[FoME] New Book: Evaluating Communication for Development

[Christoph Dietz]

Evaluating Communication for Development: A Framework for Social Change
By June Lennie and Jo Tacchi

Published 6th December 2012 by Routledge 208 pages

Paperback: 978-0-415-52259-5: £25.99

Description

'Evaluating Communication for Development' presents a comprehensive
framework for evaluating communication for development (C4D). This
framework combines the latest thinking from a number of fields in new
ways. It critiques dominant instrumental, accountability-based
approaches to development and evaluation and offers an alternative
holistic, participatory, mixed methods approach based on systems and
complexity thinking and other key concepts. It maintains a focus on
power, gender and other differences and social norms. The authors have
designed the framework as a way to focus on achieving sustainable social
change and to continually improve and develop C4D initiatives. The
benefits and rigour of this approach are supported by examples and case
studies from a number of action research and evaluation capacity
development projects undertaken by the authors over the past fifteen
years.

Building on current arguments within the fields of C4D and development,
the authors reinforce the case for effective communication being a
central and vital component of participatory forms of development,
something that needs to be appreciated by decision makers. They also
consider ways of increasing the effectiveness of evaluation capacity
development from grassroots to management level in the development
context, an issue of growing importance to improving the quality,
effectiveness and utilisation of monitoring and evaluation studies in
this field.

The book includes a critical review of the key approaches,
methodologies and methods that are considered effective for planning
evaluation, assessing the outcomes of C4D, and engaging in continuous
learning. This rigorous book is of immense theoretical and practical
value to students, scholars, and professionals researching or working in
development, communication and media, applied anthropology, and
evaluation and program planning. 

Contents
1. Introduction
2. Framework for Evaluating Communication for Development
3. New Thinking and Trends
4. Challenges, Issues and Strategies
5. Evaluation Capacity Development
6. Key Approaches, Methodologies and Methods
7. Conclusion and Implementation

June Lennie is a Senior Research Associate in the School of Media and
Communication at RMIT University, Australia. Her work has focused on the
development, application and meta-evaluation of participatory research
and evaluation methodologies and ICTs for social change, sustainable
community development, and rural womens empowerment. She has
co-developed several participatory evaluation frameworks, toolkits and
resources.

Jo Tacchi is Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation in the School of
Media and Communication at RMIT University, Australia. She is a media
anthropologist with a special interest in radio, digital media and
communication for development. Her work in this area has been centrally
concerned with issues around culture and social change, and in
developing suitable methodologies for investigating this.