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  • Revolutionary Google-backed system unlocks power of big data to save forests

    This blog post from Rhett A Butler for Mongabay.com outlines the use of a new tool, Global Forest Watch, which uses big data to monitor global forests on a monthly basis.  Utilising Google’s computing cloud the tool is able to analyse
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  • Five misunderstandings about case-study research

    This article, written by Bent Flyvbjerg (Aalborg University, Denmark) examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research.
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  • Gender equality and big data: Making gender data visible

    The report from UN Women, with support from UN Global Pulse, outlines the value of big data for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to women.
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  • Measuring results and impact in the age of big data

    This paper explores the nexus of data science and evaluation, probing the issues and challenges of incorporating big data into evaluation practice. This resource and the following information was contributed by Alice Macfarlan.
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  • Global innovations in measurement and evaluation

    This report by NPC highlights their research into the latest developments in theory and practice in measurement and evaluation. The authors found that new thinking, techniques, and technology are influencing and improving practice.
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  • Discussion Paper: Innovations in Monitoring and Evaluation

    This discussion paper produced by the United Nations Development Programme discusses various innovations that are occurring in M&E, and the advantages and disadvantages of these methods.
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  • Big data for development: challenges & opportunities

    This white paper by UN Global Pulse examines the use of Big Data in development contexts.
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  • Geospatial analysis in evaluation

    This blog from the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) highlights the role of geospatial data in understanding change in phenomena, and answering questions of relevance and effectiveness of development interventions.
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  • Learning from data innovation

    This episode from the IEG podcast 'What have we learned' features Brenda Barbour and Jos Vaessen discussing the opportunities and challenges of using innovative technologies with evaluation data.
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  • Big data and evaluation: Use and implications

    Big data is emerging as a new world currency.
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  • What about administrative data?

    In this guest blog, Kerry McCarthy discusses some of the options for finding administrative data sets for use in evaluation.
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  • Digital dividends in natural resource management

    The report sets out research findings on the "digital dividends" of various types of technology on natural resource management in low and middle-income countries.
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  • Guidance on M&E for civil society programs

    This guide from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT, formerly AusAID) is aimed at program managers who have responsibility for
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  • The logical framework approach

    This publication is part of a series of guidelines developed by AusAid in relation to activities design.
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  • CEDIL Methods Brief - Using big data for impact evaluations

    This paper provides detailed guidance on using big data to fill data gaps in impact evaluations.
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  • Outcome harvesting

    Outcome Harvesting collects (“harvests”) evidence of what has changed (“outcomes”) and, working backwards, determines whether and how an intervention has contributed to these changes.
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  • 52 weeks of BetterEvaluation: Week 16: Identifying and documenting emergent outcomes of a global network

    Global voluntary networks are complex beasts with dynamic and unpredictable actions and interactions. How can we evaluate the results of a network like this? Whose results are we even talking about?
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  • Example outcome journal template

    This template is based on the original Outcome Mapping guidance, incorporating elements from Outcome Harvesting (e.g. significance) and allowing tagging to particular progress markers (rather than listing them all as the original does).
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  • Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice

    The fourth edition of Michael Quinn Patton's Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods Integrating Theory and Practice, published by Sage Publications, analyses and provides clear guidance and advice for usi
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  • Causal Pathways introductory session: Outcome harvesting for exploring causal pathways

    This session of the Causal Pathways Symposium 2023, by Carlisle Levine and Hippolyt Pul, introduces outcome harvesting, a method to collect evidence of what has changed and whether and how an intervention has contributed to these changes.
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  • Outcome harvesting

    This 27-page brief, written by Ricardo Wilson-Grau and Heather Britt, introduces the key concepts and approach used by Outcome Harvesting (published by the Ford Foundation in May 2012; revised in Nov 2013).
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  • Cosecha de alcances

    Cosecha de Alcances es una herramienta centrada en la utilización y altamente participativo que permite a evaluadores, donantes y gerentes de proyectos y programas identificar, formular, verificar y dar sentido a los alcances en que han inf
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  • Retrospective 'outcome harvesting': Generating robust insights

    This paper describes the use of the Outcome Harvesting approach to evaluate a global voluntary network.
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  • Discussion note: Complexity aware monitoring

    USAID’s Office of Learning, Evaluation and Research (LER) has produced a Discussion Note: Complexity-Aware Monitoring, intended for those seeking cutting-edge solutions to monitoring complex aspects of strategies and projects.  
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  • Cases in outcome harvesting

    This report from The World Bank documents the pilot of a program that examines the use of outcome harvesting and the Bank's results management approach to understand how change happens in complex environments.
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  • Causal Pathways 2023 Symposium and 2024 introductory sessions

    This series of webinars was first presented at the Causal Pathways Symposium 2023, which focused on "connecting, learning, and building a shared understanding of the evaluation and participatory practices that make causal pathways more visible"
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  • Big data

    Big data refers to data that are so large and complex that traditional methods of collection and analysis are not possible. 
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