Martina Vojtkova

Martina was an Evaluation Specialist in 3ie’s Synthesis and Reviews team and an Associate Editor of the International Development Coordinating Group of the Campbell Collaboration. She helped coordinate systematic reviews commissioned by 3ie and other donors, provided quality assurance on impact evaluations and systematic reviews, and contributed to in-house systematic review research and methods development.

Blogs by author

Getting to the goals: what we know and don’t know about sustainable solutions for poverty eradication

Martina Vojtkova 15 October 2015 blog  

On 25 September 2015, 193 UN member states signed off on a new direction for achieving sustainable development by 2030.  First among the 17 new sustainable development goals is the aim to end poverty in all its forms,and everywhere by 2030. This might seem like a tall order.  As a first and important step, countries need to take stock of effective solutions that have worked and identify areas where more work is required.

Not all ‘systematic’ reviews are created equal

Birte Snilstveit, Daniel Phillips, Martina Vojtkova 10 March 2015 blog  
In a recent World Bank blog based on a paper, David Evans and Anna Popova argue that systematic reviews may not be reliable as an approach to synthesis of empirical literature. They reach this conclusion after analysing six reviews assessing the effects of a range of education interventions on learning outcomes.  The main finding of their analysis: While all these reviews focus on the effects of learning outcomes based on evidence from impact evaluations, there is a large degree of divergence in the studies included in each review, and consequently the conclusions they reach.

Unexpected evidence on impact evaluations of anti-poverty programmes

Martina Vojtkova 28 September 2014 blog  

The first email that caught my eye this morning as I opened my inbox was Markus Goldstein’s most recent World Bank blog post, “Do impact evaluations tell us anything about reducing poverty?” Having worked in this field for four years, I too have been thinking that we were in the business of fighting poverty, and like him, I expected that impact evaluations, especially impact evaluations of anti-poverty programmes, would tell us whether we are reaching the poor and helping

How useful are systematic reviews in international development?

Martina Vojtkova 13 December 2012 blog  
Systematic reviews summarise all the evidence on a particular intervention or programme and were first developed in the health sector.  The health reviews have a specific audience: doctors, nurses and health practitioners. The audience is also easily able to find the systematic reviews. But there seems to be a big difference in the accessibility of evidence between the health and development sectors.