Admissible Evidence in the Court of Development Evaluation? The Impact of CARE’s SHOUHARDO Project on Child Stunting in Bangladesh

Lisa C. Smith, Faheem Khan, Timothy R. Frankenberger and A.K.M. Abdul Wadud

World Development, 2013, vol. 41, issue C, 196-216

Abstract: Experimental impact evaluation methods have recently emerged as a dominant force within the development effectiveness movement. Although these methods have improved understanding of what works, their “gold standard” status threatens to exclude a large body of alternative evidence. This paper evaluates the impact of CARE’s SHOUHARDO project in Bangladesh, which employed a rights-based, livelihoods approach. Using a mixed-methods protocol, we find plausible evidence that the project led to an extraordinarily large reduction in child malnutrition. While offering valuable policy lessons, we illustrate how rigorous evaluation can be undertaken even without the randomization and control groups required by the experimental methods.

Keywords: development effectiveness; impact evaluation; experimental methods; child malnutrition; Asia; Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:41:y:2013:i:c:p:196-216

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.06.018

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