Get Updates
Mathematica Researchers Assess Barriers and Enablers to Implementing Rigorous Evaluations of Social Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean
Media Advisory: May 19, 2010
Contact: Amy Berridge, (609) 945-3378
Issue: After billions of dollars and five decades of work invested in improving Latin America and the Caribbean, measuring the success of programs there remains difficult. Rigorous impact evaluations—studies that assess whether programs change social and economic conditions—are the exception not the rule in the region.
An article in the latest issue of Well-Being and Social Policy Journal by researchers from Mathematica Policy Research identifies how impact evaluations are encouraged and resisted in the region. Drawing on case studies from Mathematica’s work in El Salvador, Jamaica, and Mexico, the authors outline best practices for successfully designing and implementing a high quality impact evaluation.
Quote: “We found that it takes time to develop a culture that embraces objective evaluation,” says Lorenzo Moreno, a senior researcher at Mathematica and lead author of the paper, “But by communicating with key decision makers, we can identify and address potential road blocks to implementing high-quality impact evaluation studies.”
Article: “Toward Closing the Evaluation Gap: Lessons Learned from Three Recent Impact Evaluations of Social Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean” by Lorenzo Moreno, Larissa Campuzano, Dan Levy, and Randall Blair, is also available in Spanish.
About Mathematica: Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, provides a full range of research and data collection services, including program evaluation and policy research, survey design and data collection, research assessment and interpretation, and program performance/data management, to improve public well-being. Its clients include federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Ann Arbor, Mich., Cambridge, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Oakland, Calif., and Washington, D.C., has conducted some of the most important studies of international, disability, health care, education, family support, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs.