ie’s recent Measuring Results conference, Jyotsna Puri, Deputy Executive Director and Head of Evaluation at 3ie, said, “It takes a village to do an impact evaluation.” What she meant was that, for an impact evaluation to be successful and policy relevant, research teams need to be diverse and include a mix of disciplines, such as statisticians, anthropologists, economists, surveyors, enumerators and policy experts, as well as use the most appropriate mix of evaluation and research methods.