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Most significant change technique
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<p>The Most Significant Change Technique (MSC) is a <a href="/facts/Monitoring_and_Evaluation/ARflJx9b">monitoring and evaluation</a> (M&E) method used for the monitoring and evaluating of complex development interventions. It was developed by Rick Davies as part of his PhD field work with the <a href="/facts/Christian_Commission_for_Development_in_Bangladesh/7qq6Vcxj">Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB)</a> in 1994. CCDB, a Bangladeshi NGO, subsequently continued and expanded the use of MSC to monitor the impact of its participatory rural development projects for the rest of the decade. </p><p>Following publication of the CCDB experience on the internet in 1996, MSC was progressively adopted for use by other NGOs in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Australasia. These experiences were then documented in the 2005 MSC Guide, co-authored by Davies and Dart, which remains the most widely cited reference on how to use MSC. Jess Dart, the co-author of the Guide, carried out the first use of MSC in Australia as part of her PhD research. Her company Clear Horizon has since been the main provider of MSC training in Australia. </p><p>MSC represents a shift away from more conventional quantitative and expert driven evaluation methods toward a more qualitative and participant driven approach, focusing on the human impact of interventions. In summary: the MSC process typically involves the collection of qualitative information from the intended beneficiaries of an intervention, in the form of a description of a change each considers as the most significant within a given period of time; and then an explanation of why they see that change as most significant. This collection process is followed by the use of one or more selection panels, where those participants (or other stakeholders) review the set of collected MSC stories and identify the one which they agree (and explain) is most significant of all, as seen from their perspective. </p>