3. Increasing evidence use
Evidence is often just one of the multiple factors that influence decision-making. Political exigencies, competing interests and varied institutional capacity make evidence-informed decision-making a complex area. CEDIL’s third programme of work supports research to improve how evidence is used to inform decision-making. The goal is to apply the same rigour and innovation with which we approach development interventions to understanding the processes and methods by which we seek to increase evidence use.
CEDIL projects
A team from the African Centre for Evidence at the University of Johannesburg will be conducting an evidence synthesis on evidence-informed policymaking. They will also produce an evidence map of evaluations of interventions promoting evidence-informed policymaking in low- and middle-income countries. This will enable them to publish a set of guidelines for strengthening evidence use, which they plan to pilot with multiple government departments and ministries. Another project, based at Mekong Economics Myanmar, will conduct an experimental study to examine how programme evaluation rubrics influence evaluative thinking and judgements about evidence use in decision-making. Other projects will examine the most effective methods of using an evidence base to make policy decisions in novel contexts, and how to avoid bias in the use of evidence.