Findings and Case Studies

Evidence from rural Ugandan villages supports the social context theory (political participation is affected by participation of those around you). Surprisingly (?), it also finds that “when individuals are exposed to extensive messaging by extra-network mediums,
the influence of network dynamics may be diminished.” One more argument for co-creation and participation in all things?

@AllVoicesCount released a series of African case studies last week, including:

• a report (40pgs) on four cases of empowerment and accountability programming in Kenya and South Africa (per usual, it’s messy),
• a report (44pgs) of four case studies of adaptive programming in Kenya (calling for simplified theory and increased responsiveness), and
• a summary  (16pgs) of what they’ve learned about tech and accountability in Kenya more generally (projects make basic mistakes about how to use technology, and MAVC guidance was both useful and constrictive in this regard).

Meanwhile, in case you were wondering, usefulness is the strongest predictor of open government data use, according to a study of open data users in Germany (online survey, n=210), and even pediatrics researchers believe that tech is good for political participation among young people.

LEarnings on health and tech

GPSA had a webinar on tech, citizen voice and health projects, which empahsized the limits of technology, the importance of offline communication and strong relationships between projects and communities (recording). A learning event on Transparency and Accountability Strategies & Reproductive Health Delivery Systems emphasized the importance of complex political systems, and integrating action research methods into project implementation (report here).

Snarkonomics

David Evans maps the geographic focus of contemporary development economics.

For the titles

Using D&D to reduce ethnic prejudice (Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science)