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Desk ResearchInterview
Outcome Harvesting
Evaluators identify and document observable changes in people, groups, or institutions, then trace how an intervention plausibly contributed to those changes. They gather and verify information from external sources, including interviews and existing records, to substantiate the outcomes and their significance.
When This Method Fits
Typical duration
Weeks – Months
Typical cost
Medium
Fidelity level
N/A
Stage
Implementation
Hypothesis type
Outcome, Mechanism
Goal type
Deepen product-market fit, Maximize societal impact, Drive corporate innovation / R&D, Improve operational efficiency
Randomization
N/A
Study design
Individual case report, Cross-sectional multi-group study, Descriptive single-case study
Minimum units needed
1
Causal rigor
Min 1 · Max 2 / 5
1Best Fit When
Best when an initiative's real-world effects are emergent and hard to predict in advance, so you need to harvest outcomes after the fact rather than test a predefined hypothesis.