About Strategic Research Concepts

Our Two-Fold Mission

• Build capacity for evidence-informed and problem-focused policy making and change in governance, public administration, philanthropy, civil society and the private sector.
• Act as an independent research and evaluation thought leader providing advisories and consulting services based upon best practice standards and state-of-the-art social science bodies of knowledge that supports and encourages rigor and innovation based upon the “Goldilocks” principle of the right-sized evaluation and resources for the problem at hand.

Our Vision

• A high capacity, ethical and evidence-based evaluative and evaluation-learning based community of practice is fostered that improves evidence-based public policy and private governance though small “d” democratic problem solving based upon data, respect for persons, beneficence and non-maleficence, justice, rule of law, communication, advocacy and feedback loops.t practice standards and state-of-the-art social science bodies of knowledge that supports and encourages rigor and innovation based upon the “Goldilocks” principle of the right-sized evaluation and resources for the problem at hand.

Our Values

• Engaged: Adaptive and Client Centered Participatory Approach. Our approach incorporates Human-Centered Design (HCD) principles to enhance the relevance and applicability of our work and all research and evaluation findings as well as ensuring that target beneficiaries are included in ways that respect their agency and understanding of what works in that context.
• Problem-Focused: Laser-focused on Solving Problems at the Systems and Community Levels. We believe that good intentions alone or unfocused flurries of activity do not solve problems – the goal is to use appropriate evaluative tools to address verified drivers of change to achieve impact and “make the change” by engaging local champions and communities.
• Independence: Independent, Neutral and Ethical Evaluations. We are skilled in ensuring objective and independent research and evaluation that provides credible insights and actionable recommendations for learning and accountability – even when embedded within projects.
• Integrity: Rigorous Use of Credible Research Methods. Our approach is to provide high quality evaluative and design thinking and ethnically grounded technical support that includes rigorous valid and reliable methods tailored to the problem at hand and justified at each stage and decision point of the research process.

How We Work

• “White Box” Evidence-Building. SRC uses an equivalent of software development “white box” testing to examine and checks all possible execution paths in programs across the project cycle. The goal is to ensure that each activity and the associated measures functions and behaves as expected and in alignment with social science knowledge bases and data requirements for validity and reliability.
• Able to Work Cross-Sectorally with Integrated Standards. Using design thinking and our experience with both public and private sectors and working with NGOs, we avoid jargon and work with you where you are and help you achieve your goals and demonstrate your value.
• Use and Development of Signature Tools to Support a Results Focus. Dr. Baer has innovated a number of tools to facilitate norms change, partnership collaboration and engage in causal link monitoring based upon evidence “white box” methods. For example, the Matrix Logic Model is an expanded version of the basic logic model developed by Dr. Baer to support theory-based evaluation based upon measurable activities, outcomes and causal linkages.
• Culturally Sensitive and Ability to Work Across Different Contexts. We have extensive experience both in working in different states in the U.S. and also in living and working in different country settings.

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