II.D: NEW TRENDS & TOOLS
Use more meticulous and comprehensive research methods to measure the impact, using new devices and tools to gather evidence. Other Information:
Organizations looking to create social change are increasingly using more meticulous and comprehensive research methods to
measure the impact of their work, using new devices and tools to gather evidence. The Impact Reporting and Investment Standards
(IRIS), developed by the Global Impact Investing Network, for instance, can be used to describe an organization's performance
from a social, environmental and financial perspective. IRIS allows organizations to understand their own performance. And
by looking at different IRIS measures, stakeholders concerned about impact investing can estimate the aggregated impact of
that sector. Another new device used for assessment in the development arena is a poverty scorecard, developed by Mark Schreiner,
Director of Microfinance Risk anagement, L.L.C. Individually created for target countries, these instruments are made up of
10 simple and observable indicators comprised of questions such as whether a household has a straw roof. Since many indicators
of poverty are highly correlated, the scorecards are succinct because the answer to one question can imply the answer to another
question. For example, in all likelihood a household with a straw roof will not have indoor plumbing. In the poverty scorecard,
indicators were selected to be objective, verifiable, quick to ask and answer, and liable to change over time so they can
be used to track progress or negative trends. Each indicator was then assigned a point value, which can be used to calculate
a poverty score. This is an easily implemented instrument which allows field workers to quickly assess poverty levels. Our
review of the literature has also shown an increased call for qualitative methods rooted in ethnography. True ethnography
focuses on understanding the perspective and culture of a group of people in order to understand their behavior. Quasi-ethnographic
research methods intend to take into account people's experiences and perspectives to add a contextual dimension to research
and evaluation. Small organizations that don't have the resources for traditional monitoring and evaluation may find it especially
useful to solicit feedback and hear about the experiences of program participants. Ongoing feedback can also help organizations
make changes and understand program accomplishments as they go. Finally, increased availability of real-time data along with
enhanced analytical capabilities (often called big data) promises to radically change and improve how we assess outcomes and
impact. When designed well, big data may allow practitioners to track progress and understand where existing interventions
require adjustment much faster. But in the words of a recent UN Global Pulse report on the use of big data to assess development
goals,"With the promise come questions about the analytical value and thus policy relevance of this data—including concerns
over the relevance of the data in developing country contexts, its representativeness, its reliability—as well as the overarching
privacy issues of utilising personal data."
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