Abstract

Qualitative methods for impact assessment (IA) represent a broad spectrum of approaches that are important for realising effective IA practice. The purpose of this paper is to identify and promote qualitative methods that are available for use in contemporary and future (next-generation) IA processes. From an extensive literature review, an international survey (145 responses), expert interviews (48 interviewees), and a workshop attended by 27 IA practitioners, 17 qualitative method categories were identified. These were further subdivided into three classes: conventional qualitative methods, highly participatory methods, and mixed methods. Each method is described, and an indication given of how each can be used in IA practice, including the specific stage of the IA process to which they might be applied. Whilst this paper seeks to stimulate practitioners to apply qualitative methods to enrich IA practices, the research also identifies a lack of expertise with social science methods as a significant barrier to the effective use of qualitative methods in IA practice.

RAS ID

70360

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

1-1-2024

Volume

42

Issue

3

Funding Information

Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

School

Centre for People, Place and Planet

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Comments

Walker, H., Pope, J., Morrison-Saunders, A., Bond, A., Diduck, A. P., Sinclair, A. J., … Retief, F. (2024). Identifying and promoting qualitative methods for impact assessment. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 42(3), 294–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/14615517.2024.2369454

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1080/14615517.2024.2369454