There is no one systematic framework to understand how research leads to change. However, there are at least three things to consider when measuring research impact: what changes did the research make; why and how did these changes come about; and how important was the research to making these changes happen?
This case study examines the impact of Chronic Poverty Research Center's (CPRC) research. It draws on a desk review of key outputs as well as interviews with CPRC researchers in the UK and partner countries, DFID policy-makers, and staff in USAID, the World Bank and the Ugandan government. It discusses which
research resulted in change, why, how, and the lessons DFID can learn about how to make sure its current and future research has the biggest chance of making a
difference. However, this is not an evaluation of CPRC’s impact, and does not give a systematic
overview of the difference CPRC has made. Only three years after the end of the programme, there are signs that many of CPRC’s most important impacts are still to come.