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6 Applying Qualitative Methods to Evaluation on a Large Scale
Pages 55-60

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From page 55...
... • Stories about exceptional results can provide insights into the factors contributing to those results. The use of qualitative methods in evaluating large-scale initiatives can help evaluators understand not only whether something works but how and why it works.
From page 56...
... Qualitative approaches are also called naturalistic inquiry, Knight said, because they are field-based, nonmanipulative, and noncontrolled. Qualitative researchers go into situations with a mindset of appreciating what is already there.
From page 57...
... On country visits, team members received a country visit toolkit comprising a daily agenda for each team member, the interview field note format, a postinterview debriefing form, interview guides, an informed consent script, a guide to evaluation topics, and interview team roles and responsibilities. To support self-awareness through reflection and reflexivity, team members were encouraged to keep a personal journal and to discuss as a team any issues that could affect interviewing and listening skills as well as the interpretation of the data.
From page 58...
... On a broader level, for the PEPFAR evaluation a database was used to log all interviews, and an audit trail tracked ongoing design decisions, data collection, and data analysis. In closing, Knight said that the team members found that relationships within the team were valuable when challenging each other on issues relating to data acquisition or when providing critiques of ongoing data interpretation.
From page 59...
... "Appreciative inquiry starts with the premise that something works, even if it's the exception," she said, "and it starts by identifying an affirmative topic of excellence that we want to inquire about." Next comes the inquiry phase, which uses facilitated dyad interviews and group interpretation of the shared data. "It is basically storytelling, but it's not static like storytelling," Catsambas said.
From page 60...
... In her project, two or three people conducted interviews, with one person taking notes and the others checking those notes afterward. Several people in the session stated they do not use audio recordings for these and other reasons.


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