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Global challenges in practice: designing a development intervention
Global challenges in practice: designing a development intervention

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2 Debating the value of types of evidence for evaluation

In this section you will read two blogs written in 2013 by development practitioners. The first is by Rosalind Eyben and Chris Roche, who were with Oxfam at the time. The second is by Chris Whitty and Stefan Dercon, who were with the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID). They all debated the role of evidence in evaluation.

Now complete the following activity.

Activity 2

Timing: Allow around 20 minutes

First, read Eyben and Roche (2013) Oxfam blog debate: the political implications of evidence-based approaches [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

Then read the response from DFID, Whitty and Dercon (2013)

Now consider your own thoughts on the ‘evidence debate’ and answer the following questions:

  • Which article resonated most with you and your experience?
  • How has the debate developed since these blog posts were written?

Note your thoughts in the box below.

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Discussion

  • Which article resonated most with you and your experience?

For both arguments, you can probably appreciate that development interventions should not be over measured, but also that we need to better understand impact and value for money. Chris Whitty’s point about being honest about when you don't know, or when the evidence is unclear is useful. The emphasis on empirical evidence has led to unease when the evidence is ambiguous or sketchy. But sometimes that's all we have. Assuming good quality data is available, isolating the effects of interventions can be done statistically but there will always be margins of error and further lines of enquiry to be pursued for more nuanced understandings. Mixed methodologies involving quantitative and qualitative approaches help in providing the necessary explanations for observed trends.

  • How has the debate developed since these blog posts were written?

The debate has developed much since these blog posts were written, most especially in response to the development sector’s response to the Black Lives Matter protests. However, most of the changes discussed to become more anti-racist in development practise have centred around programme design rather than evaluation.