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| DCED Results Measurement Initiative, 2009 (English/French) |
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Description
Every development agency finds growing pressure to report the results that it is achieving. There are of course many responses to this pressure, including more focus on logframes and baseline surveys. But in practice, these tools are not helping managers to quantify their achievements, particularly where programmes are aiming to have market-wide impacts. As a result, the achievements of the best agencies and programmes go unrecognised.
The DCED has therefore been addressing the question of whether programmes can measure their own results, with sufficient accuracy. This turns results measurement from a short-term 'event' into a longer-term process; credibility is assured through external certification of the measurement process used by the programme (rather than asking a short-term consultant to duplicate that measurement).
The DCED has been working with around 15 PSD programmes in Asia and Africa since 2008 to test this concept of a common standard. The collaboration has lead to the formulation of a 'Standard', identifying the minimum elements required for the credible measurement of results. These elements are becoming 'just good practice', but few programmes have yet achieved them all; they include:
• Articulating the specific logic of the programme in a graphical format, so that programme staff can be clear about the anticipated sequence of events, from inputs through to impacts (often referred to as the causal or impact model, or results chain)
• Identifying those indicators that need to be measured, to validate each necessary step in the impact model; the DCED approach also includes universal indicators of impact at the enterprise level: scale, and changes in incomes and jobs (to allow impacts to be added across programmes)
• Good measurement practices (e.g. avoiding leading questions, having adequate sample sizes, etc.)
• Demonstrating attribution of the measured changes, to the programme
• Capturing wider change in the system or market
• Relating impacts to programme costs
Some of the key resources associated with this initiative are given below. For more information, please contact Results@Enterprise-Development.org or visit the DCED website.
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