Assessing the validity of microcredit impact studies in Uganda : Assessing the validity of microcredit impact studies in Uganda

Abstract: A number of developing countries including Uganda have of recent experienced tremendous growth of microfinance industry in financial and credit service provision. Microfinance development in developing countries and its’ impacts on the poor’s livelihood have been a central point of focus by academic community and development stakeholders. A number of actors like donors and government agencies have accredited microcredit as a program to help the poor improve their living conditions, fight extreme poverty and reduce the number of people living in absolutely lacking situations. The growth of microcredit schemes in Uganda has incited donors, government agencies, different microfinance institutions, individual and academia to measure the achievements of the program in relation to its’ different objectives. Despite the growing efforts and attention to measure microcredit impacts on livelihood transformation, less focus has been given to this scientific process of measuring program impacts. Ensuring credibility and validity is an important aspect that guarantees realistic representation and quality in scientific research when researchers seek to understand what has been achieved. It is upon the above background that this study established strong interest to understand and explore how different scientific research processes of impact evaluation relate to the quality of impact reports or outcomes measured. The study examines the main debate about microcredit impacts, this is aimed at providing necessary information required (epistemological benefit) to understand microcredit impacts within different perspectives of development. Different researchers’ background more specifically their academic qualifications, expertise, gender, institutions attached to and roles played during different impact studies is assessed by this study. The study looks at different methods of data collection, analysis employed by different microcredit impact studies and they impacted on different studies being assessed. The study uses text and systematic method of data and information analysis, different articles searched from Linnaeus University library website and other organizational reports got from different organizations databases, form set of data used in this study. A total of sixteen impact studies done in Uganda have been systematically reviewed. Conceptual framework in which validity is used as the main tool in the analytical discussion of study has been employed.