Building the Commons: Community Archiving & Decentralized Storage
DFID Pretoria Conference 11 March 2016
1. Learning from a decade’s poverty
research
Research and impact lessons
from Young Lives cohort study
Paul Dornan
paul.dornan@qeh.ox.ac.uk
2. 1. Background to a unique study – following the experiences of
12,000 children in four countries over 15 years
2. Some key findings – esp. in relation to ‘leave no one
behind’
Fast changing societies
High aspirations for the future, linked with school
For child development, early is best, but its never too late
Gender inequities reflect future opportunities, not only
current discrimination
3. What we have learned about policy impact – examples and
lessons
Publicly archived data set
Policy demand and research supply
Working with intermediaries
Capacity development – spaces to debate and engage
3. BACKGROUND TO A UNIQUE STUDY
• Goals:
- cohort study of childhood poverty
- provide evidence to improve policies & practice
• Dual cohort design: studying nearly 12,000
children in 4 countries over 15 years – 2 cohorts,
8 years apart
• Publicly archived dataset creates platform for
social science research
• Collaboration:
Dependent on willingness of children and
families to participate
Core funded by DFID, DGIS, IrishAid
Partners in each study country
Active relationships with UNICEF and
others
5. LESSONS AROUND RESEARCH IMPACT/CONTRIBUTION (1)
Example 1: Capacity development
• Creation of Child Research and Policy Forum in Ethiopia, following
research project which brought stakeholders together
• Benefits: Recognition of importance of face to fact contacts,
improving research quality by peer interaction, and creation of
space where researchers could engage with Ministry
• Challenges: keeping it going
Example 2: working with intermediaries
• Important relationship with UNICEF, including with Office of
Research project to study the structural drivers of violence.
• Benefits: Engagement of national teams (Young Lives and UNICEF
country offices) meant closer to national debates (Peru); working
with intermediaries increases dissemination potential
• Challenges: Managing expectations of partners, reacting quickly
6. LESSONS AROUND RESEARCH IMPACT/CONTRIBUTION (2)
Example 3: Balancing policy demand and research supply
• Project to analyse the case for pre-school interventions in Ethiopia
(funded by CIFF). Project changed direction to focus on
implementation following a key policy change in Ethiopia
• Benefits: Really good policy engagement and contribution. Reacting
to demand stimulated interest.
• Challenges: Moves away from original research intention.
Example 4: publicly archived data set
• Total external users = 1,300. 1/3 non-OECD
• Benefits: Stimulate external research potential; high VFM return for
initial investment
• Challenges:
• Capacity gaps in needed skills in low-/middle-income countries
(researcher and Government);
• Cohort studies pay off over time, not just within funded window
7. CONCLUSION
• What have we learned?
Fast changing societies
The child development answer: the importance of Prevention,
Accumulation, Interdependencies and Recovery
No one policy answer, but the central role of school in children’s
lives +key opportunity for ‘no one left behind’?
• Judging impact?
Biggest impacts likely to be on conceptual thinking, most of the
pay-off likely to occur after funded window and through the actions
of others
Value of measures like research ‘contribution’ or ‘pathways to
impact’ to judge if Theory of Change stacks up, rather than impact
per se.
Impact attribution. Need better measures of ‘conceptual’
contribution
8. www.younglives.org.uk
• methods and research papers
• datasets (UK Data Archive)
• publications
• child profiles and photos
• e-newsletter
FINDING OUT MORE