Forums Impact Evaluation Generalizability and transportability puzzles in Development Research in…

Generalizability and transportability puzzles in Development Research in Africa

Started by Nancy Kiarie Jun 26, 2025 1 replies
Nancy Kiarie Member 🌱 Newcomer
Jun 26, 2025 at 6:54 am

Should policy makers rely on less rigorous evidence from a local context or more rigorous evidence from elsewhere? Should a new experiment always be done locally before a program is scaled up? Must an identical program or policy be replicated a specific number of times before it is scaled up? How can we transport evidence from one context to the others?

Steve Omollo Member 🌱 Newcomer
9 months ago

A great and timely topic. Adapting relevant external policies to local contexts is indeed a valuable approach, but it often presents crucial implementation challenges. The most effective way to transfer evidence or policies across contexts is by ensuring strong local ownership by closely engaging all stakeholders who are directly impacted by the policy. Such inclusive engagement not only facilitates smoother acceptance but also enhances successful implementation and scale-up.