The Use of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods of Poverty Analysis in Decision-Making

Edited by

Paul Shaffer (University of Toronto), Ravi Kanbur (Cornell University), Nguyen Thang (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) and Ellen Bortei-Doku Aryeetey (University of Ghana)

This IJMRA Special Issue presents peer reviewed research from the third (July 2007) in a series of conferences on integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches (Q-Squared) in poverty analysis in the developing world (see http://www.q-squared.ca/).

The first two conferences, at Cornell University (2001) and the University of Toronto (2004), addressed conceptual and empirical issues. This third conference, hosted by the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences from July 7-8, 2007, focused on the applied use of Q-Squared analyses to inform decision-making.

Contributions examine the production and use of mixed method analyses of poverty in the policy process, defined widely to include policy-level or programmatic decisions at national or sub-national levels by governments, NGOs and development organizations.

Individual articles address the use of Q2 approaches in five main areas:

• analysis of poverty dynamics in a policy context
• policy formulation
• monitoring
• evaluation
• impact assessment

Contributors include leading international academics, researchers and practitioners working on poverty in the developing world.