Knowledge Management and Learning

Knowledge management and learning are critical for an NGO like CARE India for several reasons:

• Improving decision-making: Knowledge management that is effective ensures that the right information is available to the right people at the right time, allowing for informed decision-making. CARE India can make better decisions about where to allocate resources and which programmes to implement by leveraging staff knowledge and expertise, ultimately improving the impact of their work.
• Increasing innovation: Knowledge management lays the groundwork for innovation by making it easier for employees to share ideas and collaborate. CARE India can develop new approaches and solutions to the complex challenges it addresses, such as poverty, gender inequality, and social injustice, by cultivating a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
• Reducing duplication of effort: Good knowledge management prevents employees from wasting time and resources reinventing the wheel. CARE India can avoid duplicating efforts and maximise the impact of their work by capturing and sharing best practises.
• Retaining institutional knowledge: Knowledge management enables non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as CARE India to capture and retain staff knowledge and expertise even after they leave the organisation. This ensures that the organisation can continue to benefit from their experience and knowledge even after they have moved on, and it helps to keep their programmes running smoothly.
• Supporting organisational learning: By fostering a learning culture, CARE India is able to continuously improve its performance and adapt to changing conditions in the communities it serves. This enables them to remain agile and responsive while continuing to provide effective programmes and services to those in greatest need.

CARE India’s Knowledge Management and Learning (KML) unit generates accountable data to sustainably and scalably operate its initiatives across India in areas such as agriculture, financial inclusion, education, health, WASH, gender, and value chain interventions. By employing evidence-based program management, KML provides qualitative and quantitative data to improve data usage, which results in data-driven decision-making. The independent team of experts and field staff collects and analyses sample-based output and outcome data, which is continuously measured for a quick turnaround. The NGO for women’s objective is to create a more data-hungry and efficient system.

CARE India contributes to knowledge management and learning by deploying methodologies to collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative information to derive crucial and actionable insights.
(a) Quantitative Information

• CARE India collects quantitative information from units of analysis and reporting – all blocks and districts – as per the requirement
• To ensure representativeness, the organisation uses multi-stage proportional random sampling with or without systematic component at the household level with a random-start
• The findings are powered for generating estimates, changes in estimates over time and predictors thereof capable of aggregated and disaggregated stratified analysis
• Our sample sizes range from ~1000 to ~80000 respondents.

(b) Qualitative Information

CARE India employs the following qualitative methodologies:

• Focus group discussions: A qualitative research method where a small group of people are brought together to discuss a particular topic, allowing for insights into group dynamics and shared experiences.
• Key-informant interviews: A qualitative research method where a person who has expertise or experience in a particular area is interviewed to gain insights into their knowledge, opinions, and experiences related to a topic of interest.
• Observations/Ethnographies: A qualitative research method where researchers observe and document behaviours, practices, and interactions in a natural setting, aiming to gain insights into the culture and context of a particular community or group.
• Basic Human-Centred Design: A design methodology that focuses on the needs and perspectives of individuals to create effective and user-friendly programmes, services, or systems. It involves user research, prototyping, and iteration to create solutions that meet the needs of women and girls from marginalised communities.

The NGO for women has a proven track record of executing qualitative projects in multiple local languages in major cities, rural, and remote areas.

a) For data collection:

• Tablet PC and Cell-phone based Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI) designed on Survey-CTO and ODK platforms.
• Tablet PC and Cell-phone based Colour-coded Audio-integrated Computer Assisted Self Interviews (CACASI).
• In-person and Virtual-remote accessed Hybrid qualitative and quantitative mixed method Tablet PC and Cell-phone based Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (IVH-CAPI) designed on Survey-CTO and ODK platforms enabled with real-time post-coding and telephonic interview components at the same time.

b) For data management and quality control:

• Google studio, Power-BI, Survey-CTO and SQL – supported real time digital data management, monitoring, quality control and data visualisation platform enabled with algorithm based analytics.

c) For data management and analysis:

• Quantitative data – SAS, SPSS and STATA
• Qualitative data – ATLAS-Ti

Yes

• Google studio, Power-BI, Survey-CTO and SQL – supported real time digital, GIS-tagged data capture, management, monitoring, quality control platform.
• Continuous spot check, back-check and audio-check (together at least 15%) mechanism enabled with algorithm-based analysis and continuous auto-feedback generation.
• Para-data, metadata based monitoring of data quality.

• The NGO for women maintains a complete listing of all Research projects undertaken (agriculture, financial inclusion, education and health in addition to incidental projects on WASH, gender, value chain interventions and more)
• The organisation also publishes PDFs of research papers (by thematic area)