Q-Squared in Policy:
A Conference on the Use of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods of Poverty Analysis in Decision-Making

Centre for Analysis and Forecasting (CAF)
Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (VASS)
Hanoi, July 7-8, 2007

CALL FOR PAPERS

The last ten years have seen recognition of the strong complementarities between qualitative and quantitative methods in poverty appraisal. There is a growing consensus that both approaches have much to contribute to understanding poverty. A number of such contributions were presented at the 2004 “Q-Squared in Practice” Conference at the University of Toronto and appear, with others, on the Q-Squared website. While the value of mixed methods for understanding and explaining poverty is not in doubt, a remaining question concerns the applied use of such analyses in decision-making.

The ‘Q-Squared in Policy” Conference aims to fill this gap by bringing together recent examples of the use of “Q-Squared-type” work to inform decision-making processes. By ‘decision-making’, we mean policy-level or programmatic decisions at national or sub-national levels by governments, NGOs, development organizations, etc. More specifically, we are looking for papers that discuss the use of Q2 analyses of poverty to inform:

• the Understanding of the Nature or Causes of Poverty in a Policy Context;
• the Formulation or Design of Policies, Programs or Projects;
• Budgeting or Resource Allocation Decisions;
• Evaluation, Monitoring or Impact Assessment of Policies, Programs or Projects.

We are interested in contributions which address the methodology of the Q2 studies as well as the process through which they were able to inform decision-making.

The conference organizers are Ravi Kanbur (Cornell University), Nguyen Thang (CAF/VASS), Ellen Bortei-Doku Aryeetey (Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana) and Paul Shaffer (University of Toronto and Trent University).

Submissions can range from brief policy-oriented notes of 5-10 pages to longer academically-oriented pieces of 25-30 pages (or 3-5 page proposals for such papers). They should be sent electronically to Ravi Kanbur by December 15, 2006. Decisions will be conveyed by February 15, 2007.

The conference will meet the travel costs of one presenter per paper accepted. The papers presented at the conference will in turn be considered for publication in a special issue of a journal or a volume.