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Impact Evaluations

Project Evaluation for Development Effectiveness

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Framework Project Evaluation Results Publications and Blog
Design

At the design stage, you will define your evaluation questions, identify an appropriate methodology, and plan and budget for the evaluation activities. Use the following guidelines to help design and plan your impact evaluation.

Impact evaluations assess the changes in development outcomes that are caused by a particular project, program, or policy. To establish a causal relationship, impact evaluations rely on a set of experimental and quasi-experimental methods. The following links offer an overview of the main methodologies: 
General References

a. Introductory readings:

b. Intermediate readings:

By Methodology

a. Experimental methods:

b. Quasi-experimental methods:

By Sector

Agriculture

Early childhood development

Education

Housing

Industry

Labor markets

Land property

Microfinance

Nutrition

Regional development

Science and technology

Tourism

Transportation

Water and sanitation

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Power Calculations
Gantt Charts
Templates
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The credibility of the impact evaluation must be considered in the design stage of the evaluation cycle. Here we present some tools to facilitate the compliments of ethical and transparency protocols applied to the practice of the impact evaluation.
Institutional Review Board

Prior to launching data collection, it is imperative that the safety and protection of survey participants be considered. Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) help ensure that research involving human participants is conducted in an ethical manner. This includes verifying that risks to participants are minimized, that their selection is equitable, that they are fully informed of what the survey entails, and understand the potential risks and benefits. Information about IRBs as well as available services is included in the following links:

Open Science
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Implementation
Expressions of Interest
Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference (TORs) establish the roles and responsibilities, activities, products, and schedules of the parties involved in an impact evaluation. The following examples can be adapted based on the needs of each particular program:

Examples of TORs:

Rosters of Evaluators

The 3ie's expert roster and the J-PAL affiliates'  webpage include the names and areas of expertise of impact evaluation specialists.

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To implement your impact evaluation you may require technical assistance from evaluators and data specialists. This section gives you a head start in identifying and contracting service providers.
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Data Collection

High-quality data are a key input for impact evaluations. These survey materials can be adapted for your data collection needs using these instructions. Also, see our questionnaire designer manual and the data entry manual for guidance on preparing your survey.

HOUSEHOLDCOMMUNITYHEALTH FACILITY
 
SCHOOLFARMERS

 

Training Materials

Household Survey Training Materials

Completed Survey Example (Spanish)

More Surveys

Further examples of survey questions, as well as questionnaires, can be found at:

Data Collection Guidelines
Data Storage and Management

The document, store and disseminate your data with the following tools:

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Analysis
Once the data required to conduct an impact analysis are available, the data will be analyzed using statistical software and appropriate estimation strategies. In this section, you can find useful codes and guidelines to assist you with your data analysis.
Steps to Analyze Impact Evaluation Data

1. Validate survey data and potential attrition

2. Check the internal validity of the data

3. Impact estimation

4. Results presentation

  • Report template: outline of key content for a full impact evaluation report makers and consumers of evaluation results.
  • Policy brief template: outline of the content included in a short brief intended for policy
Stata Manuals

Exercise

Workshop checklist

External resources

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Dissemination

Once the data is analyzed, the results are then reported through presentations, evaluation reports, papers, and policy briefs. In addition, evaluation results are increasingly communicated using multimedia. Examples of these dissemination strategies are presented below.

Tools for Reporting Evaluation Results

 

Videos and Multimedia
Youth and Employment
Learn More
Impact evaluation in rural water and sanitation projects in Bolivia
Learn More
Back to top
Learning
This page includes links to impact evaluation training courses and workshops as well as training materials.
Workshops and Courses

IDB 

EXTERNAL 

Training Materials

Methodologies

Sampling

Fieldwork

Quality and data management

Stata Exercise

External

Virtual Lessons

In this section you will find a series of six lessons to help you learn and review the basics for completing an impact evaluation. Each lesson contains a series of videos, presentations, exercises and tests to go over the material.

Virtual Lessons

Impact Evaluation FAQs

Impact Evaluations FAQs

Glossary

* from Gertler, Martinez, Premand, Rawlings, and Vermeersch (2010) Impact Evaluation in Practice, Washington, DC: The World Bank

Glossary

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Design

At the design stage, you will define your evaluation questions, identify an appropriate methodology, and plan and budget for the evaluation activities. Use the following guidelines to help design and plan your impact evaluation.

Impact evaluations assess the changes in development outcomes that are caused by a particular project, program, or policy. To establish a causal relationship, impact evaluations rely on a set of experimental and quasi-experimental methods. The following links offer an overview of the main methodologies: 
General References

a. Introductory readings:

b. Intermediate readings:

By Methodology

a. Experimental methods:

b. Quasi-experimental methods:

By Sector

Agriculture

Early childhood development

Education

Housing

Industry

Labor markets

Land property

Microfinance

Nutrition

Regional development

Science and technology

Tourism

Transportation

Water and sanitation

Remove background color
On
Narrow
0
Back to top
Power Calculations
Gantt Charts
Templates
Remove background color
On
Narrow
0
The credibility of the impact evaluation must be considered in the design stage of the evaluation cycle. Here we present some tools to facilitate the compliments of ethical and transparency protocols applied to the practice of the impact evaluation.
Institutional Review Board

Prior to launching data collection, it is imperative that the safety and protection of survey participants be considered. Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) help ensure that research involving human participants is conducted in an ethical manner. This includes verifying that risks to participants are minimized, that their selection is equitable, that they are fully informed of what the survey entails, and understand the potential risks and benefits. Information about IRBs as well as available services is included in the following links:

Open Science
Remove background color
On
Narrow
0
Back to top
Implementation
Expressions of Interest
Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference (TORs) establish the roles and responsibilities, activities, products, and schedules of the parties involved in an impact evaluation. The following examples can be adapted based on the needs of each particular program:

Examples of TORs:

Rosters of Evaluators

The 3ie's expert roster and the J-PAL affiliates'  webpage include the names and areas of expertise of impact evaluation specialists.

Remove background color
On
Narrow
0
To implement your impact evaluation you may require technical assistance from evaluators and data specialists. This section gives you a head start in identifying and contracting service providers.
Back to top
Data Collection

High-quality data are a key input for impact evaluations. These survey materials can be adapted for your data collection needs using these instructions. Also, see our questionnaire designer manual and the data entry manual for guidance on preparing your survey.

HOUSEHOLDCOMMUNITYHEALTH FACILITY
 
SCHOOLFARMERS

 

Training Materials

Household Survey Training Materials

Completed Survey Example (Spanish)

More Surveys

Further examples of survey questions, as well as questionnaires, can be found at:

Data Collection Guidelines
Data Storage and Management

The document, store and disseminate your data with the following tools:

Remove background color
On
Narrow
0
Back to top
Analysis
Once the data required to conduct an impact analysis are available, the data will be analyzed using statistical software and appropriate estimation strategies. In this section, you can find useful codes and guidelines to assist you with your data analysis.
Steps to Analyze Impact Evaluation Data

1. Validate survey data and potential attrition

2. Check the internal validity of the data

3. Impact estimation

4. Results presentation

  • Report template: outline of key content for a full impact evaluation report makers and consumers of evaluation results.
  • Policy brief template: outline of the content included in a short brief intended for policy
Stata Manuals

Exercise

Workshop checklist

External resources

Remove background color
On
Narrow
0
Back to top
Dissemination

Once the data is analyzed, the results are then reported through presentations, evaluation reports, papers, and policy briefs. In addition, evaluation results are increasingly communicated using multimedia. Examples of these dissemination strategies are presented below.

Tools for Reporting Evaluation Results

 

Videos and Multimedia
Youth and Employment
Learn More
Impact evaluation in rural water and sanitation projects in Bolivia
Learn More
Back to top
Learning
This page includes links to impact evaluation training courses and workshops as well as training materials.
Workshops and Courses

IDB 

EXTERNAL 

Training Materials

Methodologies

Sampling

Fieldwork

Quality and data management

Stata Exercise

External

Virtual Lessons

In this section you will find a series of six lessons to help you learn and review the basics for completing an impact evaluation. Each lesson contains a series of videos, presentations, exercises and tests to go over the material.

Virtual Lessons

Impact Evaluation FAQs

Impact Evaluations FAQs

Glossary

* from Gertler, Martinez, Premand, Rawlings, and Vermeersch (2010) Impact Evaluation in Practice, Washington, DC: The World Bank

Glossary

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Impact Evaluation in Practice: Second Edition
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Impact: Ideas to enhance economic growth and social inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean
Learn more
Institutional Strategy
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Corporate Result Framework
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Development Effectiveness Overview
See more
Lending Instruments
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