| CODE | IRL5056 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Humanitarian Evaluation: Theory and Practice | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | International Relations | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study unit will examine the effects - intended as well as unintended, short term as well as longer term - of humanitarian and development assistance on the ground. It will start out by examining how to measure effects and the difficulties of establishing cause-effect relationships in the humanitarian field (as well as in the social sciences generally when examining social, political and economic change) as well as efforts to overcome such difficulties. It will the move on to look at more narrowly focused evaluations and assessments of the effectiveness of different types of humanitarian and development interventions and the range of evaluation methodologies and techniques used. Complementing the study unit on Research Methods, the study unit will examine number of methods which are of particular use when evaluating humanitarian and development action more in-depth, namely focus groups and participatory appraisals, and discuss the appropriateness and usefulness of the different methods depending on the context in which the research is going to be conducted. Ethics in evaluation will also be covered. The sessions will combine lectures, seminar discussions and practical exercises. Study-unit Aims This study unit aims to: - Make the student familiar with problems relating to evaluations of humanitarian and development interventions and establishing causality between an intervention and subsequent developments on the ground more generally. - Make students familiar with a wide variety of evaluations of humanitarian and development interventions of different kinds, in different regions, and with different goals. - Make students well aware of wider critiques of humanitarian and development activities and cases when such activities have had unintended and even counter-productive effects. Learning Outcomes 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Assess the difficulties when attempting to evaluate individual humanitarian and development interventions. - Discuss in an informed manner different types of humanitarian and development interventions and past problems with the effectiveness of such interventions. - Start to use focus groups methods in the field (with the initial assistance of a more experienced practitioner)- - Suggest the appropriateness of Participatory Appraisal as a method- - Design an evaluation of a humanitarian intervention. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Assess the difficulties of undertaking an evaluation and analyze how difficulties can be overcome and/or how such difficulties will affect the reliability of the evaluation. - Compare different types of of humanitarian and development interventions as regards their effectiveness. - Make independent judgements of the overall effectiveness of humanitarian and development interventions in different contexts. - Start to use focus groups methods Main Text/s and any supplementary readings Main texts: - ALNAP {Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action} (2010). The State of the Humanitarian System: Assessing performance and progress London: ALNAP/ODI - Bamberger, M., Rugh, J., & Mabry, L. (2006). RealWorld Evaluation: Working under budget, time, data, and political constraints. Thousand Oaks: Sage (selections) - Beck, T. (2006). Evaluating humanitarian action using the OECD-DAC criteria. London: ALNAP - Chambers, Robert (1997) Whose Reality Counts?: Putting the First Last Intermediate Technology Publications - Ferguson, J. (1994) The Antipolitics Machine: "Development", depolitization and bureaucratic power in Lesotho, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota - Krueger, R., & Casey, M. (2009). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage (selections) - Kumar, S. (2002). Methods for community participation: a complete guide for practitioners. Rugby: ITDG Publishing. (selections) - Terry, Fiona (2002). Condemned to Repeat? The Paradox of Humanitarian Action London: Cornell - Uvin, Peter (1998). Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda (West Hartford: Kumarian, 1998) - OECD/DAC NDE. (2008). Evaluating Development Cooperation: Summary of key norms and standards (Evaluation and aid effectiveness). Paris: OECD/DAC Network on Development Evaluation. Supplementary readings: - Alam, Khurshid (2008) Flood Disasters: learning from previous relief and recovery operations ALNAP Lessons Paper - Cosgrave John (2008) "Responding to Earthquakes: Learning from earthquake relief and recovery operations" ALNAP Lessons Paper - Hedlund, Kerren and Paul Knox Clarke (2011) Humanitarian action in drought-related emergencies ALNAP Lessons Paper - ECB. (2007). The Good Enough Guide: Impact Measurement and Accountability in Emergencies. Oxford: Oxfam for the Emergency Capacity Building Project. - Molund, S., & Schill, G. (2004). Looking Back, Moving Forward: Sida Evaluation Manual. Stockholm: Sida. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Co-Requisite Study-units As prescribed within MA in Humanitarian Action |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Seminar | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Yasmin Anna Gunilla Khakee |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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