Training Initiative for Evidence-Informed Policy
We work with governments and partners around the world to strengthen their capacities in evaluation and evidence-informed decision-making. Policymakers need an understanding of how to identify, interpret, and apply high-quality evidence, which also increases their motivation to commission impact evaluations of their own programs. Practitioners benefit from learning how to use high-quality evidence to support their project learning and adaptation needs.
Overview
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals across low- and middle-income countries (L&MICs) requires the capacity to implement and evaluate development policies across the regions where they're most needed . 3ie is a global organization working with a range of partners in L&MICs, and our evaluation capacity strengthening activities span Africa, South America, Central Amera, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, South-East Asia and Europe.
Our training workshops are designed for implementing partners, policymakers, and researchers and are guided by principles of adult learning that incorporate a mix of theory and real-world application. Our basic courses introduce nontechnical audiences to impact evaluation and evidence synthesis and how these tools can be incorporated into their work. Our intermediate and advanced courses provide evaluators and researchers with an overview of impact evaluation and evidence synthesis methods and their application. Our training services can be adapted and customized to your learning goals, and new curriculum can be commissioned.
Please write to us at info@3ieimpact.org to design a customized capacity development plan for your organization.
We offer short courses and training sessions on the following topics, virtually or in person:
Impact evaluation courses
Basic introduction to impact evaluation course
3ie’s basic introduction to impact evaluation course is specifically designed for audiences who may not have a background in research methods, such as development practitioners, government agencies, policymakers, and others. This course uses an intuitive approach to introduce non-technical audiences to impact evaluation with a focus on how it can be applied for program learning and adaptation.
Participants learn how impact evaluation is uniquely suited to answer questions of program effectiveness, and through practical exercises explore which impact methods may be best suited to address their learning agenda questions and program characteristics. This course equips non-evaluators to identify opportunities for impact evaluation, commission and contribute to impact evaluation design, and support evaluation teams.
Intermediate introduction to impact evaluation course
Our intermediate introduction to impact evaluation course provides evaluators and researchers with an overview of impact evaluation methods and their application. It is designed for participants with a technical background in quantitative research methods, including inferential statistics and econometrics. Each training session is accompanied by practical exercises in which participants apply course concepts to outline an impact evaluation plan for a real-world intervention. The aim of the intermediate impact evaluation course is to introduce researchers to experimental and quasi-experimental impact evaluation methods, equip them to critically assess when these methods are appropriate, practice interpreting impact estimates, and apply these methods to design their own evaluation plans.
Training on cost-effectiveness analysis
This training focuses on the use of cost-effectiveness analyses in impact evaluation. It also provides a brief overview of other types of cost evidence (e.g., cost-benefit analysis, cost-utility analysis) that can be incorporated into an impact evaluation. The training discusses the various types of cost data that should be collected along with impact evaluation data and covers the different methods used to conduct cost analyses. Participants practice how to interpret and use cost-effectiveness analyses in decision-making.
Training on transparent, reproducible, and ethical evidence (TREE)
This training provides an introduction to incorporating transparent, reproducible and ethical practices into impact evaluation research. The transparency portion focuses on practices, such as pre-analysis plans and registering studies, that should be incorporated to reduce p-hacking and improve the credibility of research activities. The reproducibility portion focuses on practices, such as computational reproducibility or push-button replication, that can be performed at the end of research lifecycle to maintain the credibility of the research project. The ethics portion of the training discusses why it is important to incorporate ethical practices into the research lifecycle and showcases the best ethical practices in informed consent and data de-identification.
Read about our TREE work here.
Introductory training on remote sensing and geospatial analysis for impact evaluations
This training on remote sensing tools and geospatial methods in impact evaluations serves as an introductory guide to leveraging satellite imagery for evaluating development interventions. It introduces participants to fundamental remote sensing concepts and provides resources for accessing and analyzing satellite data. Through a case study, participants learn to apply basic geospatial methods to assess intervention impacts. The module also offers hands-on guidance on measuring outcomes using remote sensing Google Earth Engine, while addressing key methodological challenges and limitations inherent in geospatial analysis for impact evaluation.
Intermediate training on remote sensing and geospatial analysis for impact evaluations
This training on geospatial analysis for development introduces participants to spatial thinking, remote sensing, and ways of leveraging different kinds of geospatial data in project work. Participants will learn to integrate econometric techniques with geospatial data to evaluate the impact of interventions. The training features hands-on experience in basic visualizations using R and satellite data processing and analysis using Google Earth Engine. Additionally, it addresses some methodological challenges and limitations inherent in geospatial analysis for impact evaluation.
Evidence synthesis courses
Basic evidence synthesis course
This basic evidence synthesis course introduces participants to evidence synthesis, including evidence mapping and systematic reviews. It walks participants through the key stages of a synthesis project: planning and preparation, executing a search and screening strategy, analyzing and assessing results, presenting and interpreting findings, and promoting stakeholder engagement and evidence uptake. Participants learn the different types of evidence synthesis outputs along with their strengths and weaknesses and gain an overview of the various methodologies that can be used in evidence synthesis production.
Intermediate evidence synthesis course
Our intermediate evidence synthesis course expands on the topics covered in the basic course. It covers the key stages of a synthesis project in greater depth and provides a more detailed discussion of data extraction and quantitative and qualitative synthesis analysis methods. By the end of this course, participants should be able to:
- Identify the stages of evidence synthesis;
- Compare and contrast evidence synthesis outputs;
- Interpret synthesis findings; and
- Evaluate synthesis work to determine if it is following best practices.
Workshops can be adapted and customized to your learning goals, and new curriculum can be commissioned. Please contact 3ie to design a customized capacity development plan for your organization.