Drafting my Research Design

My data will come from official UN documents. Through the months, I have been mapping the relevant documents and seen some samples of them. Before I officially embark on my formal data collection... I had to be more clear about my research method. After a week of extensive reading I think I have come to understand my research structure a bit better. Here is the line of thought of my research:

I also found a Krippendorff's book on content analysis really helpful. It gives me the academic/theoretical support of what I want to do. Here is a conceptual process of my research methodology:

Krippendorff identifies that in content analysis, there are three types of units: 

1. Sampling unit -  units of selection; what documents are going to be sampled and analysed? (i.e. CPD, evaluation report)
2. Coding unit - units of description; what is going to be coded/measured/analysed? (i.e. textual presence of risk management, mentions of programme success)
3. Context unit - units that delineate the scope for coders in recording the coding units; what context is the coding unit coded? (i.e. the logframe is a context unit, textual presence of risk management is the coding unit)

The examples above are working definitions of my units of analysis, I still have to work on clarifying them.

As for my sampling, it is clear that I'm using relevance sampling:

"Relevance sampling is non-probabilistic. In using this form of sampling, an analyst proceeds by following a conceptual hierarchy, systematically lowering the number of units that need to be considered for an analysis. The resulting units of text are not meant to be representative of a population of texts; rather, they are the population of relevant texts." (Krippendorff, 2004)

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References:

GRAY, D. E. 2009. Doing research in the real world, London, SAGE.

KRIPPENDORFF, K. 2004. Content analysis : an introduction to its methodology, Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sage.

KRIPPENDORFF, K. & BOCK, M. A. 2009. The content analysis reader, Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sage Publications.

Weekend in Devon

We had an amazing weekend at Alec's place down south in Plymouth, Devon.

It was a work/leisure weekend. :-)

With regards to work...

We got to tease my literature review and got some great pointers from Alec! Alec kept emphasising on creating a logical line of reasoning for the whole of the thesis. I think I get his point and I think I have a better idea of how I am structuring my thesis.

We also talked about how I am going to go about the thesis and Alec made a diagram from our discussions:

I am content with what  I plan to do, I just hope I have enough time to do it! :-)

Results Chain Summary

Inevitably, writing a literature review on the programme management in the development sector means to touch on the RBM approach. 

RBM is a spin-off to programme management, it is a results philosophy that is integral in the discussion. But honestly it is not my favourite topic, it is taking too much of my time writing about it!

I think the best way to summarise the concept of the results logic is through a diagram:

Click picture to enlarge

The image is a compilation from numerous resources:

COBO, J. R., ORTIZ, I. & MATAIX, C. 2010. International cooperation for development: Design of a competence-based model for managing programmes and projects. Project Perspectives 2010, 32, 15-19.

ICRC 2008. Programme/project management: The results-based approach. International Committee of the Red Cross.

IKA, L. A. & LYTVYNOV, V. 2009. RBM: A shift to managing development project objectives. Journal of Global Business Administration, 1, 55-76.

IKA, L. A. & LYTVYNOV, V. 2011. The “management‐per‐result” approach to international development project design. Project Management Journal

UNITED NATIONS SYSTEMS STAFF COLLEGE. 2010. Results-based management and the UNDAF results matrix. Available: http://www.slideshare.net/Ramen24/resultbased-management-and-the-undaf-matrix-for-country [Accessed 29 March 2012].

Developments in Development

Looking into UNDP means that I need to be aware of the developments in international aid.

The materials I have gathered focus heavily on the political and economical aspects of the development agenda; explicit literature on the implementation of international programmes and projects are limited. Filtering through the books and picking up related themes to my thesis topic, here are some interesting thoughts I have gathered:

• Development studies has been a struggling discipline; because for the 50+ years of active international development activities, little evidence has proven that international aid has indeed helped improve the situations of poorer nations (Rashid, 2011). 
• Feeney (1998) has attributed failure of numerous projects to the lack of understanding of the socio-economical background of developing countries. Rondinelli (1993) reiterates that development projects "have never adequately reflected the underlying uncertainties" of developing nations.
• The development agenda is moving towards a more participative approach; shifting away from micro-managed interjections towards an approach that encourages building capacities, strengthening institutions and promoting country ownership. 
• According to Mosse (2005) the new development approach looks at narrowing the ends of development (focusing and defining the international development targets) and widening the means (improving the capabilities).

In my perspective, I think these points highlight the programmification of the development institutions. In the 21st century, multi-lateral organisations have minimised their role in implementing the projects themselves; taking more involvement at programme level. On the programme level  (in participation with the developing countires) the agencies set up the development targets, aid the selection of projects, build up the country capacities and allow the country counterparts to implement the projects.

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References:

FEENEY, P. 1998. Accountable aid : local participation in major projects, Oxford, Oxfam Publications.

MOSSE, D. 2005. Cultivating development : an ethnography of aid policy and practice, London ; Ann Arbor, MI, Pluto Press.

RASHID, T. 2011. Why it Matters: Role of Academia in Development and Aid Effectiveness.

RONDINELLI, D. A. 1993. Development projects as policy experiments : an adaptive approach to development administration, London, Routledge.