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Resource Library
Methodologies
Ask the Survey Doctor: How do you understand normality?
Insights | Series II | No. 6 | September 2014
If you are struggling with surveys, evaluations, assessments, or market research in developing countries, email the Survey Doctor with your question.
Methodologies | Public Diplomacy
Ask the Survey Doctor: Evaluating Public Diplomacy
By Joshua Marshall, US State Dept | Insights | Series II | No. 5 | July 2014
If you are struggling with surveys, evaluations, assessments, or market research in developing countries, email the Survey Doctor with your question. Public diplomacy depicts the programs and communications one country uses to reach the people of another. Learn how to evaluate it.
Ask the Survey Doctor: Evaluating Training Programs – A Project Manager’s Guide
By Craig Charney | Insights | Series II | No. 4 | June 2014
Training programs are a frequent component of your international development efforts. So, how do you evaluate training? Learn how to deliver a fuller sense of the results of your program to the clients and funders with a simple “four level” tool.
Ask the Survey Doctor: Non-Economic Evaluation — Measuring Outcomes and Impact of Governance, Social, or Security Programs
By Craig Charney | Insights | Series II | No. 3 | February 2014
It has been noted that there is a lack of standard methods to measure and evaluate the non-economic outcomes and impact of development projects. This article from the Survey Doctor offers some useful tips for remedying this problem.
Survey Error: Why Development Professionals Under-Use Their Best Evaluation Tools
By Craig Charney | Insights | Series II | No. 3 | February 2014
This article discusses the reasons why beneficiary surveys remain the least-used evaluation method despite all the emphasis on better evaluation, results-based management, and value for money from founders. When we did a follow-up survey to find out why this was the case, we got even more surprising findings—and clues to improve use of the most powerful evaluation methods. Here we offer those suggestions for development evaluation professionals.
Conflict Resolution & Security | Methodologies
Ask the Survey Doctor: Surveys in Conflict Zones and Non-Permissive Environments
By Craig Charney | Insights | Series II | No. 2 | January 2014
This email discussion offers insights about conducting surveys in conflict zones and non-permissive environments and covers the following topics: how to deal with the problem of a lack of good local organization to conduct research; keeping interviewers safely out of hotspots; and taking advantage of local knowledge to identify areas that might be off limits and therefore need to be substituted.
DEVELOPMENT: The Development Evaluation Blogosphere
By Craig Charney | Insights | Series II | No. 2 | January 2014
When Charney’s Development Evaluation Survey for the Society for International Development-Washington was released last month, one of the surprises was how little use people concerned with development evaluation seemed to get out of the blogosphere. This article offers a rundown of blogs specializing in development evaluation that can be of great use to development evaluation professionals. They offer ways to keep up with developments in field, at important development institutions, or in particular methods.
SIDW Survey Report: Development Evaluation in Practice
Report | December 15, 2013 | 34 pages
This survey report highlights that general methodological topics on development evaluation have the greatest appeal to survey respondents. Development professionals are interested in SID-W initiatives in the field, especially online…
SIDW/Charney Survey: The State of Development Evaluation
By Craig Charney | Insights | Series II | No. 1 | December 2013
This article discusses the results of a qualitative survey of 624 development professionals conducted by Charney Research and The Society for International Development’s Washington chapter (SIDW) that seeks to gain a better understanding of the current state of development evaluation. It examines the following issues: How often do development projects include evaluation—and what kinds? How are evaluators chosen? How big are their budgets? How satisfactory are their results? People involved in evaluation can use the report to benchmark their work and knowledge against the rest of the field, funders will find it helpful to measure awareness and application of recommended evaluation practices, and policy-makers are offered a chance to see how far the field has come and ways to move it further forward.
Ask the Survey Doctor: Finding Control Groups to Evaluate National Programs
By Craig Charney | Insights | Series II | No. 1 | December 2013
This email discussion examines how to grapple with a frequent problem: How do you separate out control or comparison groups from the “treatment” of “experimental” groups when programs call for big, national-scale programs? While it can be particularly difficult to separate out control or comparison groups from the “treatment” or “experimental” groups when programs calls for big, national-scale programs, there are solutions.
China | Corporate | Economic Growth & Entrepreneurship | Methodologies
THE MISREADING OF CHINA’S GROWTH DATA
By Leland R. Miller and Craig Charney | The Wall Street Journal | October 24, 2013
Even if not technically inaccurate, Beijing’s GDP numbers mislead investors into a misguided optimism over an economy slowing down. China Beige Book’s survey, contrary to official data, finds a mild growth slowdown. This divergence in growth stories reveals critical information before the Third Plenum economic conference.
Q&A: Craig Charney, the World’s First (and Only) ‘Crisis Pollster’
By Dan Kedmey | Time Magazine | August 13, 2013
Craig Charney may be the only person on earth who can claim the job title of “crisis pollster.” In fact, no one had probably thought to put those two words together until 1997, when Charney, with the help of his polling team at Charney Research, began surveying people in the world’s worst conflict zones.
Lost in Translation? Avoiding the Pitfalls of Multi-Lingual Research
By Craig Charney | Newsletter Clip | January 1, 2010
When it comes to multicultural or international research in languages other than English, words don’t just matter, they are everything. Even the slightest mistranslation of a single word can drastically affect the outcome of a research project. This article argues that although it is difficult to correctly translate meanings in surveys, there are two ways to tackle this problem—carefully review and create trilingual surveys.
HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE: The Cell Phone at the Bottom of the Pyramid
By Craig Charney | Newsletter Clip | December 5, 2009
This Charney Research newsletter analyzes the impact that the cell phone explosion might have on market and political research. The cell phone explosion is reshaping the developing world—including the world of market research. There are now more than three times as many mobile phones as landlines. Their impact is greatest by far in emerging markets around the globe.
Political Will: What Is It? How Is It Measured?
By Craig Charney | Newsletter Clip | May 5, 2009
To advocates, politicians, and organizations promoting change, “political will” is the holy grail. When advocates argue, politicians vote, and organizations campaign, they say they are trying to shape or respond to political will. Political will is the ghost in the machine of politics, the motive force that generates political action. This article offers a definition of “political will” and gives insights into its applicability for politicians, non-profits and advocacy officials.
The New Electorate Has Arrived…So How Do You Target It?
By Craig Charney | Campaigns & Elections | January 1, 2009 | 2 pages
American voters’ fast-growing diversity, along with sharper targeting and mobilization of minorities and immigrants, is tipping the electoral balance of power in more and more cities and states. This article addresses the big challenges that these changes present as the numbers of minorities in voting populations are increasing and offers ways to target and reach this population.
The Top 10 Ways to Get Misleading Poll Results
By Craig Charney | Campaigns & Elections | July 9, 2007 | 3 pages
This article for Campaigns and Elections discusses the various ways that poll results can be misleading by outlining 10 real problems from real surveys—some infamous, some not—to show what you need to be alert to in reading polling results, whether the results come from your own pollster or a published poll.
IMMIGRANTS AND MARKET RESEARCH: How do you say “focus group” in Bengali?
By Craig Charney | Newsletter Clip | January 7, 2007
This article addresses how the waves of immigrants and refugees sweeping into the United States are rapidly altering the commercial market and the populations served by non-profits here. For the market researchers who work with them, they pose unique challenges in terms of outreach, language skills, research staff, and cultural awareness. These challenges and how they can be met by researchers are outlined here.
