Case studies

Case studies

Tracking uses

The 12 case studies are the primary approach for testing the CCs. Ten of the 12 examine assessments, and the two others look at learning products — the SEAH “Note for Practitioners” and the UNDS reform study. Each individual assessment is considered as a “window” on changes and for tracking different types of use by the MOs and MOPAN members. The usual case sampling approach in CA is theory-based, in which “the researcher samples [cases] on the basis of their potential manifestation or representation of important theoretical constructs”. Here, CCs relate to observed changes as a result of use by member countries and MOs.101 Claims about potential uses were identified through interviews with MOPAN members and Secretariat staff as well as a survey of past MO focal points. Initially, they were based on anecdotal evidence and on shared assumptions that repeated assessments are more likely to be used, with two caveats, at this stage: • We had not yet collected such claims from MOs (although we already identified some evidence related to MO use through publicly available documents); • The consensus among interviewees was that MOs were unlikely to use assessments significantly in many cases (though they did provide some candidates for further investigation). We therefore chose cases of reputed use (intensity sampling). Such a case-study approach means that if the evaluation:

• can identify some uses, the analysis will concentrate on the how and why (the different impact pathways, the configuration of factors leading to use, etc.), ad • cannot identify any uses even in “reputed cases”, any use is unlikely or anecdotal.

101 Patton, M. Q. (1990). Designing qualitative studies. In Qualitative research and evaluation methods (p. 177). Use of case studies in Contribution analysis is presented in Delahais, T., & Toulemonde, J. (2012). Applying contribution analysis: Lessons from five years of practice. Evaluation, 18(3), 281-293.