The evidence-to-policy conundrum and how to solve it

Does better evidence lead to better policies and programs? Massive amounts of reliable evidence, drawing on scientifically strong methods, including randomized controlled trials, mixed-methods approaches, and more, have been generated and disseminated in recent decades. A Nobel Prize has been awarded for that pathbreaking work. Yet the impact of that evidence – on what policymakers and program implementers think and do – has been far below expectations, even pitifully tiny according to some accounts. billion people.

Insights from the Development Evidence Portal – the Middle East and North Africa

Our latest piece in the ‘state of the evidence’ series – which interprets data by unpacking the studies in our Development Evidence Portal (DEP) – focuses on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. . The DEP currently includes 740 impact evaluations (IE) and 352 systematic reviews (SR) from the region, which is the second smallest amongst regions containing low- and middle-income countries (L&MICs). Interested readers are encouraged to further explore the DEP for additional data not covered in this blog.

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Latest blogs

Innovations in Increasing Immunisation Evidence Programme

A shot in the arm: why engaging with a range of stakeholders matters

Ananta Seth, Radhika Menon 24 April 2019 blog

When 3ie set up the Innovations in Increasing Immunisation Evidence Programme, we realised early on that we had to walk the talk. The evidence programme funded formative and impact evaluations of community-based approaches for boosting coverage in countries with low or stagnating immunisation rates. But community members and local decision makers had not been figuring prominently in our approach to how our grantees engage with stakeholders.

Putting government in the driver’s seat to generate and use impact evaluations in the Philippines

Emmanuel Jimenez, Tara Kaul, Fides Borja 11 March 2019 blog

Impact evaluations are sometimes criticised for being supply-driven. It is hard to know for sure. There is no counterfactual to what would have happened without the impact evaluation. Regardless of whether this is true or not, one of the ways to ensure that an impact evaluation is more demand-driven is to put the government in the driver’s seat for increasing the demand for evaluation.

From capacity building to developing capacities: dreaming big about improving evidence use

Beryl Leach, Ruth Stewart 22 February 2019 blog

Knowledge and information sharing are two of the main reasons people join the Africa Evidence Network (AEN). More specifically, demand for more capacity development for evidence production and use comes up again and again in our webinars, in blogs from our members and in what they share with us via the AEN website and newsletter. We see this demand in the high turnout for workshops at our biennial AEN conference. Yet, people we talk with are frustrated with the types of capacity development on offer in our region.

Field notes on latrine use promotion in Odisha, India

18 January 2019 blog

Odisha has one of the lowest rates of sanitation coverage in India, with over 50 per cent of rural households in need of latrines. 3ie’s Neeta Goel and Radhika Menon joined programme implementers from Emory University and Gram Vikas for a learning exchange to understand what works and what doesn’t in sanitation behaviour change programmes. Representatives from all three organisations authored this blog, capturing the key lessons learned that can inform sanitation policy.

3ie: from take-off to cruising through an ever changing world

Emmanuel Jimenez 28 December 2018 blog

Even though it’s been over three years since I joined 3ie, I was still fascinated to read Howard White’s reflections on how it all started. A question that has often come up for me as well is about why I’m in Delhi. As Howard said, the vision of an organisation having its locus of authority be in the Global South, is something that attracted me as well.

3ie: from starting up to taking off

Howard White 28 December 2018 blog

Back in 2008, 3ie was just my laptop and me. It has come a long way since then. Although I bid farewell to the organisation in 2015, I have continued to watch how the organisation has grown. What has 3ie achieved in the last ten years?

Where are the evidence gaps in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector?

Hannah Chirgwin 15 December 2018 blog

A recent BBC article asked why billions of people still lack basic sanitation and they’re not the only ones wondering. According to a 2017 report, 3 in 10 people worldwide (2.1 billion) lack access to safe, readily available water at home and more than 6 in 10 (4.5 billion) lack safely managed sanitation.

What’s the deal with Push Button Replications?

Sayak Khatua 15 December 2018 blog

Reproduction and replication of research findings can improve the quality and reliability of research. The recent credibility crisis in the field of psychology, has sparked a huge discussion on the reliability of research findings in all fields and critics have expressed strong doubts over replicability of published research. It should be safe to assume that the original data and programming code from a published article would replicate the results presented.

Bringing research down to earth

Mark Engelbert 04 December 2018 blog

Today is World Soil Day, so it’s an opportune time to discuss some of the work 3ie has been supporting through our Agricultural Innovation Evidence Programme, which is jointly funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development.

Misdiagnosis and the evidence trap: a tale of inadequate program design

Marie Gaarder, Vibecke Dixon 01 November 2018 blog

Imagine you wake up tomorrow with a headache, sore throat and fever, perhaps nothing unusual at this time of the year. You drag yourself out of bed and head to your doctor to ask her for something to make you feel better. However, if you had first looked up your symptoms on the net, you would have been surprised to find that headache, sore throat and fever can be caused by 136 different conditions, among them typhoid fever, measles, and brain tumour.

About

Evidence Matters is 3ie’s blog. It primarily features contributions from staff and board members. Guest blogs are by invitation.

3ie publishes blogs in the form received from the authors. Any errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the authors. Views expressed are their own and do not represent the opinions of 3ie, its board of commissioners or supporters.