TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving the quality of development assistance: What role for qualitative methods in randomized experiments?
AU - Prowse, Martin
AU - Camfield, Laura
PY - 2013/1/1
Y1 - 2013/1/1
N2 - While randomized experiments can be valuable tools in evaluating aid effectiveness, research designs limit the role of qualitative methods to 'field visits' or description of contexts. This article suggests expanding the role of qualitative methods and highlights their advantages and limitations relative to survey methods. It reviews a range of qualitative methods and suggests that life histories are compatible with the internal and external validity criteria of randomized experiments. It illustrates this with a case study of their proposed use in an evaluation of the promotion of Jatropha curcas, a second-generation biofuel, in Malawi.
AB - While randomized experiments can be valuable tools in evaluating aid effectiveness, research designs limit the role of qualitative methods to 'field visits' or description of contexts. This article suggests expanding the role of qualitative methods and highlights their advantages and limitations relative to survey methods. It reviews a range of qualitative methods and suggests that life histories are compatible with the internal and external validity criteria of randomized experiments. It illustrates this with a case study of their proposed use in an evaluation of the promotion of Jatropha curcas, a second-generation biofuel, in Malawi.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84869057755&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/146499341201300104
DO - 10.1177/146499341201300104
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84869057755
SN - 1464-9934
VL - 13
SP - 51
EP - 61
JO - Progress in Development Studies
JF - Progress in Development Studies
IS - 1
ER -