Senior fellow David Roodman was mentioned in a Huffington Post blog on impact evaluations.
From the Article
I want to do good, but I don't want to waste my time or money doing it. You, too?
In the action world of volunteering, organizing and check-writing, anti-poverty evaluation feels paralyzing. Mostly we ignore the evaluators because in large measure, the research studies inconclusively nitpick. This feature of that program works better than this or that one. Or, that program oversells itself. Or, a study duplicates what seasoned practitioners already know. Or, the ubiquitous observation that more studies are needed.
Evaluations rarely guide us in making the big choices between and among the various sectoral interventions, such as health (primary care, prevention, training health professionals or building hospitals?) versus agriculture (sustainable small farms, treadle pumps or massive irrigation projects?). Or, small business development versus clean water? And what about the relative impact between energy, education or elusive governmental reform?
And, often the research findings present bogus choices. If your goal is increased school attendance, surely deworming children and better teachers and free school uniforms and sanitary napkins for girls and, and, and... are all necessary ingredients for success.
Moreover, the house of mirrors in which evaluators reflect on the best research methodology, and whose data is more valid, and which studies are replicable and more rigorous is never-ending. Every approach comes with cautions and caveats. For a smart, thoughtful taste of it, the best thinker on the topic is David Roodman of the Center for Global Development. From afar we respect the integrity of open scholarship, but parsing the academic debate for an actionable poverty-reduction plan in the here and now becomes a diversionary fool's errand.
rivero