New publication: Learning about Measuring Advocacy and Policy Change: Are Baselines always Feasible and Desirable?
December 10, 2013 at 12:18 pm Leave a comment
IDS have produced an new paper “ Learning about Measuring Advocacy and Policy Change: Are Baselines always Feasible and Desirable?” (pdf). Here is a summary from the author:
This paper captures some recent challenges that emerged from establishing a baseline for an empowerment and accountability fund. It is widely accepted that producing a baseline is logical and largely uncontested – with the recent increased investment in baselines being largely something to be welcomed. This paper is therefore not a challenge to convention, but rather a note of caution: where adaptive programming is necessary, and there are multiple pathways to success, then the ‘baseline endline’ survey tradition has its limitations. This is particularly so for interventions which seek to alter complex political-economic dynamics, such as between citizens and those in power.
The paper raises some very valid points about the challenges of establishing baselines, particularly for advocacy/policy change projects – one which I’ve also experienced in that with advocacy we are never rarely starting from “zero” – organisations could have been working on a given issue for some time when this given project came along.
Entry filed under: Advocacy evaluation. Tags: advocacy, baseline.
intelligent measurement 
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