Abstract:
“Far better an approximate answer'to the right question
which is often vague, than an exact answer to
the wrong question, which can always be made precise.
John W. Tukey,
Annals of Mathematical Statistics, vol. 33, 1962, p.13.
1.1 Background
The World Bank in its report on Project Performance stated that about 20% of the development
projects completed between 1974 and 1986 determined to be unsatisfactory
(see Fig. 1). The “satisfactory” projects between 1974 - 1984 were based on the
were
• achievement of at least a 10% economic rate of return;
• other significant benefits if the economic rate of return was lower;
evaluator’s qualitative judgement about the performance if no economic rate of
return was calculated.
The classifications for 1985 and 1986 were based on achievement of one of the following
• wholly satisfactory : project achieves or exceeds all its major objectives, achieves
substantial results in almost all respects;
• satisfactory : project achieves most of its objectives and has satisfactory results
with no major shortcomings;
• marginally satisfactory : project reveals major shortcomings in meeting objectives
.and/or achievements but is still considered worthwhile.
