Latest blogs

How process evaluation can help improve program design and implementation

3ie’s recently-published working paper ‘Incorporating process evaluation into impact evaluation – What, why and how’ by Senior Research Fellows Vibecke Dixon and Michael Bamberger lays down the guidelines that can provide impact evaluators with tools and ideas for exploring and adding relevant elements of process evaluations to experimental and quasi-experimental impact evaluation designs.

Evidence Dialogues: How to set up development institutions so evidence informs policy

One year ago, a group of experts on a 3ie panel agreed that simply producing evidence and data was not sufficient for learning. On Friday, 3ie’s Executive Director, Marie Gaarder, invited those experts back to her virtual table to share what they've learned about how to set up processes within development institutions so that good evidence is not just generated but incorporated into the project planning cycle.

Applications of nighttime light data in international development research

The increasing availability of remotely-sensed measurements of nighttime light intensity across space and time opens the door to new possibilities to understand how the Earth is changing. These insights can improve decision-making to guide policy, deliver services, and improve governance in near real-time. However, accelerated human modifications of the landscape and human activities are profoundly affecting the processes on the Earth's surface, both locally and globally, creating a variety of challenges for scientists and policymakers in understanding global change and its repercussions.

Mapping the impact of urbanization on vegetation in Nairobi, the 'green city in the sun’

In August 2021, 3ie and New Light Technologies co-led a series of capacity-building workshops with 10 researchers from the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) on the potential to use remotely-sensed geospatial data for impact evaluation. This blog is the third in a series of four in which workshop participants reflect on the uses of remotely-sensed and geospatial data.

Geospatial data for measuring vegetation impact on agricultural productivity

In August 2021, 3ie and New Light Technologies co-led a series of capacity-building workshops with 10 researchers from the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) on the potential to use remotely-sensed geospatial data for impact evaluations. This blog is the second in a series of four in which workshop participants reflect on the uses of remotely-sensed and geospatial data.

Machine learning and remote sensing: New evaluation tools, especially to measure land-use

In August 2021, 3ie and New Light Technologies co-led a series of capacity-building workshops with 10 researchers from the African Population and Health Research Center on the potential to use remotely-sensed geospatial data for impact evaluations. This blog is the first in a series of four in which workshop participants reflect on the uses of remotely-sensed and geospatial data.

TREE Review Framework – Reimagining ethics review and oversight

At 3ie, we are refining a process to help research teams consider the ethics questions raised in social science research and document their decisions. Our Transparent, Reproducible, and Ethical Evidence (TREE) Review Framework complements the necessary work of Institutional Review Board (IRBs) while ensuring we do not outsource our ethical judgement to them.

The four essentials of supporting artisans’ group enterprises

In this blog we draw from the experiences of the two leaders as they navigated the journey of setting up and supporting artisans’ collective enterprises. Both these leaders, Vijaya Switha Grandhi and Prerna Agarwal, and their organizations, Chitrika Foundation and Urmul Trust, respectively, have been working for several years to support artisans, particularly women artisans, to transform from wage workers to entrepreneurs and leaders.

Swashakt: Women leaders on collective entrepreneurship and empowerment

What does the journey of promoting non-farm livelihoods in rural India and empowering women in the process look like in practice? Our conversation with two women leaders answers this question and shines light on key learnings from lived experiences. Vijaya Switha Grandhi and Prerna Agarwal have been working with women weavers and artisans through collectivization, entrepreneurship, and capacity building for several years. We spoke to them about their understanding of these concepts and their individual journeys. In this blog, the first of two parts, we share what the conversation revealed about women’s leadership, empowerment, and the need for collectivization.

The ethics of payments to research participants

Data collection is often a burdensome and time-consuming activity for research participants, particularly when it involves hours-long surveys. Researchers may wonder if they should pay participants for their time, how much they should offer, and whether it should take the form of cash or in-kind provision. They may worry that a failure to pay participants risks exploitation, but also that the promise of payment may unduly influence or even coerce people to participate, particularly when prospective participants are poor. I explore these issues in this post, focusing first on the rationale for payment before turning to concerns regarding coercion and undue inducement.

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.

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