Theories of Change
A theory of change is a purposeful model of how an initiative—such as a policy, a strategy, a program, or a project—contributes through a chain of early and intermediate outcomes to the intended result. Theories of change help navigate the complexity of s
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Theories of Change
In a Word A theory of change is a purposeful model of how an initiative—such as a policy, a strategy, a program, or a project—contributes through a chain of early and intermediate outcomes to the intended result. Theories of change help navigate the complexity of social change.
The Complexity of Social Change Processes Social change1—the process whereby individuals and communities adjust or abandon customs and associated leading ideas, values, and purposes to act differently in response to random (unique) or systemic factors—is no simple matter. It is
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Social change is any alteration in the social order of a society—reflected for instance in institutions or relations, brought about by modified thought processes. (Illustrative examples of social change that, chronologically, produced profound social consequences include the industrial revolution, the abolition of slavery, and the feminist movement.) Sociologists have proposed evolutionary, conflict, and functionalist theories of change to elucidate what triggers it. [The chief proponents of each theory of change were Auguste Comte (1798–1857), Herbert Spencer (1820– 1903), and Emile Durkheim (1858–1917); Karl Marx (1818–1883); and Talcott Parsons (1902– 1979), respectively.]. © Asian Development Bank 2017 O. Serrat, Knowledge Solutions, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0983-9_24
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driven by a composite array of cultural, demographic, economic, environment, political, religious, scientific, and technological forces, singly but more often than not in coevolutionary combination, and almost always in the face of vested interests that favor the status quo. What is more, irrespective of evolutionary, conflict, or functional explanations, there are different forms, nay, intensities, of it:
…one cannot but wonder how an environment can make people despair and sit idle and then, by changing the conditions, one can transform the same people into matchless performers. —Muhammad Yunus
• Discursive—a change in the narrative(s) that actors hold about a concern, problem, or issue. • Procedural—a change in the way the processes that manage a concern are carried out. • Content-based—a change in the nature of a concern. • Attitudinal—a change in the way actors think about a concern. • Behavioral—a change in the way actors behave vis-à-vis a concern, in other words, act or interface with others, in consequence of formal and informal changes in discourse, procedure, content, or attitude. Development aid, for one, is ever more sternly asked to demonstrate results, an ancillary of which is to clarify what works or does not work and under what circumstances.2 If development aid is about human, social, and economic progress, which of course intuits change, it needs therefore to frame more clearly what concrete outcomes—from dedicated inputs, activities, and outputs—can augment well-being and better the quality of life. Specifically, development aid needs good theories of change that test and validate the assumptions, rationales, means, and ends
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