Research and Impact Lessons from Young Lives international Study as part of the DFID/ ESRC Impact Lessons Conference, Pretoria March 17/18 2016

1. Learning from a decade’s poverty
research
Research and impact lessons
from Young Lives cohort study
Paul Dornan
paul.dornan@qeh.ox.ac.uk

2. 1. Background to a unique study – following the experiences of
12,000 children in four countries over 15 years
2. Some key findings – esp. in relation to ‘leave no one
behind’
 Fast changing societies
 High aspirations for the future, linked with school
 For child development, early is best, but its never too late
 Gender inequities reflect future opportunities, not only
current discrimination
3. What we have learned about policy impact – examples and
lessons
 Publicly archived data set
 Policy demand and research supply
 Working with intermediaries
 Capacity development – spaces to debate and engage

3. BACKGROUND TO A UNIQUE STUDY
• Goals:
- cohort study of childhood poverty
- provide evidence to improve policies & practice
• Dual cohort design: studying nearly 12,000
children in 4 countries over 15 years – 2 cohorts,
8 years apart
• Publicly archived dataset creates platform for
social science research
• Collaboration:
 Dependent on willingness of children and
families to participate
 Core funded by DFID, DGIS, IrishAid
 Partners in each study country
 Active relationships with UNICEF and
others

4. STUDY DESIGN: ‘FROM PHOTOGRAPH TO FILM STRIP’

5. LESSONS AROUND RESEARCH IMPACT/CONTRIBUTION (1)
Example 1: Capacity development
• Creation of Child Research and Policy Forum in Ethiopia, following
research project which brought stakeholders together
• Benefits: Recognition of importance of face to fact contacts,
improving research quality by peer interaction, and creation of
space where researchers could engage with Ministry
• Challenges: keeping it going
Example 2: working with intermediaries
• Important relationship with UNICEF, including with Office of
Research project to study the structural drivers of violence.
• Benefits: Engagement of national teams (Young Lives and UNICEF
country offices) meant closer to national debates (Peru); working
with intermediaries increases dissemination potential
• Challenges: Managing expectations of partners, reacting quickly

6. LESSONS AROUND RESEARCH IMPACT/CONTRIBUTION (2)
Example 3: Balancing policy demand and research supply
• Project to analyse the case for pre-school interventions in Ethiopia
(funded by CIFF). Project changed direction to focus on
implementation following a key policy change in Ethiopia
• Benefits: Really good policy engagement and contribution. Reacting
to demand stimulated interest.
• Challenges: Moves away from original research intention.
Example 4: publicly archived data set
• Total external users = 1,300. 1/3 non-OECD
• Benefits: Stimulate external research potential; high VFM return for
initial investment
• Challenges:
• Capacity gaps in needed skills in low-/middle-income countries
(researcher and Government);
• Cohort studies pay off over time, not just within funded window

7. CONCLUSION
• What have we learned?
 Fast changing societies
 The child development answer: the importance of Prevention,
Accumulation, Interdependencies and Recovery
 No one policy answer, but the central role of school in children’s
lives +key opportunity for ‘no one left behind’?
• Judging impact?
 Biggest impacts likely to be on conceptual thinking, most of the
pay-off likely to occur after funded window and through the actions
of others
 Value of measures like research ‘contribution’ or ‘pathways to
impact’ to judge if Theory of Change stacks up, rather than impact
per se.
 Impact attribution. Need better measures of ‘conceptual’
contribution

8. www.younglives.org.uk
• methods and research papers
• datasets (UK Data Archive)
• publications
• child profiles and photos
• e-newsletter
FINDING OUT MORE