Fellow Dutchmen: please do solid evaluations.

The randomized control trail (RCT) is the golden standard for impact evaluations but largely unknown in the Netherlands. This bothered me as we are one of the world's biggest donors. Over the last two years I have learned quite a bit about doing evaluations: lots from Macartan, lots from my own two years plus experiences in the Congo, and of course lots from collegues at workshops or via their research papers. So over the last year I wrote four posts (in Dutch) on the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs's website about how to undertake solid evaluations:

• In the first post I explain the concept of an RCT;


• the second (including a discussion with a reader) discusses the importance of behavioral measures;


• Alternatives to the RCT are discussed in the third post;


• and the the final post gives techniques to get at sensitive information and tips for a solid evaluation.