June 30, 2009
Commentary
Chris Blattman's fun and games in Uganda
Fieldwork is not all fun and games, but that seems to be the recent experience for IPA Research Affiliate Chris Blattman's project evaluation, "Women's Income Generating Support (WINGS) Program"
June 30, 2009
Day in the Life
Request to share experiences in explaining evaluation
When we return to the US after months or years of working in the field, we often experience "reverse culture shock" - aspects of US culture seem surprising and unusual to us. I felt this when explaining "What is IPA?" to family members and friends, and realized I needed an entirely new approach.
June 19, 2009
Day in the Life
Why getting good data is really hard…
We just completed the baseline survey for one of the projects I’m working on in Cagayan de Oro, the Philippines. Consequently, I’ve been spending most of my time the last few weeks thinking about how to get good data. Getting the right information might seem simple; figure out what you want to know about people and then ask them. However, in practice getting good data proves much more difficult.
June 8, 2009
Commentary
Kristof and bandits
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof offers an online degree in evading bandits for Americans abroad. Although I suspect that most IPAers would agree with the spirit of Kristof's recommendation - that young people should spend time abroad - I wonder if his safety tips are a bit more controversial.