Invitation to Impact-evaluation incubator, 5-7 December 2022

Organised by Norad in cooperation with Development Learning Lab (DLL) & International Initiative on Impact Evaluations (3ie)

Venue: Norad’s office in Oslo, Norway (only in-person participation)

During these three days, researchers from DLL (www.devlearnlab.no) and 3ie (www.3ieimpact.org) will guide participants step-by-step through the process of designing impact evaluations of projects of the organisations’ own choice. Participants will learn about best practice in impact evaluation and how to address practical challenges.

Norad will invest in more and better knowledge production in the aid portfolios over the coming years. As part of this, there will be more funding available for impact evaluations. The incubator will prepare participating organisations to seize these opportunities.

We invite 3-4 participants from each organization. The incubator will be held in English, and we encourage applicants to include staff from implementing organisations with good knowledge about the project and the context where the project is implemented.

Requirements: Basic knowledge of concepts within impact evaluation is an advantage but not a requirement.

Costs: Participation is free of charge. 

How to apply: Fill out the application form below and send it to Havard.Mokleiv.Nygard@norad.no.

Download the application form

Deadline for applications: 31 October. Places are limited.

Examples of topics that will be covered:

• What can we learn from impact evaluations?
• Using theories of change to develop good evaluation questions
• Designing the impact evaluation: Randomised and quasi-experimental designs
• Indicators and measurement
• Addressing implementation challenges
• Sample size and power calculations

What does a good application look like?

Successful applications will demonstrate the potential to conduct an impact evaluation with high information value and learning potential.

Potential to conduct an impact evaluation:

• It is possible to identify a credible control group.
• The project has sufficient size (i.e., number of individuals/households/communities targeted) to allow for robust quantitative analysis.
• It is possible to conduct a baseline to the proposed measure (which could be a new initiative, or an expansion or a change of an ongoing project).
  • Alternatively, baseline data of good quality do already exist for both intervention and control groups OR it can plausibly be argued that the outcomes of interest were identical in the intervention and control groups before the measure was implemented

High information value and learning potential:

• Findings will be relevant for the organisation or others in informing improvements to the current project design and/or in future portfolio and policy decisions.
• Existing evidence of impact is limited
• High degree of certainty that the project can be successfully implemented.
• The intervention addresses an important problem and can be brought to scale.

Questions?

Questions about the content of the application can be directed to Ottar Mæstad, Director of Development Learning Lab. Email: ottar.mestad@cmi.no. Tel.: 481 89 504.

Questions about practical issues can be directed to Eirik.Mofoss@norad.no.