Qualitative impact assessment protocol for social impact investment (QUIPSII)

在ESRC-DFID资助的“ART”项目(评估农村转型)下，设计并试行了一种强有力的定性影响评估方法和议定书(称为“QUP”)，主要供通过农村生计干预促进家庭一级粮食安全和减贫的非政府组织使用。这应有助于加强其发展干预措施的学习和问责反馈循环。Quip结合了其他定性影响评估方法的许多最佳实践特征，包括贡献分析和过程跟踪。它还强调与量化业绩监测的互补性。此外，它在解决支持项目或确认偏见的问题以及在促进文本数据分析的透明度(因此是可审计性)方面取得了新的进展。这一后续建议是为了帮助我们扩大和深化对这些创新的采用，遵循从业者和评估专家对这一俏皮话的积极反馈。虽然认为这句俏皮话有可能被广泛的组织使用，但该提案旨在促进它的采用，特别是在对社会负责的金融包容和企业发展领域的有影响力的投资者中。影响投资是一个快速增长的领域，其绩效还取决于能否在经常发生快速变化的复杂环境中对家庭一级的影响进行可信和具有成本效益的评估。金融包容性和企业发展是影响力投资的主要领域。它们受到关于市场主导的发展战略的潜力的持续辩论，需要有更好的证据证明这一战略对家庭的影响。这也是首席调查员拥有丰富专业知识和享有盛誉的一个领域。(1)与促进金融包容性和企业发展的现有网络和主要组织(如CGAP、行动国际、DCED、GIN、SEEP、SOCAP、资发基金)密切接触，包括对当前影响评估方法和相关出版物的分析。(2)为满足从事这一领域工作的组织的需要，对QUIP进行修改，包括进一步开发开放获取的QUIP分析软件。(3)编制和网上传播专门为该部门潜在用户量身定做的问答材料--例如，适应不同的影响领域。(4)开发和测试工具，以培训和支持那些有兴趣(A)委托进行QUIP研究，(B)受雇为研究人员进行这些研究的人。(5)将关键材料翻译成西班牙语、法语和印地语，并进行测试。进一步以这些语言进行基于网络的传播活动。(6)确定愿意自费从事QUIP研究的组织并与其合作。为了带头推广这一俏皮话，我们还在探索建立一个专门从事这项任务的咨询机构，作为一家研究衍生公司。我们认为，这样做将使我们能够更快、更有效和更可持续地扩大传播和使用俏皮话。已经获得了单独的资金，用于支持SETSquared合作伙伴关系推广Quip的这一业务发展方面。在Innovate UK和HEFCE的支持下，这是巴斯大学、布里斯托尔大学、埃克塞特大学、南安普顿大学和萨里大学之间的领先企业合作。ICURE资助的目的仅限于通过一系列狭隘的市场验证和商业规划活动来帮助一个命名的早期职业研究时代。这些是对本提案所要求的影响和参与活动的补充。

Under the ESRC-DFID funded 'ART' project (Assessing Rural Transformations) a robust methodology and protocol for qualitative impact evaluation (known as the 'QUIP') was designed and piloted for use primarily by NGOs promoting household level food security and poverty reduction through rural livelihood interventiions. This should help to strengthen learning and accountability feedback loops for their development interventions. The QUIP incorporates many best practice characteristics of other qualitative impact evaluation methods, including contribution analysis and process tracing. It also emphasises complementarity with quantitative performance monitoring. In addition, it broke new ground in addressing problems of pro-project or confirmation bias, and in promoting transparency (hence auditability) in the analysis of text data. This follow-on proposal is to help us broaden and deepen adoption of these innovations, following positive feedback on the QUIP from both practitioners and evaluation specialists. While believing that the QUIP has potential to be adapted for use by a wide range of organisations, the proposal is to promote its adoption particularly among impact investors in the field of socially responsible financial inclusion and enterprise development. Impact investment is a rapidly growing field, and its performance also hinges on being able to make credible and cost-effective assessment of impact at the household level in complex contexts that are often subject to rapid change. Financial inclusion and enterprise development are leading areas of impact investment. They are subject to ongoing debate about the potential for market-led development strategies for which better evidence of household level impact is needed. This is also a field in which the Principal Investigator has substantial expertise and an established international reputation. The following steps are required to promote the QUIP in this field: (1) Close engagement with existing networks and leading organisations promoting financial inclusion and enterprise development (e.g. CGAP, ACTION International, DCED, GIIN, SEEP, SoCAP, UNCDF), including analysis of current impact evaluation approaches and relevant publications. (2) Adaptation of the QUIP to meet the needs of organisations working in this sector, including further development of the open access QUIP analysis software. (3) Preparation and web dissemination of QUIP materials specifically tailored to potential users in this sector - e.g. to accommodate different impact domains. (4) Development and testing of tools for training and supporting those interested in (a) commissioning QUIP studies, (b) being employed as researchers to carry them out. (5) Translation and testing of key materials into Spanish, French and Hindi. Further web based dissemination activities in these languages.(6) Identification of - and collaboration with - organisations willing to commit to QUIP studies at their own expense. To spearhead promotion of the QUIP we are also exploring setting up a specialist consultancy organisation dedicated to this task as a research spin-off company. We believe that doing so will enable us to scale-up dissemination and use of the QUIP more rapidly, effectively and sustainably. Separate funds have already been obtained in the form of an 'ICURe' grant to support this business development aspect of promotion of the QUIP from the SETsquared Partnership. Backed by Innovate UK and HEFCE, this is the leading enterprise collaboration between the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey. The purpose of the ICURe grant is restricted to helping a named early career researchera through a narrowly specified set of market validation and business planning activities. These are complementary to the impact and engagement activities requested in this proposal.