Dr Flora Cornish COL.8.09

This course is open to any Research level student.

There are no prerequisites but some familiarity with qualitative research methods is expected. Please contact the course convenor if unsure.

This course aims to equip students with the methodological knowledge and research skills to be able to design and critically appraise evaluation research. In the context of the rise of evidence-based policy, the course is designed to extend students’ abilities to use evaluative information carefully and critically. The course takes a mixed methods approach. It covers the major quantitative designs, including randomized experiments and observational (i.e. non-randomized) research designs such as selection on observables, difference-in-differences, and the regression discontinuity design. It covers qualitative and participatory research designs and their contribution to formative research, process evaluation, realist evaluations, interpreting outcomes, and assessing transferability to other settings. As well as the major design issues, the course addresses practical and ethical issues of evaluation research, how to write a study protocol, and how to draw lessons from a body of evidence through reviewing and synthesising evidence. Examples from the fields of health, international development and public policy will be used throughout the lectures and seminars.

This course is delivered through a combination of seminars and lectures totalling a minimum of 20 hours across Lent Term. This year, some or all of this teaching may be delivered through a combination of virtual classes and flipped-lectures delivered as short online videos.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the LT.

Students write a critical review (1,500 words) of a published evaluation report.

Angrist, J. D. and Pischke, J-S. (2014) Mastering Metrics: The Path from Cause to Effect. Princeton University Press

Bell, S. & Aggleton, P. (2016). Monitoring and Evaluation in Health and Social Development: Interpretive and Ethnographic perspectives. London: Routledge.

Cartwright, N. & Hardie, J. (2012). Evidence-Based Policy: A practical guide to doing it better. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Glennerster, R. and Takaarasha, K. (2013) Running Randomized Evaluations: A Practical Guide, Princeton University Press.

Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. (4th Edition). London: Sage.

Essay (50%, 3000 words) in the ST.
Research design (50%) in the LT.