Most Significant Change | Better Evaluation

The Most Significant Change (MSC) approach is based on analysing personal accounts of change and deciding which of these accounts is the most significant – and why.

The are three basic steps in setting up this option:

Deciding the types of stories that should be collected (stories about what - for example, about practice change or health outcomes or empowerment)
Collecting the stories and determining which stories are the most significant
Sharing the decisions with stakeholders and contributors so that learning about what is valued happens.

The option is not just about collecting and reporting stories but about having processes to learn from these stories – in particular, to learn about the similarities and differences in what different groups and individuals value.

It gives some ideas of impact and unintended impact, but by itself it is not sufficient for impact evaluation as it does not provide information about the usual experience but about the best.

If you imagine a normal distribution of outcomes for individuals then the stories come from the extremity of positive change. (It is possible to also add a process where stories are collected from the extremity of little or negative.

It can be very helpful in explaining HOW change comes about (processes and causal mechanisms) and WHEN (in what situations and contexts).

Advice

This option is not just about collecting stories, it is about a project or programme learning over time. One of the risks that needs to be managed is ensuring the stories are not high jacked for other purposes such as for promotional material. Data can only be used for the original stated purpose, which in this case is evaluation
Triangulation: There have been instances where MSC has been used on its own in an evaluation, however this is rarely, if ever appropriate. MSC describes the extremities of individual outcomes which will give some clues about their impact (intended and unintended). However, evaluations usually need more than this. Other methods of obtaining data need to be used in order to make judgements about the merit and worth of a programme.
Resources: MSC takes TIME and an appropriate project INFRASTRUCTURE to generate understanding and value clarification (identifying what people think is important). Persistence is necessary. Any analysis of stories and sharing with both contributors and stakeholders requires a programme with several structures in it (for example, local, regional and national project structures) and need to be repeated through several cycles.
Innovation: There is scope to be innovative in this option. Your project may not have a hierarchical structure so there may be other ways of forming groups around which decisions can permeate.
A Managerial Challenge: This process does take time and involve a number of people, including committees and reference groups. It is important to obtain buy-in from these people at the beginning however this can be difficult. The second challenge is to maintain their interest. Fatigue can set in after a while so there needs to be a finite number of circles.
Other Skills Necessary: Good facilitation skills are important along with the ability to identify priorities.

Resources

Guides

The ‘Most Significant Change’ (MSC) Technique - A Guide to Its Use - Guidelines from the Rick Davies and Jessica Dart who developed the concept of Most Significant Change