Measuring What Matters: A Systematic Review and Future Agenda for Social Impact Assessment

The use of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is indispensable when considering the consequences of changes occurring in organizations, policies and initiatives to the society in which we live. Unfortunately, the present methods of SIA are fragmentary, instrumentally driven and lack a theoretical basis. To address these weaknesses, in this chapter, an extensive study of the current scientific literature on SIA methods is conducted based on the PRISMA approach and conceptual thematic analysis as well as the assessment of theoretical foundation of each tool. The most popular SIA methodologies, including Social Return on Investment (SROI), Theory of Change, environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) criteria and well-being measures, are examined. This chapter proposes Adaptive Social Impact Measurement (ASIM) as a methodological meta-framework aiming to reinterpret the notion of measurement through its adaptability, participation and educative dimensions. While the traditional measurement approach relies on indicators, ASIM values an interactive, dynamic process of assessment enabling it to tackle such challenges as standardization and context, accountability and learning, control and empowerment, and other problems. From the conclusions drawn from this chapter, it is possible to state that the current stage of development implies not one methodology of measuring social impact but several ones. Furthermore, some directions for future research are suggested by the author, such as the application of artificial intelligence and big data techniques, participation, hybrid valuation, ethics and decolonizing methods.