The combined use of the participatory dialogue method and survey methodology to evaluate development projects: A case study of a rural development project in Bangladesh

Abstract

This is a case study that shows how the qualitative and participatory dialogue method was combined with survey methodology to evaluate the impact of a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) supported bilateral and credit-based rural development project (RD-12) for the landless poor in Bangladesh. The article argues that although the necessity and importance of statistical and quantitative evaluation is not denied, qualitative participatory evaluation has a complementary role to play in producing a body of unique and illuminative data on qualitative developmental impacts. The findings on the social and economic impacts of the project obtained using the dialogue method were integrated with the quantitative data obtained from the survey. The findings show how the qualitative details and insights enriched the bare-bone statistical information. A more comprehensive body of knowledge on the psychosocial changes among the beneficiaries and the development process at large was elicited from the survey questionnaire. More importantly, the developmental impacts were described and viewed from the beneficiaries’ own perceptions and perspectives and in their own words. The article lists a number of lessons that were learned while using the dialogue method to evaluate this project.