Systematic review methodology pioneered in health care has been increasingly applied to developme... more Systematic review methodology pioneered in health care has been increasingly applied to development questions of importance in lower-and middle-income countries. This paper reports one such review on the topic of microfinance in sub-Saharan Africa and reflects on the number of pragmatic methodological compromises made when applying the method to a new field. These compromises relate to multidisciplinary teamwork, application of regional filters, drawing on evidence from additional study types and exploring mechanisms for ...
The Collaboration for Environmental Evidence is establishing centres worldwide to enhance evidenc... more The Collaboration for Environmental Evidence is establishing centres worldwide to enhance evidence-based decision-making on questions of importance in environmental sustainability. This has included the establishment in 2012 of a Centre at the University of Johannesburg. Our work draws heavily on a model for synthesizing research evidence for decision-making established in health care. This involves identifying and reviewing all the available research evidence relevant to a particular question, which is then critically appraised and summarized within systematic reviews. These reviews are routinely used worldwide to inform health care policy.
This consultation document has been produced by members of the Social Science Research Unit at th... more This consultation document has been produced by members of the Social Science Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London within the Perspectives, Participation and Research stream in collaboration with Professor Carol Dezateux, Centre for Paediatric ...
ABSTRACT Driven by the demand for evidence of development effectiveness, the field of mobile lear... more ABSTRACT Driven by the demand for evidence of development effectiveness, the field of mobile learning for development (ML4D) has recently begun to adopt rigorous evaluation methods. Using the findings of an ongoing systematic review of ML4D interventions, this paper critically assesses the value proposition of rigorous impact evaluations in ML4D. While a drive towards more reliable evidence of mobile learning’s effectiveness as a development intervention is welcome, the maturity of the field, which continues to be characterised by pilot programmes rather than well-established and selfsustaining interventions, questions the utility of rigorous evaluation designs. The experiences of conducting rigorous evaluations of ML4D interventions have been mixed, and the paper concludes that in many cases the absence of an explicit programme theory negates the effectiveness of carefully designed impact evaluations. Mixed-methods evaluations are presented as a more relevant evaluation approach in the context of ML4D.
Stewart, Ruth , Ellison, George , Wiggins, Meg , Thomas, James , Oliver, Sandy , Brunton, Ginny ,... more Stewart, Ruth , Ellison, George , Wiggins, Meg , Thomas, James , Oliver, Sandy , Brunton, Ginny , Erasmus, Yvonne , Van Rooyen, Carina and De Wet, Thea (2001) The HIVSA project report: capacity building for the evaluation of HIV/AIDS education. (Project Report) ...
A new technology or innovation (see below) Other An example of an evaluation of this kind of inte... more A new technology or innovation (see below) Other An example of an evaluation of this kind of intervention is Anyango et al. (2010), who evaluated a five-year project in Kenya aimed at improving the income and food security of smallholder farmers through a number of training interventions, including introducing new cultivars to the farmers and training them through farmer field schools, as well as providing training on marketing skills, amongst other things. Ashraf et al. (2008), on the other hand, evaluated agricultural interventions that worked with pre-existing farmer self-help groups and provided farmers with information and short orientation-sessions about switching to export crops and offered in-kind loans and facilitated transactions with exporters.
Ruth Stewart (Project Coordinator and Workshop Facilitator), George Ellison (Project Director and... more Ruth Stewart (Project Coordinator and Workshop Facilitator), George Ellison (Project Director and Workshop Facilitator), Meg Wiggins (Workshop Facilitator), James Thomas (Workshop Facilitator), Sandy Oliver and Ginny Brunton from the Social Science Research Unit ...
a s y s T e m aT i c r e v i e w o f e v i d e n c e f r o m s u b -s a h a r a n a f r i c a s t... more a s y s T e m aT i c r e v i e w o f e v i d e n c e f r o m s u b -s a h a r a n a f r i c a s t e wa r t r , va n r o oy e n c , D i c k s o n k , m a j o r o m , D e w e t t 2010
Systematic review methodology pioneered in health care has been increasingly applied to developme... more Systematic review methodology pioneered in health care has been increasingly applied to development questions of importance in lower-and middle-income countries. This paper reports one such review on the topic of microfinance in sub-Saharan Africa and reflects on the number of pragmatic methodological compromises made when applying the method to a new field. These compromises relate to multidisciplinary teamwork, application of regional filters, drawing on evidence from additional study types and exploring mechanisms for ...
The Collaboration for Environmental Evidence is establishing centres worldwide to enhance evidenc... more The Collaboration for Environmental Evidence is establishing centres worldwide to enhance evidence-based decision-making on questions of importance in environmental sustainability. This has included the establishment in 2012 of a Centre at the University of Johannesburg. Our work draws heavily on a model for synthesizing research evidence for decision-making established in health care. This involves identifying and reviewing all the available research evidence relevant to a particular question, which is then critically appraised and summarized within systematic reviews. These reviews are routinely used worldwide to inform health care policy.
This consultation document has been produced by members of the Social Science Research Unit at th... more This consultation document has been produced by members of the Social Science Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London within the Perspectives, Participation and Research stream in collaboration with Professor Carol Dezateux, Centre for Paediatric ...
ABSTRACT Driven by the demand for evidence of development effectiveness, the field of mobile lear... more ABSTRACT Driven by the demand for evidence of development effectiveness, the field of mobile learning for development (ML4D) has recently begun to adopt rigorous evaluation methods. Using the findings of an ongoing systematic review of ML4D interventions, this paper critically assesses the value proposition of rigorous impact evaluations in ML4D. While a drive towards more reliable evidence of mobile learning’s effectiveness as a development intervention is welcome, the maturity of the field, which continues to be characterised by pilot programmes rather than well-established and selfsustaining interventions, questions the utility of rigorous evaluation designs. The experiences of conducting rigorous evaluations of ML4D interventions have been mixed, and the paper concludes that in many cases the absence of an explicit programme theory negates the effectiveness of carefully designed impact evaluations. Mixed-methods evaluations are presented as a more relevant evaluation approach in the context of ML4D.
Stewart, Ruth , Ellison, George , Wiggins, Meg , Thomas, James , Oliver, Sandy , Brunton, Ginny ,... more Stewart, Ruth , Ellison, George , Wiggins, Meg , Thomas, James , Oliver, Sandy , Brunton, Ginny , Erasmus, Yvonne , Van Rooyen, Carina and De Wet, Thea (2001) The HIVSA project report: capacity building for the evaluation of HIV/AIDS education. (Project Report) ...
A new technology or innovation (see below) Other An example of an evaluation of this kind of inte... more A new technology or innovation (see below) Other An example of an evaluation of this kind of intervention is Anyango et al. (2010), who evaluated a five-year project in Kenya aimed at improving the income and food security of smallholder farmers through a number of training interventions, including introducing new cultivars to the farmers and training them through farmer field schools, as well as providing training on marketing skills, amongst other things. Ashraf et al. (2008), on the other hand, evaluated agricultural interventions that worked with pre-existing farmer self-help groups and provided farmers with information and short orientation-sessions about switching to export crops and offered in-kind loans and facilitated transactions with exporters.
Ruth Stewart (Project Coordinator and Workshop Facilitator), George Ellison (Project Director and... more Ruth Stewart (Project Coordinator and Workshop Facilitator), George Ellison (Project Director and Workshop Facilitator), Meg Wiggins (Workshop Facilitator), James Thomas (Workshop Facilitator), Sandy Oliver and Ginny Brunton from the Social Science Research Unit ...
a s y s T e m aT i c r e v i e w o f e v i d e n c e f r o m s u b -s a h a r a n a f r i c a s t... more a s y s T e m aT i c r e v i e w o f e v i d e n c e f r o m s u b -s a h a r a n a f r i c a s t e wa r t r , va n r o oy e n c , D i c k s o n k , m a j o r o m , D e w e t t 2010
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