Thank you very much to Nick for starting this very relevant topic and discussion.
I particularly would like to stress the ethical responsibility we carry as evaluators mentioned by Carlos. Some countries might not have major restriction in place yet. In fact, it would be legal for the local team to conduct focus groups and face-to-face interviews. However, it is up to an evaluator to decide whether it is ethical. This might imply that even local consultants would need to conduct data collection through online engagement tools. It had recently happened to my colleague managing an evaluation in Indonesia and Brazil where the team decided to avoid face-to-face data collection by consultants in both countries as they deemed it unethical.
As so much remains unknown about Covid-19, any decision we make with regards to our current and future evaluations will be based on imperfect data. Science presents different scenarios but some of them suggest that it might take up to 1,5 years for the health situation to stabilise. This health emergency might be a good opportunity to learn how to design a methodology for a credible evaluation at a distance.
On 1 April, our colleagues from USAID are offering a free webinar "Discussion on Challenges and Strategies for M&E in the Time of COVID-19". Interested members could register here:
RE: How do we adapt our evaluation approach to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic?
Dear colleagues,
Thank you very much to Nick for starting this very relevant topic and discussion.
I particularly would like to stress the ethical responsibility we carry as evaluators mentioned by Carlos. Some countries might not have major restriction in place yet. In fact, it would be legal for the local team to conduct focus groups and face-to-face interviews. However, it is up to an evaluator to decide whether it is ethical. This might imply that even local consultants would need to conduct data collection through online engagement tools. It had recently happened to my colleague managing an evaluation in Indonesia and Brazil where the team decided to avoid face-to-face data collection by consultants in both countries as they deemed it unethical.
As so much remains unknown about Covid-19, any decision we make with regards to our current and future evaluations will be based on imperfect data. Science presents different scenarios but some of them suggest that it might take up to 1,5 years for the health situation to stabilise. This health emergency might be a good opportunity to learn how to design a methodology for a credible evaluation at a distance.
On 1 April, our colleagues from USAID are offering a free webinar "Discussion on Challenges and Strategies for M&E in the Time of COVID-19". Interested members could register here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/discussion-on-challenges-and-strategies-for-me-in-the-time-of-covid-19-registration-100817255124
Best regards,
Alena