During the early stages of implementing their new flagship anti-poverty program, Progresa, Mexican officials contracted an evaluation team from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). This paper examines the validity of the IFPRI-Progresa process using an approach informed by 'complexity,' and exemplifies how the elaboration of multiple narratives has potential to move the evaluation community beyond the seemingly inimical to-randomize-or-not-to-randomize debates.#ResearchonEvaluation #QuantitativeMethods-TheoryandDesign #SystemsinEvaluation #RandomizedControlTrial #GovernmentEvaluation #Mexico #RCT #2012Conference