Baseline Survey and PRA exercises are conducted in
the target rural area for creating database for analysis and development of
rural development project.
Baseline is the clearly defined starting point from
where the implementation of rural development programme begins, improvement in
the area is judged, or comparison is done. So baseline survey means analysis of
current situation to identify the starting points for a program or project and
assess the quantum of work done with respect to the objectives, methodology and
time schedule. It gives a picture of the situation on ground and results can
then be compared with a follow-up assessment towards the end of the project, in
order to comprehend the effects that the programme has had on the target
population. As well as measuring impact, baselines can fulfill a number of
other purposes:
- They provide useful data on the extent and type of
problem faced.
- They help in setting realistic and achievable goals.
- They engage other stakeholders in the development process,
by involving the private sector, businesses, and widely disseminating baseline
results.
The stages involved in a baseline study are as
follows:
- Rationale and objectives
- Description of the research
location/geographical context
- Methodology of the survey
- Results
- Conclusions and Recommendations
1. Rationale and objectives:
This section must contain a clear presentation of
the issues surrounding the research and its objectives, as well as specific
questions which will be dealt with during the survey.
2. Description
of the research location/geographical context
This section contains the criteria used for
selecting the location as well as gathering general information on the study
population. Understanding the characteristics of the subjects on which the
study is to be done is very important.
3. Methodology
of the study
This section must provide a detailed outline of the
overall study and describe the design of the tools, the sampling strategies
(including the sizes of the samples) and the methods used for collecting the
data. It is essential to explain and justify the use of the research
specifications and the methods chosen and also to discuss all the problems
encountered.
- Approach to be used shall be both Quantitative and
Qualitative: Quantitative data measures the situation in numeric terms. It
often uses closed-ended questions with limited potential responses, and engages
various statistical techniques to detect significant differences between
different groups of respondents. It often needs large samples, weighted to
represent the population that the study is interested in. Qualitative data
seeks to explain the context, perceptions and quality of a particular
experience or condition. Data collection methods employ a more participatory
approach through the use of open-ended questions that allow respondents to
expand on their initial answers and lead the discussion towards issues that
they find important. Samples tend to be smaller. Generally, both qualitative
and quantitative data are required for a baseline. Quantitative data measures
the extent of an issue, and provide a simple comprehension of how it has
changed. Qualitative data will supplement this by providing insights from
partners, recipient and employees, addressing the causes, sustainability, and
impact of this change. This explains how and why things occur – which is
particularly useful when addressing the question of acknowledgment, whether
your programme is responsible for the change that has occurs.
- Creation/development of data gathering tools,
creating the questionnaires and standardizing them so that their layout must
facilitate data gathering, the questionnaire must be easy to follow and the
responses must be easily accessible for coding and data capture. Data gathering
techniques used shall be Individual interview, Group discussion/focus group,
Secondary data reviews, community workshops, semi structured interview with key
informants, Administrative authority questionnaire, participant observations
and direct & indirect observations.
- Drawing up an analysis plan that must make
provision for tabulating the variables chosen in the questionnaire. The plan
must take strict account of the expected results of the project and their pointers.
In addition, the plan will help when carrying out various analyses with the
different variables (knowledge, attitudes and practices).
4. Results
The results must provide detailed responses to the
research questions set out in the introduction. The results of all the
activities relating to data gathering must be used to respond to each research
question (i.e. the data should be triangulated).
5. Conclusions
and recommendations
In this section, the report returns to the research
objectives set out in the introduction. What is the relevance of the results of
the study for the programme activities? What recommendations can the researcher
make in terms of adopting concrete measures?
Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) is a set of
participatory and largely visual techniques for assessing group and society
resources, recognize and prioritizing problems and appraising strategies for
solving them. It is a planning tactic in which a local community (with or
without the assistance of outsiders) studies an issue that concerns the
population, main concern problems, estimate options for solving the problem(s)
and comes up with a Community Action Plan to address the concerns that have
been raised.
PRA is particularly concerned that the multiple
perspectives that exist in any community are represented in the analysis and
that the community itself takes the lead in evaluating its situation and
finding explanation. Outsiders may contribute as facilitators or in providing
technical information but they should not 'take charge' of the process.
In PRA, a number of different tools are used to
gather and analyze information. These tools encourage contribution, make it
easier for people to state their views and help to organize information in a
way that makes it more useful and more accessible to the group that is trying
to analyze a given situation.
Some components of PRA which make it well-suited as
a learning and problem-solving tool for the rural poor are:
- It give confidence to group participation and discussion
- The information to be processed is gathered by
group members themselves
- It is presented in very visual form, typically out
in the open and on the ground, using pictures, signs and locally available resources
- Once displayed, the information is “transparent
rather than hidden” - all members can remark on it, revise it and disapprove of
it. This assists in cross-checking and verifying collected data.
PRA supports the direct participation of
communities, with rural community themselves becoming the main investigators
and analysts. Rural people set the priorities; verify needs; select and train
community workers; collect, document, and analyze data; and plan and implement
solutions based on their conclusion. Actions stemming from this research tend
to serve the local group of people. Outsiders are there to facilitate the
process but do not direct it. PRA uses group moving picture and exercises to make
possible information giving out, study, and action among stakeholders.
PRA is an exercise in communication and transfer of knowledge. Despite the
consequences of whether it is carried out as part of project identification or
appraisal or as part of country economic and sector work, the learning and
teamwork spirit of PRA requires clear procedures. For that reason, a series of
open meetings (an initial open meeting, final meeting, and follow-up meeting)
generally frame the sequence of PRA activities. Usual PRA activities involve a
team of people working for two to three weeks on workshop planning, analyses,
and fieldwork.
Hundreds of participatory techniques and tools have
been described in a variety of books and newsletter, or trained at training
courses around the world. These method can be divided into four grouping:
- Group dynamics, e.g. education contracts, role
reversals, advice sessions
- Sampling, e.g. transect walks, wealth ranking, community
mapping
- Interviewing, e.g. focus group planning,
semi-structured meeting, triangulation
- Visualization e.g. venn diagrams, environment
scoring, timelines
To ensure that people are not excluded from involvement,
these techniques avoid script wherever possible, relying instead on
the tools of oral announcement like pictures, symbols, physical objects
and group remembrance. Efforts are made in various projects, however, to build
a bridge to proper literacy; for example by teaching people how to sign
their names or recognize their signatures.
Based on the data collected from baseline survey
and PRA exercise, a detailed analysis is done to understand the target rural
area, its geography, demographics, infrastructure, various religions and
castes, dominant cultures and related behaviors, natural resources available
and potential usage for livelihood enhancement, agriculture crops and
productivity, soil profile, nutritional level of children and women, literacy
level. We also get to know comprehend the problems (common as well as area
specific) of rural area and possible solutions suggested by the community
itself. Based on the analysis of this data, we develop suitable interventions
for rural development. The interventions are either short term (less than a
year) or long term (1-10 years).
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