Building an evaluative culture for effective evaluation and results management

A weak evaluative culture undermines many attempts at building an effective evaluation and results management regime. This brief outlines practical actions that an organization can take to build and support an evaluative culture, where information on performance is deliberately sought in order to learn how to better manage and deliver programmes and services. Such an organization values empirical evidence on the results it is seeking to achieve.evaluation, culture, Agricultural and Food Policy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

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The contribution of walkability to geographic variation in physical activity, high body mass and psychosocial distress in Sydney, Australia

Improving the walkability of built environments to promote healthy lifestyles is increasingly considered in urban development plans. This thesis investigated if walkability in Sydney, Australia, was associated with physical activity, high body mass and psychosocial distress when measured at the aggregate postal area level, and whether walkability contributed to geographic variation in health outcomes at this scale. Walkability indexes using residential density, intersection density, land use mix, with and without retail floor area ratio were calculated at the Census Collection District level for Sydney and compared for reliability, latent variable structure, and predictive validity for utilitarian walking using travel to work data from the 2006 Australian Census. An abridged index without retail floor area ratio retained 87% of the variability in a full index including retail floor area ratio and predicted increases in odds of utilitarian walking to work with increasing walkability. The abridged index was aggregated to postal areas to match the spatial unit of health data from Sydney respondents to the 45 and Up Study baseline questionnaire (2006–2010). Cross-sectional associations between walkability and prevalence of health-enhancing physical activity (including walking), high body mass, and psychosocial distress at the postal area level were investigated using Bayesian spatial regressions adjusted for individual-level factors. Prevalence of health-enhancing walking and total physical activity were higher in high walkability postal areas, while prevalence of overweight and obesity were lower in medium high and high walkability postal areas. Psychosocial distress was not associated with walkability at the postal area level. This thesis demonstrated the utility of spatial analysis for walkability research and planning, and illustrates how walkability indexes can inform population-level action aimed at increasing physical activity and reducing high body mass

Process Tracing and Contribution Analysis: A Combined Approach to Generative Causal Inference for Impact Evaluation

This article proposes a combination of a popular evaluation approach, contribution analysis (CA), with an emerging method for causal inference, process tracing (PT). Both are grounded in generative causality and take a probabilistic approach to the interpretation of evidence. The combined approach is tested on the evaluation of the contribution of a teaching programme to the improvement of school performance of girls, and is shown to be preferable to either CA or PT alone. The proposed procedure shows that established Bayesian principles and PT tests, based on both science and common sense, can be applied to assess the strength of qualitative and quali?quantitative observations and evidence, collected within an overarching CA framework; thus shifting the focus of impact evaluation from ‘assessing impact’ to ‘assessing confidence’ (about impact)

Developing a framework and approach for IDRC targeted impact evaluations

A key focus of IDRC evaluations has been on exploring the extent to which the research has influenced policy, practice and innovation. With an increased focus on development outcomes, this brief sets out concepts for thinking about, and applying impact evaluations for IDRC projects and programmes. It discusses assessment issues and presents useful ways of framing evaluations, using four examples of IDRC programming. Impact evaluations seek to explore the contributions made by interventions (such as IDRCs’ research projects and programs) and the longer-term effects of those interventions on peoples’ lives or the environment