IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/epplan/v67y2018icp70-78.html

Uncovering the mysteries of inclusion: Empirical and methodological possibilities in participatory evaluation in an international context

Author

Listed:
  • Chouinard, Jill Anne
  • Milley, Peter

Abstract

The inclusion of stakeholders in participatory evaluation in highly diverse, culturally complex settings remains a challenge, given issues of inequity, power, voice, capacity and skill. These challenges are well documented, but there is a relative absence of papers devoted to addressing them based on examples and evidence. In this paper, we report our review of 51 empirical studies of participatory evaluations conducted in the international domain, focusing on the methods of inclusion used in the evaluations. Our findings address “the who” (which stakeholders are included and which excluded), “the why” (rationales for participation) and “the how” (by what means and in what manner) of inclusion. We were struck by the scale of some development programs, geographically and in terms of the number of diverse program sponsors and stakeholders, and how this necessitated highly creative, innovative participatory techniques to ensure that anyone (and in some cases everyone) could have a voice in the process, regardless of location, language ability, privilege, power, gender, age or culture.

Suggested Citation

  • Chouinard, Jill Anne & Milley, Peter, 2018. "Uncovering the mysteries of inclusion: Empirical and methodological possibilities in participatory evaluation in an international context," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 70-78.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:epplan:v:67:y:2018:i:c:p:70-78
    DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.12.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149718917302008
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.12.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bagamoyo College of Arts & Tanzania Theatre Centre & Mabala, Richard & Allen, Karen B., 2002. "Participatory action research on HIV/AIDS through a popular theatre approach in Tanzania," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 333-339, November.
    2. Chambers, Robert, 1994. "Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): Analysis of experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(9), pages 1253-1268, September.
    3. Mikesell, L. & Bromley, E. & Khodyakov, D., 2013. "Ethical community-engaged research: A literature review," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(12), pages 7-14.
    4. Ridde, Valéry & Goossens, Sylvie & Shakir, Sahibullah, 2012. "Short-term consultancy and collaborative evaluation in a post-conflict and humanitarian setting: Lessons from Afghanistan," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 180-188.
    5. Chambers, Robert, 1994. "Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): Challenges, potentials and paradigm," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(10), pages 1437-1454, October.
    6. Cornwall, Andrea & Jewkes, Rachel, 1995. "What is participatory research?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 41(12), pages 1667-1676, December.
    7. Tritter, Jonathan Quetzal & McCallum, Alison, 2006. "The snakes and ladders of user involvement: Moving beyond Arnstein," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 156-168, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Foote, J. & Midgley, G. & Ahuriri-Driscoll, A. & Hepi, M. & Earl-Goulet, J., 2021. "Systemic evaluation of community environmental management programmes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 288(1), pages 207-224.
    2. Hickey, Sophie & Couchman, Katrina & Stapleton, Helen & Roe, Yvette & Kildea, Sue, 2019. "Experiences of health service providers establishing an Aboriginal-Mainstream partnership to improve maternity care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in an urban setting," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Anteneh Mekuria Tesfaye & Tyali Siyasanga M, 2025. "Barriers to inclusive stakeholders’ participation in Northwest Ethiopia’s agricultural sector," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Ghosh, Smita & Struminger, Bruce B. & Singla, Neeta & Roth, Brenna M. & Kumar, Anil & Anand, Sunil & Mtete, Emmanuel & Lusekelo, Jacob & Massawe, Irene & Jarpe-Ratner, Elizabeth & Seweryn, Steven M. &, 2022. "Appreciative inquiry and the co-creation of an evaluation framework for Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) implementation: a two-country experience," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. Kibukho, Kennedy, 2021. "Mediating role of citizen empowerment in the relationship between participatory monitoring and evaluation and social sustainability," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    6. Katarzyna Cieslik & Art Dewulf & Wouter Buytaert, 2020. "Project Narratives: Investigating Participatory Conservation in the Peruvian Andes," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 51(4), pages 1067-1097, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Md Aboul Fazal Younus, 2017. "An assessment of vulnerability and adaptation to cyclones through impact assessment guidelines: a bottom-up case study from Bangladesh coast," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 89(3), pages 1437-1459, December.
    2. Laura Jessee Livingston, 2023. "Partnerships in pandemics: tracing power relations in community engaged scholarship in food systems during COVID-19," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 217-229, March.
    3. Julian Andres Castrillon-Gomez & Gerard Olivar-Tost & Johnny Valencia-Calvo, 2022. "Systems Dynamics and the Analytical Network Process for the Evaluation and Prioritization of Green Projects: Proposal That Involves Participative Integration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-26, September.
    4. Alix-Garcia, Jennifer M. & Sims, Katharine R.E. & Costica, Laura, 2021. "Better to be indirect? Testing the accuracy and cost-savings of indirect surveys," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    5. Dean Karlan & Bram Thuysbaert, 2019. "Targeting Ultra-Poor Households in Honduras and Peru," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 63-94.
    6. Castelli, Giulio & Bresci, Elena & Castelli, Fabio & Hagos, Eyasu Yazew & Mehari, Abraham, 2018. "A participatory design approach for modernization of spate irrigation systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 286-295.
    7. Colleen M. Eidt & Laxmi P. Pant & Gordon M. Hickey, 2020. "Platform, Participation, and Power: How Dominant and Minority Stakeholders Shape Agricultural Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Gladwin, Christina H. & Peterson, Jennifer S. & Mwale, Abiud C., 2002. "The Quality of Science in Participatory Research: A Case Study from Eastern Zambia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 523-543, April.
    9. Luján Soto, Raquel & Cuéllar Padilla, Mamen & de Vente, Joris, 2020. "Participatory selection of soil quality indicators for monitoring the impacts of regenerative agriculture on ecosystem services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    10. Ross, Heather M. & Pine, Kathleen H. & Curran, Sarah & Augusta, Dawn, 2022. "Pathway mapping as a tool to address police use of force in behavioral health crisis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    11. Cathy McIlwaine & Caroline Moser, 2003. "Poverty, violence and livelihood security in urban Colombia and Guatemala," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 3(2), pages 113-130, April.
    12. Chatterjee, Ira & Cornelissen, Joep & Wincent, Joakim, 2021. "Social entrepreneurship and values work: The role of practices in shaping values and negotiating change," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).
    13. Loader, R. & Amartya, L., 1999. "Participatory Rural Appraisal: extending the research methods base," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 73-85, November.
    14. Chilombo, Andrew & Van Der Horst, Dan, 2021. "Livelihoods and coping strategies of local communities on previous customary land in limbo of commercial agricultural development: Lessons from the farm block program in Zambia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    15. Zulu, Leo Charles & Adams, Ellis Adjei & Chikowo, Regis & Snapp, Sieglinde, 2018. "The role of community-based livestock management institutions in the adoption and scaling up of pigeon peas in Malawi," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 141-155.
    16. Kwayu, Emmanuel J. & Sallu, Susannah M. & Paavola, Jouni, 2014. "Farmer participation in the equitable payments for watershed services in Morogoro, Tanzania," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 1-9.
    17. Thompson, John, 1995. "Participatory approaches in government bureaucracies: Facilitating the process of institutional change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(9), pages 1521-1554, September.
    18. Gerard Olivar-Tost & Johnny Valencia-Calvo & Julián Andrés Castrillón-Gómez, 2020. "Towards Decision-Making for the Assessment and Prioritization of Green Projects: An Integration between System Dynamics and Participatory Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-23, December.
    19. Owens, Trudy, 2004. "External Support During the Transition Phase: Roles for Humanitarian Aid and Development Assistance from a Village Perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1711-1733, October.
    20. Shane Cronin & Mike Petterson & Paul Taylor & Randall Biliki, 2004. "Maximising Multi-Stakeholder Participation in Government and Community Volcanic Hazard Management Programs; A Case Study from Savo, Solomon Islands," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 33(1), pages 105-136, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:epplan:v:67:y:2018:i:c:p:70-78. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/evalprogplan .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.