Credit and conscientization: effects of different development approaches in Bangladesh: SUMMARY

This article provides a comparative description and analysis of medium-term effects of two development approaches geared towards poverty alleviation in Bangladesh. One approach, which was studied in a programme of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, emphasizes a combination of group formation, awareness building, saving and selective confrontation with the rural elite. The other approach emphasizes provision of credit to the rural poor; it was studied in an area where the Grameen Bank has been implementing its programme since an early stage. The study on which the article is based included a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methods. It is a significant contribution to the development of a study design and methodology for evaluative research focusing on gauging the effects of interventions in settings characterized by a lack of baseline data.