Insights | Series II | No. 1 | December 2013

SID-W/Charney Survey: The State of Development Evaluation, 2013

This article discusses the results of a qualitative survey of 624 development professionals conducted by Charney Research and The Society for International Development’s Washington chapter (SIDW) that seeks to gain a better understanding of the current state of development evaluation. It examines the following issues: How often do development projects include evaluation—and what kinds? How are evaluators chosen? How big are their budgets? How satisfactory are their results? People involved in evaluation can use the report to benchmark their work and knowledge against the rest of the field, funders will find it helpful to measure awareness and application of recommended evaluation practices, and policy-makers are offered a chance to see how far the field has come and ways to move it further forward.

For a summary of the findings, click here.

To download the full report, click here.

Mandela’s South Africa: Why Democracy Won

In this April 1994 New York Times op-ed—published on the day Mandela was elected—Craig Charney argues that the social movements, common identities, and shared values of South Africans boded well for the nascent, post-Apartheid South African democracy. The passage of 19 years since has confirmed his argument. With the recent passing of Nelson Mandela, we are reminded not only of his importance, but also the importance of all South Africans, who overcome anger and fear to establish their Rainbow Nation.

To read the article, click here.

Ask the Survey Doctor: Finding Control and Comparison Groups to Evaluate National Programs

This email discussion examines how to grapple with a frequent problem: How do you separate out control or comparison groups from the “treatment” of “experimental” groups when programs call for big, national-scale programs? While it can be particularly difficult to separate out, control, or comparison group from the “treatment” of “experimental” groups when programs calls for big, national-scale programs, there are solutions.

For the full answer, click here.