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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 12, No. 1

Publication Date: January 25, 2025

DOI:10.14738/assrj.121.18197.

Kern, J., Ahmed, H., & Prosperi, V. (2025). Opportunities and Limitations for Adolescent Participation in Research – Lessons Learned

from the End Child Marriage Flagship Evaluation in Ethiopia. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 12(1). 166-177.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Opportunities and Limitations for Adolescent Participation in

Research – Lessons Learned from the End Child Marriage

Flagship Evaluation in Ethiopia

Johanna Kern

Center for Evaluation and Development,

Mannheim; Germany

Haithar Ahmed

United Nations Children's Fund Ethiopia Country Office,

Addis Ababa; Ethiopia

Valentina Prosperi

United Nations Children's Fund Ethiopia Country Office,

Addis Ababa; Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Despite the increased importance of downward accountability and the inclusion of

program participants in all stages of program cycle management, the application of

participatory research methods in program evaluations is still limited. This paper

discusses the trade-offs between non-participatory and participatory evaluation

approaches in international development cooperation and explores how program

evaluations can meaningfully engage program participants while also adhering to

established standards of academic rigor and pragmatic feasibility. The paper draws

lessons and shares learnings from the End Child Marriage Flagship Evaluation,

which integrated ‘conventional’ evaluation approaches and participatory research

to meaningfully include adolescent program participants. Finally, the paper

compares experiences of the evaluation to other participatory program evaluations

and links lessons learned to a broader discussion about prerequisites and trade- offs for applying participatory evaluation approaches and calls to re-imagine

conventional evaluation standards to enable program participants to engage in a

meaningful way.

Keywords: participatory evaluation, applied research, adolescent participation in

research methodological paper, qualitative evaluation.

INTRODUCTION

The inclusion of program participants in the different stages of program cycle management has

increasingly gained traction in international development cooperation. Today, the human

rights-based approach and its principles of meaningful and inclusive participation of and

accountability towards rights holders have been solidly anchored within a vast framework of

laws, norms, standards, and principles enshrined in international core human rights treaties

and declarations. At the same time, practitioners have learned more and more to embrace the

complexity of program environments and the need for localized, context-specific solutions [1]

[2]. This has put pressure on duty bearers such as program donors and implementers to

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Kern, J., Ahmed, H., & Prosperi, V. (2025). Opportunities and Limitations for Adolescent Participation in Research – Lessons Learned from the End

Child Marriage Flagship Evaluation in Ethiopia. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 12(1). 166-177.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.121.18197

meaningfully include program participants in their actions, including the monitoring and

evaluation (M&E) of development programs [3].

However, commissioners and consultants of program evaluations have yet to catch up when it

comes to mainstreaming participatory research methods. While innovative evaluation

approaches such as the Participatory Impact Assessment and Learning Approach (PIALA) and

Systemic Action Research (SAR) have been piloted successfully [4] [5], participatory research

– however ‘enduring and evolving’ – remains firmly situated at the margins of mainstream

evaluations [2]. One explanation for this is that counterfactual-based approaches using (quasi-

)experimental methods are firmly established as gold standards for program impact

evaluations. Accordingly, critics of participatory evaluations underline their lack of statistical

rigor and objectiveness [4]. Proponents of participatory research, on the other hand, condemn

conventional evaluation approaches that limit the participation of program participants to their

consultation during data collection [3] as nominal, disingenuous, and tokenistic [6] [7] [8]. This

leaves the impression that evaluations can either be participatory and fail standards of

academic rigor and pragmatic feasibility or conventional and thereby pseudo-participatory.

This paper discusses the trade-offs between conventional and participatory evaluation

approaches and explores how program evaluations can ensure adherence to ethical and human

rights standards while also adhering to established standards of academic rigor and pragmatic

feasibility. The paper first introduces modes and categorizations of participatory research in

evaluations. It then describes the application of different participatory research methods in the

End Child Marriage Flagship Program (ECM Flagship) Evaluation which integrated

conventional and participatory evaluation methods. We then share lessons learned related to

the opportunities and limitations of applying participatory approaches during the different

phases of the evaluation.

We found that - within the constraints of academic rigor and pragmatic feasibility - there are

more opportunities for enabling participation during the data collection and dissemination

phases and fewer opportunities during the planning and analysis phases of the evaluation.

Observations during data collection also indicated that participatory research, even in its

‘lowest’ form – consultation - has the potential to empower program participants. Experience

also underlined the importance of considering and testing whether specific participatory

research methods are sensitive towards the socio-cultural context and established power

dynamics in order to engage program participants meaningfully in the evaluation.

Finally, the paper compares experiences of the evaluation to those of other participatory

evaluations and links lessons learned to the broader discussion on prerequisites and trade-offs

for applying participatory evaluation approaches and calls to re-imagine evaluation standards

to enable program participants to engage in a meaningful way.

MODES AND PRACTICES OF PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH IN PROGRAM EVALUATIONS

The term ‘participatory evaluation’ can cover a wide range of different modes of participation,

which can differ in terms of what is understood by ‘participation’, whose participation is sought,

what it is that those people are involved in, and how. Using participatory approaches in

program evaluations generally means involving stakeholders in specific aspects of the

evaluation process, in particular, program participants or those affected by the program [8]. In