This 5-day course on Impact Evaluation Design will provide researchers, project managers and practitioners with the necessary methodology and practical knowledge to meet the growing demand for rigorous evaluation of development programmes. The course leader is Dr Edoardo Masset.

Course content

In this course you will learn how to design an impact evaluation of a development intervention.

What are the appropriate impact evaluation methodologies? What are the data we need to collect and what are the right indicators? How do we go beyond simple impact assessment by assessing spill-over effects, cost-effectiveness and impact on vulnerable groups? In other words, how do we design a rigorous impact evaluation?

In recent years the attention of evaluators has shifted from the analysis of data after the completion of an intervention to the careful design of studies before the intervention is implemented. Researchers, managers and implementers are now increasingly required to contribute to the production or the selection of evaluation designs. Our course will cover all the elements of impact evaluation designs as required by institutions such as 3ie, DFID and the World Bank.

More specifically, the following topics will be covered:

• Theory based evaluation
• Randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs
• Survey design and data collection
• Qualitative and cost-effectiveness analysis
• Communication strategies

Course structure

The course offers a balanced combination of informational content and practical work. Each lecture will be followed by a practical session. After an introductory session participants will form small groups and will identify a policy relevant issue and a specific development intervention to evaluate.

In the following seminar sessions the groups will learn how to build all the elements of a full evaluation design by applying the technical tools learned in the lectures. In a concluding session, at the end of the course, groups will present their evaluation design in plenary sessions. In addition, the lecturers will provide individual feed-back to the evaluation designs compiled by the groups using a standard of assessment normally adopted by organisations such as the World Bank, DFID and 3ie.

Course level and entry requirements

The material is presented at a medium level of technical difficulty. Though a basic knowledge of statistics or economics is desirable, it is not a precondition for learning the material presented. Mathematics and diagrams will be minimally employed at a level comparable to an undergraduate economics course. The material covered however will be conceptually challenging.

The course will be taught in English and to derive the maximum benefit from the course, participants should be proficient in English and able to follow and take an active part in course discussions. Our course is particularly targeted to researchers, managers, and practitioners of development organisations that are requested to use or produce impact evaluation designs.

Course fee: £1,500