1,721,107 research outputs found
Theorising theories of change in international development
Get PDFTheories of change (ToCs) are development tools that describe how a certain set up of conditions and actions leads to producing specific results. They are used to design, monitor, evaluate, and scale interventions and are increasingly required by both donor and research agencies. In this paper, we explore the links between theories of change and actual social scientific theories about change, which have not been explored in academic literature. We make three essential contributions. First, we explain how the rising interest in evidence-based policy fuelled the evolution of development management tools, including Logit Models, Log Frames and theories of change. Second, we argue that the narrow understanding of ‘research evidence’ resulted in scientific contributions being limited to conducting experimental evaluations (RCTs) meant to test and validate the projects’ theories of change. This we criticise as both methodologically unsound and epistemologically limiting. Third, we introduce alternative sources of ‘evidence’ that credit the social science theories and methods and engage meaningfully with local stakeholders (target communities and implementing staff)
The diffusion and adoption of crop disease management practices among banana farmers in Rwanda : The importance of proximity dimensions
Get PDFThe study evaluates alternative ways to reach banana farmers in Rwanda and provide advice that promotes agricultural production by answering two research questions: (i) What variables distinguish banana growers into different farm types in Rwanda, and how do these affect their decision-making processes in adopting new practices? (ii) What role do proximity dimensions play in the knowledge diffusion within formal and informal farmer advisory networks? The study uses a case study of the banana Xanthomonas wilt disease and conducts two rounds of structured interviews. The study suggests that reaching banana farmers requires taking into account their heterogeneity and using typologies to inform the scaling of development activities. Results indicate that proximity dimensions are relevant for interactions and factors in advice-seeking ties in informal knowledge networks, but the effect depends on whether the community is dispersed or congregated.Diese Forschung bewertet alternative Möglichkeiten, um Bananenbauern in Ruanda zu erreichen und gibt Ratschläge, die die landwirtschaftliche Produktion fördern, indem zwei Forschungsfragen beantwortet werden: (i) Welche Variablen unterscheiden Bananenanbauer in verschiedene Farmtypen in Ruanda und wie beeinflussen diese den Adoptionsprozess? (ii) Welche Rolle spielt die Nähe bei der Wissensdiffusion innerhalb formeller und informeller Beratungsnetzwerke von Landwirten? Die Studie verwendet eine Fallstudie der Bananen-Xanthomonas-Welkekrankheit und führt zwei Runden strukturierter Interviews durch. Die Studie legt nahe, dass es erforderlich ist, die Heterogenität der Bananenbauern zu berücksichtigen und Typologien zu verwenden, um die Skalierung von Entwicklungsaktivitäten zu informieren. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Nähe für Interaktionen und Faktoren in der Beratungssuche relevant ist, aber ihre Wirkung von der Gemeindeverteilung abhängt
Scaling Readiness Communication Strategy
No full textScaling Readiness aims to support organizations, projects, and programs in achieving their ambitions to scale innovations. It encourages critical reflection on how ‘ready’ innovations are for scaling and what appropriate actions could accelerate or enhance scaling. It provides scientific tools to support decision making on what scaling bottlenecks to address, what could be the most cost-effective scaling strategy and which partners to engage.
Through its standardized data collection and analysis approach, Scaling Readiness can be used to monitor a portfolio of innovation and scaling investments at program or organizational level. It also supports prioritization, and decisions on advancement of those innovations that can achieve societal outcomes at scale in the most resource efficient way
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The conundrum of articulating societal knowledge and technology demand
No full textOne of the strategies to ‘make knowledge work’ is to design ways to enhance the articulation of knowledge demands in society, assuming that such articulation will lead to the production (or co-creation) of more relevant knowledge and technology. Using five mini case studies, this chapter critically examines the idea that demand-articulation can enhance the applicability of knowledge generated in a straightforward manner. Assumptions that are critically examined include: (a) the idea that prospective users and scientists have a similar idea about what ‘research’ entails and what kinds of questions may be answered by it; (b) the idea that citizens can explicate unequivocally what it is that they need; (c) the idea that answers and solutions that result from citizen’s questions will face less constraints in terms of their applicability; (d) the idea that it is the research results rather than the research process that has impact in society; and finally (e) the idea that articulating the demands of citizens is sufficient to escape from the linear model of innovation. Identification of the limitations in these assumptions helps to understand why the results of involving citizens in agenda setting for research are often disappointing. Finally, I discuss implications for the practice of involving citizens in knowledge creation and provision, and propose an altogether different view of how demand-articulation may be embedded in society
Komunikasi untuk inovasi pedesaan : berpikir kembali tentang penyuluhan pertanian
No full textBuku ini memperjelas berbagai peran penyuluh yang lebih luas dan menekankan upaya-upaya untuk mendukung proses pengembangan inovasi pedesaan. Hal ini termasuk, misalnya, mediasi dalam situasi konflik, fasilitasi pengembangan jaringan dan pengetahuan, fasilitasi proses belajar dan membangun visi masyarakat yang beragam, serta respon terhadap tuntutan penelitian dan pelayanan lainnya. Dalam semua peran ini, keahlian berkomunikasi sangatlah penting. Buku ini ditujukan kepada semua pihak yang menerapkan strategi komunikasi untuk mendorong perubahan dan pembangunan di bidang pertanian serta pengelolaan sumber daya, termasuk bagi fasilitator proses, komunikasi personil divisi, manajer pengetahuan, petugas pelatihan, konsultan inovasi, pembuat kebijakan penyuluhan, serta manajer penyuluhan pertanian atau institusi penelitian
Wetenschapscommunicatie en het articuleren van de maatschappelijke vraag naar kennis en technologie: een lastige kwestie
No full textHet idee van wetenschapscommunicatie is verbreed, en omvat de articulatie van kennisvragen in de samenleving. Aan de hand van vijf mini-case-studies worden veronderstellingen hierbij kritisch onder de loep genomen, en wordt aangetoond dat het uitermate lastig is om middels vraagarticulatie de toepasbaarheid van kennis te vergroten. Voorgesteld wordt om kennisvoorziening en dialogische wetenschapscommunicatie in te bedden in bestaande veranderingsinitiatieven en discours-coalities
- …
