AN IMPACT IDENTIFICATION METHOD FOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM EVALUATION |
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| Authors: | Thomas Dietz Alicia Pfund |
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| Institution: | Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Human Ecology Research Group at George Mason University. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis' and a B.G.S. from Kent State University. He is co-editor of The Handbook for Environmental Planning and co-author of The Risk Professionals. His current research centers on theory in human ecology and on the link between theory and method in impact assessment.;a review and evaluation officer at the External Review and Evaluation Office of the Inter-American Bank (IDB). She holds a B.A. degree in Sociology from George Washington University and is pursuing an M.A. in Applied Anthropology at American University. She has conducted studies in IDB efforts in urban development, health and nutrition, and on the beneficiaries of IDR projects. Her current interests include socio-cul- tural aspects of development in Latin America, human ecology, and nutri- tion and development. |
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| Abstract: | Evaluation is essential to planning and implementing effective develop- ment programs. The resource limitations, multidimensionality of develop- ment program impacts, cultural barriers between evaluators and those impacted, and the diversity of settings in which evaluations must be con- ducted arc serious constraints on the use of traditional research methods to evaluate development programs. Similar constraints are faced in con- ducting most social impact assessments. We suggest that a method of impact identification that makes use of experts, including the people ef- fected by a project, can be used in development project evaluation. The method, which is based on the noniinal group technique, is described, as are some of its applications in Latin America and the Caribbean. We conclude iiy considering directions for future development and the relationship be- tween planning, evaluation, and impact assessment. |
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