Methodological Issues

This page offers practical, in-depth information on the methodological issues and tools involved in an impact assessment. It is aimed at individuals who will be directly involved in designing and implementing an assessment for a microfinance institution, including practitioners, donors, and independent consultants. The detailed information offered in this section has been compiled from a number of sources, including the AIMS (Assessing the Impact of Microenterprise Services) project of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Enterprise Development Impact Assessment Information Service (EDIAS) funded by the U.K. Department for International Development. This section, together with the Tools section, relies on four principal sources:

• Kirkpatrick et al., 2001. Impact assessment at the project level. Manchester, UK: Enterprise Development Impact Assessment Information Service [EDIAIS].
• Mayoux,Linda. 2001 Sampling. Manchester, UK: EDAIS.
• Roche, Chris. 1999. Impact assessment for development agencies: Learning to value change. Oxford, UK: Oxfam.
• SEEP-AIMS. 2000. Learning from clients: Assessment tools for microfinance practitioners. Washington, DC: AIMS/Management Systems International.
  
  

  Each of the links below provides additional resources and information on the individual topic.

1. Developing hypotheses

2. Attribution and causality

3. Fungibility

4. Sampling

5. Selection biases and other biases

6. Control groups

7. Biases to sampling created by clients leaving

8. Longitudinal studies and cross-sectional designs

9. Developing indicators

10. Credibility, rigour and confidence levels of results

11. Organisational learning

12. Choosing appropriate people to carry out an impact

13. Who should be interviewed

14. Timing of assessment