MEAL CONSULTANT FOR LONGITUDINAL STUDY

Terms of Reference

MEAL CONSULTANT FOR LONGITUDINAL STUDY

To support Seenaryo to analyse, deepen and expand the understanding of their impact since 2015

Organisation: SEENARYO

Consultancy Duration: January 2025 (end of) – September 2025

Total number of days over an 8 month period: 25-30 days

ABOUT SEENARYO

Participatory theatre and play can transform an individual’s sense of agency. They gain the power to shape their own narrative and expand what is possible, individually but also through collective action. Working in Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine, Seenaryo uses theatre and play to support people to heal, lead and learn. We co-create performances with under-served communities, train future leaders and transform classrooms through play. Reaching 155,000 children, youth and women since 2015, Seenaryo won the Arts, Culture & Heritage prize at the 2023 UK Charity Awards, received a 2023 Innovation Award from TheirWorld and was one of Expo 2020 Dubai’s 120 Global Innovators.

BACKGROUND

As Seenaryo approaches its 10th anniversary year we want to take the opportunity to invest time and resources into taking the story of our impact to a new level. Over the course of several months we plan to collate our data and conduct additional studies that will come together in one publication, published and shared in the second half of our 10th Anniversary year – Autumn 2025. This study will allow us to look more systematically at the long-term journeys of change experienced by Seenaryo participants and, we hope, generate demonstrable evidence as to the long-term impact of theatre and play on the lives and life chances of the individuals we work with. Several activities contributing to this study are already underway, including:

• Collating all existing data sheets from projects evaluated during the last 10 years on the Qlik platform, to allow us to identify patterns of change across different disaggregation of our data.
• Identifying 10 stories from 10 participants who have been taking part in Seenaryo projects and have been part of the community for several years. These stories will be developed through workshops and interviews and will be conveyed through film.

PURPOSE, OBJECTIVES & SCOPE OF WORK

A critical component of the publication that we are seeking support for is a longitudinal tracer study, that seeks to identify long-term change in the lives of people who have taken part in Seenaryo projects since 2015. This will involve a survey distributed to thousands of past and current participants in Lebanon and Jordan, followed by a series of focus groups with a smaller sample to expand on the information collected through the surveys and test assumptions. The longitudinal study should interrogate changes in line with Seenaryo’s Theory of Change (with a focus on the wellbeing outcome) as well as gather information on unexpected and unpredicted changes over time. The specific objectives of the longitudinal study are:

• To collate persuasive, detailed and rigorous evidence of long term impact in Seenaryo participants’ lives
• To gain a wider and longer term view on the specific impact of Seenaryo’s projects over the last 10 years, including impact on the wider ecosystem (families, communities and society)
• To generate evidence that proves the causality between a) Seenaryo’s projects and positive changes in the lives of the participants we work with and b) more broadly between theatre and play interventions and increased wellbeing
• To better understand what could be different and better in Seenaryo’s approach to programme design and implementation based on feedback from participants over the last decade

We are looking for a research consultant with expertise in monitoring and evaluation who will be able to lead us through the process of designing this study, creating the survey itself, overseeing implementation and leading on the analysis and presentation of results.

DELIVERABLES & TIMELINE

The exact timeline and deliverables can be determined in conversation with the selected consultant. The consultant will be reimbursed based on deliverables but as a guide, we envisage the following:

1. Activity (leading to deliverables to be defined): Defining scope & research questions for longitudinal study

Estimated no. of days: 2

Projected timeline for end deliverable: January 2025

2. Activity (leading to deliverables to be defined): Development of study framework and sample size

Estimated no. of days: 3

Projected timeline for end deliverable: February 2025

3. Activity (leading to deliverables to be defined): Development of tools: longitudinal survey & focus group questions & guide for implementation

Estimated no. of days: 5

Projected timeline for end deliverable: February 2025

4. Activity (leading to deliverables to be defined): Capacity Building & implementation (including conducting some focus groups and supervising MEAL freelancer team)

Estimated no. of days: 8

Projected timeline for end deliverable: March – July 2025

5. Activity (leading to deliverables to be defined): Analysis & reporting on results of longitudinal study (final study report submitted)

Estimated no. of days: 8

Projected timeline for end deliverable: By end of September 2025

– Estimated total no. of days: 26

– Projected timeline for end deliverable: Range 25-30

DURATION

We are hoping to contract someone and begin work on this project by the end of January 2025. We hope to publish a final report by the end of September 2025. The consultant will be managed by Seenaryo’s Executive Director and will work closely with the Programme Managers in Lebanon and Jordan, as well as with Seenaryo’s Head of Arts and Head of Education. Seenaryo is an organisation that is participatory and inclusive, we seek a candidate who will be able to apply these values in their approach to the work itself and in their collaboration with the team.

CONSULTANT SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• 5+ years of professional experience as a researcher and/or MEAL consultant
• Demonstrable solid and diversified experience in conducting evaluations of arts projects (or strong experience in development projects with an interest in the arts).
• Proven experience designing and conducting longitudinal studies or large-scale surveys.
• Profound knowledge of the Arab region, particularly Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.
• Experience working on projects that measure wellbeing with an understanding of internationally applied well-being scales used in evaluation.
• Experience measuring social and economic value in other development projects is desirable.
• Ability to work with a participatory and collaborative approach.
• Willing to work over an extended mandate.
• Advanced degree in social sciences, statistics, public health, or a related field.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills, including advanced statistical analysis.
• Proficiency with statistical software and data visualization tools.
• Excellent report-writing skills and written English with a demonstrated ability to present complex data clearly. The ability to speak and work in Arabic additionally is desirable.

The candidate can be based anywhere as the majority of this work will be remote. However we have a preference for candidates who are based in the region and are able to travel to work with local teams in Lebanon and Jordan.