Analytics and Thick Data in International Development

Analytics refers to our ability to collect and use data to generate insights that inform fact-based decision-making. The volume of data available to analysts is ever-increasing as lives become digitized. In today’s data-driven world, the ability to make sense of the deluge of information is critical. While these data are a useful starting point, they are limited. They do not capture the interconnected and complex realities of development. This course is designed to deepen your monitoring and evaluation abilities so that you can better understand complexity, place programs and policies in context, and describe how interventions interact and affect beneficiaries. These skills will give you the foundation for further analytical functions that are predictive and prescriptive.

In this course, we will look at analytics through the lens of different sectors and development priorities. This includes: education, economy, health, and agriculture; as well as gender, youth empowerment, and sustainability. You will be introduced to techniques for thick data analysis that draw on ethnography, such as network and content analysis. You will develop skills to ground your questions about development and to interpret human narratives, which will make you a more capable M&E professional.