Research and Evidence Division

The main functions of the Research and Evidence Division are covered in three pillars;

• Research New products which may be physical such as better crops or drugs, or non-physical such as better tax regulations, are needed if development is to advance, and to combat emerging threats such as drug resistance. Rigorous research into delivery methods is needed to optimise their effectiveness, demonstrate things that work, and stop doing things which do not. Understanding the context, whether environmental, economic or political is essential for policymakers to be able to make rational decisions.
• Evidence and Evaluation; Synthesising evidence from all sources, assessing it for its quality and disseminating it to policymakers and practitioner is the basic foundation to getting research into use and putting it in a form in which they can make rational decisions that maximise value for money. Currently much of the evidence they need is widely scattered, not systematically brought together and of variable quality. Systematic reviews, evidence papers, evidence brokers and research uptake work are needed along with better access to information by country teams.  Strengthening evaluation is a major priority to ensure we and others can learn from what DFID does and put this learning and experience into use to ensure high quality spend. The evaluation team work alongside the Chief Economist, Chief Statistician, Chief Scientific Advisors and research teams to strengthen DFID’s capacity to learn from its own programmes. The Quality Assurance unit was set up under the Chief Economist to examine major new spend and ensure it is evidence based. 
• Professional Cadres; Increasing professionalisation of the advisory cadres is essential as DFID moves into a phase where administrative resources are limited and evidence is even more central to DFID’s work. Chief Professional Officers and Heads of Profession (C/HOPs) provide technical expertise and give leadership on new ways of achieving and maintaining the highest professional standards.