Validity Checks of âWe Valueâ
Martin ZahradnĂk emphasized that the âWe Valueâ approach is not intended to be a common research design that operationalizes a universal value theory with common research method and assessment tools. It includes various research designs, operationalisations and specific assessment tools, due to its collaborative character and its localisation in various environments and organisations. Therefore, research criteria such as validity, reliability, relevance, etc. have to be tested repeatedly to ensure that we know what we are measuring and that we control the risks of misinterpretation of our results. He demonstrated examples of actual measurements of values-based indicators, showing how they fulfilled research criteria, and summarized the research teamâs experience, with recommendations for further research.
Peace Child Internationalâs Youth-led Monitoring and Evaluation Hub
David Woollcombe of Peace Child International (PCI) said they coined the term Youth-led Development (YLD) at its 1st World Youth Congress on Youth and Development in 1999. It refers to projects and initiatives devised and implemented by young people under the age of 25 to 30. Although the concept of YLD has secured increasing interest among the development community, most donors remain reluctant to commit large funds to the field because, they argue, young people are not accountable and often fail to deliver effective monitoring and evaluation of their projects. The Youth Hub aims to gather knowledge and evidence from the field to improve current approaches to monitoring and evaluation done by youth. The Youth Hub will offer PCIâs expertise in the form of a project management resource portal and online social network for young people seeking professional guidance for their initiatives using the following strategies: training and mentoring; measuring concrete project and learning outcomes; a cross-sectoral approach; longitudinal impact measurement; online implementation through social networking and state-of-the-art IT technology (data delivery via cell phones, automatic SMS deadline reminders, etc). See powerpoint presentation (13.3mb).
Measuring Social Impact
Simon Northmore described the development of systematic metrics that capture the outcome or impact of public, community and civic engagement activities by HEIs. These present an enormous challenge both at a practical and theoretical level. The University of Brightonâs Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) has been in the forefront of work to develop a systematic approach to auditing, benchmarking and evaluating public, community and civic engagement. However, its experience has confirmed that there is a need to develop indicators at the individual project level that present an easily comprehensible metric of the value generated by university-community engagement activities. He presented CUPPâs approach to describing the outcomes of university-community engagement, based on six university community partnerships it currently supports, together with the Universities of Sussex and Chichester, as part of the South East Coastal Communities Project. See powerpoint presentation (393kb).
Assessing Empowerment
Andrew Bartlett asked what is empowerment? Can it be measured? If so, how and by whom? He attempted to answer these questions, drawing on the experience of agricultural projects in Asia. He started with a distinction between intrinsic and instrumental empowerment, leading to a typology of methods, with examples of behavioural indicators used with women in Bangladesh and case studies produced by farmers in Indonesia. Finally, he described some unplanned changes in farmer behaviour in Laos, and asked if we should be 'expecting the unexpected'. See powerpoint presentation (2.9mb).