Baseline surveys

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Baseline surveys and impact analysis M.M.
Escalada International Rice Research
Institute Los Baños, Philippines
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Baseline survey

• Understand farmers needs and circumstances
• Identify farmers perspectives
• Find out the root cause of farmers practice
• Determine social, economic,
• ecological factors that may
• influence choice of options
• Identify key stakeholders

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Uses of baseline survey

• Set the research agenda
• Test research hypotheses
• Design extension strategies
• Evaluate effectiveness of intervention

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How to conduct a baseline survey

• Identify the problem or issues
• Develop survey objectives
• Develop survey instrument (questionnaire)
• Pretest the questionnaire
• Choose survey respondents
• Implement field survey
• Code and analyze data

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1- Identify the problem or issues

• Needs of a given organization or ministry
• Research priorities
• Gather information to identify research
  priorities

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Using theoretical frameworks to examine belief
and attitude

• Human behavior is guided by
• Beliefs about the likely outcomes of behavior and
  evaluation of outcomes (behavioral beliefs)
• Beliefs about normative expectations of others
  and motivation to comply (normative beliefs)
• Beliefs about the presence of factors that may
  facilitate or hinder performance of behavior
• Perceived power of these factors (control
  beliefs)

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Theory of Planned Behavior
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Theory of Planned Behavior
As a general rule, the more favorable the
attitude and subjective norm, and the greater the
perceived control, the stronger should be the
persons intention to perform the behavior in
question.
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Sample TpB questions

• Intention
• How true is this?
• Next season, I will use the leaf color chart for
  N management in my field.
• ____ 1) Definitely not true
• ____ 2) In most cases not true
• ____ 3) May be true
• ____ 4) In most cases true
• ____ 5) Definitely not true

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Sample TpB questions

• Attitudes towards behavior
• How true is this?
• Using the leaf color chart for N management will
  increase my yields.
• ____ 1) Definitely not true
• ____ 2) In most cases not true
• ____ 3) May be true
• ____ 4) In most cases true
• ____ 5) Definitely not true

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Sample TpB questions

• Normative beliefs
• How true is this?
• High yield is important to me.
• ____ 1) Definitely not true
• ____ 2) In most cases not true
• ____ 3) May be true
• ____ 4) In most cases true
• ____ 5) Definitely not true

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Sample TpB questions

• Subjective norm
• How true is this?
• My neighbor expects me to use the leaf color
  chart for N management.
• ____ 1) Definitely not true
• ____ 2) In most cases not true
• ____ 3) May be true
• ____ 4) In most cases true
• ____ 5) Definitely not true

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Sample TpB questions

• Perceived behavioral control
• How true is this?
• Using the LCC as a decision guide for N
  management makes me feel in control of my rice
  crop.
• ____ 1) Definitely not true
• ____ 2) In most cases not true
• ____ 3) May be true
• ____ 4) In most cases true
• ____ 5) Definitely not true

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4- Pretest the questionnaire

• Interviewing a small group of respondents to
  determine their reactions to draft questionnaire
• clarity of wording and translation of technical
• terms
• logical sequence of questions
• adequacy of response categories
• clarity of questionnaire instructions
• estimate duration of interview

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5 -Choosing respondents

• Standard social science sampling methods
• multi-stage
• stratified
• systematic
• cluster
• simple random

• Choice of sampling technique
• nature of problem
• cost and time factors
• desired precision or reliability

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6 Implement field survey

• Select respondents
• Establish rapport
• Write down responses accurately
• Edit responses well
• Close interview

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7 Code analyze data

• Simple analysis
• Determine of respondents giving specific
  answers
• List various ways in which farmers might use new
  practice
• Complex analysis
• Use statistical package to encode, process and
  analyze data

• Choice of analytical software
• Access/cost
• Ease of use
• Power

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Impact analysis

• An approach which measures the outcomes of an
  intervention
• Did the program have the desired effects on
  individuals, households, institutions and
  communities?
• Can those effects be attributed to program
  intervention?

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What is impact

• Producing 5,000 posters 10,000 leaflets
• Running a daily radio broadcast
• Training 500 farmers on use of leaf color chart
  (LCC) for N management
• Conducting 1,000 farmer field schools
• Distribution of LCC to farmers

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What is impact
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Impact analysis

• If a farmer is trained on the use of LCC for N
  fertilizer management and his rice yield
  increases, can we say that it is the direct
  result of the LCC training?

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Why conduct an impact evaluation?

• How did the project affect the beneficiaries?
• Were any improvements a direct result of the
• project?
• Could the program design be modified to improve
• impact?
• Were the costs justified?
• Are the resources well spent?

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Impact assessment design

• Quantitative approach
• Use experimental and quasi-experimental designs
• Treatment and control groups
• Control groups are selected at random from same
  population as program participants
• Control group does not receive program or
  intervention

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Impact assessment design

• Qualitative approach
• Focus on understanding processes, behaviors and
  conditions as perceived by individuals being
  studied
• Uses relatively open-ended methods in design,
  data collection and analysis
• Provide critical insights into beneficiaries
  perceptions about value of programs
• Can provide a better understanding of stakeholder
  perceptions, priorities and conditions that may
  have affected program impact

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Weaknesses of qualitative approach

• Subjectivity involved in data collection
• Lack of comparison group
• Lack of statistical robustness, given small
  samples
• Lack of generalizability to a larger population

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Weaknesses of qualitative approach

• Validity and reliability depend on methodological
  skill, sensitivity and training of evaluator
• Data collected may be misinterpreted if field
  staff lack sensitivity to social and cultural
  norms and nonverbal messages
• Impossible to determine causality of project
  impact, without a comparison group

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Choosing an impact assessment method

• Experimental designs are considered the best
  approach
• Before-after control group design or with and
  without and before and after are strongly
  recommended
• Baseline data will allow one to validate
  integrity of treatment and comparison groups,
  assess targeting

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Data collection techniques

• Case studies
• Focus groups
• Interviews
• Observation
• Survey
• Document analysis

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1- Case study
Collecting information that can be descriptive
or explanatory and can serve to answer the
questions of how and why

2- Focus groups
Holding focus group discussions with
stakeholders who are familiar with pertinent
issues before developing structured questions
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3- Interviews
Asking questions of one of more persons
interviews may be formal or informal,
face-to-face or by telephone.

4- Observation
Observing and recording situation in a diary
includes who is involved, what happens when,
where, and how events occur.
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5- Survey
Developing a set of survey questions whose
answers can be coded consistently

5- Document analysis
Reviewing documents such as records, training
materials, administrative databases, and
correspondence
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Impact analysis

• Impact is creating change.
• Projects have to be planned to create impact.
• - baseline surveys conducted
• - treatment and control groups designated

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Thank you