Evidence Based Change Management

Words and stories alone are not enough. We need to test the assumptions behind our ideas by doing research and collecting data. Quantitative data (facts and figures) is important alongside qualitative data (e.g. participant interviews) to robustly assess your policy or programme.

To start you thinking about how to measure change, first reflect on the questions below and how you might answer them:

• Can sport and development have a social impact?
• Can sport and development have an economic impact?
• Can sport and development have an environmental impact?

Keep these ideas in mind whilst you read the following short report on implications and recommendations for using sport and development in different application settings:

Change Management: Sport and Development Research Example

Road to Evidence (Laureus and Commonwealth Secretariat) download PDF

“In recent years, a number of organisations – from funders and delivery organisations to academic institutions and intergovernmental bodies – have invested time and resource to assess the impact of this approach as compared to other methodologies. Seeking to better understand the evidence base created by this, we worked with leading researchers to compare the impact of sport for development and non-sport youth development interventions on four specific social concerns: community cohesion; education; employment; health and wellbeing.

This systematic review examined and compared the evidence collected from youth-focused sport for development interventions and non-sport youth development interventions in six cities: Cape Town, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, Nairobi and New Orleans. The review found that the quality of methods and evidence in the sport for development studies was largely weak. This limited the ability to come to meaningful conclusions about the interventions or compare the results with other studies. This makes it difficult to determine what works and what influences impactful (and non-impactful) sport for development interventions within/across contexts and thematic areas, and why. As a result, there are clear opportunities and recommendations to strengthen the evidence base, ultimately leading to a clearer assessment of the value and viability of policies and programmes.”

Reflection

After reading the report, what do you think are the challenges and opportunities for designing sport and development policies and programmes? How does this influence your theory of change?