Research & Evaluation

Evaluating and measuring our impact is a core value of the medical-legal partnership model.  We acknowledge that MLP presents multiple opportunities to measure our work, at the same time as we know that MLP offers a genuinely new field of research that examines the impact of legal intervention on a range of health institutions and indicators.

As a result, our approach to research and evaluation combines a number of complementary elements.  First, we are committed to using methods that are responsive to key stakeholders’ needs and perspectives.  Further, since needs may change over time, we practice developmental evaluation, which recognizes that appropriate evaluation activities depend on a program’s stage of development: from establishing the need for a program and planning it, through pilot implementation and adjustment, full implementation and efficacy, to dissemination and ongoing quality assurance and improvement.

We use the tools of the social and behavioral sciences as well as public health to collect accurate, relevant and timely data to inform key decisions.  We are committed to collecting useful information. To quote John Tukey, professor emeritus of statistics and a compelling voice for reason, “Far better an approximate answer to the right question, which is often vague, than an exact answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise.” Where appropriate, we employ mixed methods, combining rigorous qualitative and quantitative approaches, which may provide important insights and which lend themselves to different uses and audiences.

As professional evaluators, we subscribe to the The Program Evaluation Standards as endorsed by the American Evaluation Association – standards that emphasize Utility, Feasibility, Propriety and Accuracy.