revised final version WD article June 2017.pdf (770.86 kB)
How to find out what’s really going on: understanding impact through participatory process evaluation
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 07:37 authored by Andrea Cornwall, Alia AghajanianThis article considers the contribution participatory process evaluation can make to impact assessment, using a case study of a study carried out to evaluate how a Kenyan nutrition education program had brought about change in the nutritional status of children and in their and their parents’ understanding and practices. Using Bhola’s three dimensions of impact—“impact by design”, “impact by interaction”, and “impact by emergence”—focuses not just on what changes as an intended result of an intervention, but on how change happens and how positive changes can be sustained. The principal focus of the article is methodological and as such it describes in some detail the development of a sequence of participatory visualization and discussion methods and their application with a range of stakeholders, from program staff in the headquarters of the implementing agency, to local government officials, front-line program workers, and beneficiaries. It suggests that the use of a participatory approach can enable researchers and evaluators to gain a fuller picture of incidental and unintended outcomes arising from interventions, making participatory process evaluation a valuable complement to other impact assessment methodologies.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
World DevelopmentISSN
0305-750XPublisher
ElsevierExternal DOI
Volume
99Page range
173-185Department affiliated with
- Anthropology Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2017-08-24First Open Access (FOA) Date
2019-08-01First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2017-08-23Usage metrics
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