The Most Significant Change

20/01/2026

The Most Significant Change method (Rick Davies and Jess Dart, 1996) is a qualitative, participatory method for systematic collection, collective analysis, interpretation, and communication of "change stories" to which a specific project or program has contributed.

Advantages:

People love stories! It makes it possible to communicate the project's benefits and core values clearly and understandably—to donors as well as to people in the field.
It supports participation—engaging different stakeholders in collecting and interpreting stories and in further planning, thereby strengthening their interest in the project and related challenges.
It focuses on the specific context and the interpretation of those being interviewed.
It enables repeated mapping of changes and joint interpretation of trends.
It does not require project objectives, indicators, or a logframe. :)
It helps strengthen internal M&E capacity / evaluation thinking. It is simple and does not require special qualifications from interviewers.

Disadvantages:

It cannot be used on its own—it tends to highlight more extreme and more positive changes. It is therefore used together with other methods that verify the findings.
It is time-consuming.

Process:

One cycle of planning, data collection, analysis, and subsequent communication takes 2–6 months, depending on the size of the project and the focus of the evaluation. The process may look, for example, like this.

Use of stories:

For reporting to partners, donors, etc.
For further planning
To develop intervention logic / a theory of change
When explaining the project's benefits and values to those involved as well as to new audiences
In external communications (newspapers, etc.)
In further grant applications

Further resources:

A basic guide and hub with additional resources on MandeNEWS

Get in touch if you would like training, a presentation, or sample questionnaires in English or Czech.

Examples where we applied the method:

In the evaluation of Amnesty International's human rights education program, the method helped map different types of change, including unexpected benefits for the living books (volunteers) and for teachers.
In the evaluation of a humanitarian project by ADRA Czech Republic and ADRA India, the method revealed an unexpected positive impact on local children, who began to engage more in their community.