Expanding the frontiers of heterogeneity analysis: application of a machine learning method to a gender attitude change program

At 3ie, we recently tested a machine learning technique on a previously completed randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a school-based gender attitude change program in Haryana, India to answer this question. We share a few key findings and benefits of employing this method.

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.

Previous Pause Next

Latest blogs

A framework for examining women’s economic empowerment in collective enterprises

Bidisha Barooah, Shreya Banerjee, Aastha Dang, Krishna Kejriwal, Ridhi Aggarwal 30 August 2022 blog

Swashakt, launched with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2020, has now reached more than 6900 women across 480 villages in 10 Indian states who have become a part of farm or non-farm women’s collective enterprises. In this blog, we discuss how we define and measure women’s economic empowerment in the context of our program.

Up-to-date information for food systems transformation: 3ie's living Evidence Gap Map

Groundbreaking studies now part of 3ie's Food Systems and Nutrition Evidence Gap Map

Charlotte Lane, Ingunn Storhaug, Rike Riesmeier, Tina Koch 18 August 2022 blog

In June 2022, a high-level expert group from the European Commission called for independent and up-to-date reports on the scientific evidence about food systems transformation. We certainly agree this work is essential – that’s why we’ve been producing such reports since 2020 as part of 3ie’s living Food Systems and Nutrition Evidence Gap Map (EGM). In our latest update, we add groundbreaking studies to the map, including one on sugar-sweetened beverage taxes.

Evidence Dialogues: Building connections between researchers and policymakers to eliminate hunger

Paul Thissen 05 August 2022 blog

Sustainable Development Goal 2 – eliminating hunger – is breathtaking in both its simplicity and its scope. We all know how to avoid hunger in our own lives, but on a global scale, the task brings together a dizzying array of potential policies: agricultural support, cash transfers, school lunches, or taxes on sugary sodas, to name just a handful.

Mapping evidence gaps in interventions improving food security in humanitarian settings

Ashiqun Nabi, Cem Yavuz, Shannon Shisler 04 August 2022 blog

Natural and human-induced catastrophic events are pushing humanity to the brink. The compounding and cascading effects of armed conflicts, irreversible climate change, and the global outbreak of COVID-19 are devastating economies and driving more households into poverty. Today, nearly 193 million people are living in a food crisis (2022 Global Report on Food Crises) while 49 million are experiencing alarming levels of hunger (Hunger Hotspots report June 2022).

Reconciling theory and practice: An adapted community engagement framework for child immunization

Monica Jain 28 July 2022 blog

In our newly-released systematic review on routine child immunization, we developed a community engagement typology to bridge this gap between theory and practice. We came across three ways communities had been engaged: engagement in the design of the intervention, engagement in the implementation of the intervention, or engagement embedded as a component in the intervention.

Mapping evidence to strengthen impact on resilience and food security

Annie Vincent, Carolyn Huang, Tanvi Lal 21 July 2022 blog

As per current estimates, almost 765 million people are affected by food insecurity worldwide. Chronic vulnerability, hunger, and water insecurity have been compounded by climate change, humanitarian crises, and COVID-induced shocks and pressures. USAID, through the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS), works through dedicated centers to improve program impacts on these critical issues and accelerate the progress on building resilient communities and countries.

Evidence Dialogues: How community engagement interventions can increase routine immunization

Paul Thissen 01 July 2022 blog

Although the COVID-19 pandemic drew plenty of attention to the need for one specific vaccine, the disruptions it caused also exacerbated existing challenges in ensuring all the world's children receive their shots.

Using mixed methods to strengthen process and impact evaluation

Michael Bamberger 20 May 2022 blog

As necessary as conventional quantitative methods might be, the importance of adopting a mixed-methods approach in order to understand and answer complex development questions cannot be overemphasized. This blog is the second of a two-part series by 3ie Senior Research Fellow Michael Bamberger in which he offers detailed guidance on how to design, implement and utilize mixed-methods evaluations.

Three ways theories of change are helping evaluate a complex initiative to improve waste pickers’ lives

Stuti Tripathi, Chandan Jain, Indira Patil, Saumya Mathur 16 May 2022 blog

Urban waste pickers face several intertwined challenges such as low incomes, limited education, poor health, social marginalization, and domestic violence. In Bengaluru, India, 3ie is currently evaluating an initiative called Saamuhika Shakti, which adopts an innovative ‘Collective Impact’ approach to improving the lives of informal waste pickers. The initiative, just like the problems it looks to address, is complex.

Importance of mixed-methods approaches in development research and evaluation

Michael Bamberger 13 May 2022 blog

As necessary as conventional quantitative methods might be, the importance of adopting a mixed-methods approach in order to understand and answer complex development questions cannot be overemphasized. In the first blog of this two-part series, 3ie Senior Research Fellow Michael Bamberger explains how an integrated mixed-methods approach goes much beyond incorporating just a few tools from both the quantitative and qualitative traditions and why that is more effective for addressing real-world problems.

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.