| Property | Value |
| Name | Understanding Participation: Monitoring and evaluating processes, outputs and outcomes |
| Description | McAllister, K. 1999. Understanding Participation: Monitoring and evaluating process, outputs and outcomes. IDRC. 54 pp.The focus of this paper is on using monitoring and evaluation as a tool for adaptive learning and project improvement, for integrating social theory into participatory methods, and for understanding the links between participatory processes and outcomes. The importance of using participatory monitoring and evaluation methods for bringing in the perspectives of local people whose lives are being influenced by the research is also explored. The first part of the paper provides a background for understanding participatory research in community-based natural resource management projects. Participatory research and the various interpretations of “participation” in research - from consultative to collegiate - are described, and the complexities of applying and interpreting participatory research in community-based natural resource projects are explored. These complexities include the influence of social identity, divergent interests, local norms and institutions and power dynamics on the process and outcomes of the research. Sections 5 and 6 describe the rationale and present a framework for monitoring and evaluating participatory research within the context of donor institutions which have the dual objectives of supporting quality and relevant applied development research while at the same time strengthening institutional and individual research capacity. In this case, a balance must be struck between “academically ideal” research, available resources, researcher capacity and skills, and community needs. This influences evaluation criteria and expectations of participatory research projects. Section 7 describes key considerations for developing an appropriate and learning-based approach to monitoring and evaluating participatory research projects. This draws from a number of different evaluation strategies and recognises that different groups (researchers, donor agency, community members) have different monitoring and evaluation needs, as well as different perceptions of positive and negative research outcomes. Section 8 presents options for integrating monitoring and evaluation into the different stages of the project cycle (pre-project, in-project and interim or post-project). The final sections of the paper present the issues and questions to consider in monitoring and evaluating the process and outcomes of participatory research for natural resource management. This is based on characteristics which indicate validity and quality of the participatory research process and methods, as well as the potential of the methods used to contribute to reaching the general goals of community-based natural resource management (sustainability, equity, local empowerment, poverty alleviation and so on). The ideas are geared for both the programme level and the project level, to be used by researchers during the project to help inform the research project, as well as to provide guidance for interim or post project assessments. July, 1999 |
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