Qualitative Household Appraisal

Overview

Module H3: Qualitative Household Appraisal

General Approach

Qualitative complement of Module H1 or H2 to better appraise the changes induced by the intervention. Flexible in terms of the applied method, be it open household questions, focus group discussions or Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools (cf. Annex on qualitative methods). Less strict as well in terms of the applied indicators, which can be chosen from a set of indicators based on those assessed in the Modules H1 and H2. The qualitative appraisal can complement Module H1 and H2, in particular to elicit non-intended (positive and negative) impacts.

Purpose

Helps to provide background information on the changes induced by the intervention. Including more advances qualitative methods (namely PRA) it provides anecdotal evidence on poverty impacts and transmission channels, i.e. how project outcomes turn into impacts.

Included Tools

• Elicitation guideline

Implementation Procedure

To be embedded in the implementation of either Module H1 or H2. The concrete implementation depends on the applied methods. For more advances methods (namely PRA) a consultant with appropriate references in this area should be included in planning and implementation of the study.

Expected Costs

Depending on the applied methods and the included indicators, local resources have to be extended or external (international) consultants hired.

Integrated Indicators

The indicators presented in the first two of the following tables comprise those indicators that are also assessed in Modules H1 and H2. Accordingly, the elicitation of these indicators is more demanding for the latter. They are in general not mandatory. Individual indicators may be chosen according to information interests and needs of the project or programme. The corresponding questions are formulated as perception questions. For example, for the indicator “Increased agricultural activity” the “Famer’s subjective perception regarding agricultural production and changes related to electricity” is to be elicited. As such, the answers are more sensitive to the formulation of the questions and the interviewing skills of the enumerator. Furthermore, data processing is less straightforward as with quantitative data.

The third table refers to indicators that become relevant in case social infrastructure (medical institutions, schools, administrative offices, community centers, churches, and street lighting) is targeted. The last column of the tables gives reference to whether the indicator is applicable to stove projects (S), electrification projects (E) or both.

Observation fields	MDG relevance	Indicator	What to measure?	Applicable for
Additional income generating activities	MDG 1	Increased home­business activity facilitated by improved working conditions	User’s subjective perception of usage of saved time	E
More food available and additional income generating activities	MDG 1	Increased agricultural activity	Famer’s subjective perception regarding agricultural production and changes related to electricity	E
Savings in energy expenses	MDG 1	Monetary savings through reduced energy costs	Household’s subjective perception of usage of saved money (usage for more and better food and/ or better clothing and/ or better housing, …)	S & E
Improved food storage	MDG 1	Increased penetra­tion of food storage facilities	-	E
Time savings	MDG 1 + 3	Decrease of time spend on obtaining cooking fuels	Women’s subjective perception of workload and working conditions concerning wood fuel collection and cooking and changes related to electricity/ improved cooking technologies	S & E
		Decrease of time spent on cooking
		Decrease of time spent on obtaining lighting fuels
Improved reading and studying conditions of school children	MDG 2	Increased studying and reading hours of school children	Parents’ subjective perception of improvement of their children’s studying and reading conditions related to electricity	E
Improved information and communication opportunities	MDG 2 + 3 + 6	Increased penetra­tion of information and communication facilities	Household’s subjective perception of information and communication options and changes related to electricity	E
Modernisation of kitchen	MDG 3 + 4 + 5 + 6	Better looking kitchen	Women’s subjective perception of changes in their kitchen through use of improved cooking stoves	S
Hygiene in the kitchen	MDG 3 + 4 + 5 + 6	Kitchen cleanness raised to “living room standard”	Household’s subjective perception of cleanness in kitchens compared to cleanness in living rooms	S
Safety in the kitchen	MDG 3 + 4 + 5 + 6	Decrease in number of accidents and burns caused by open fire cooking	User’s subjective perception of changes in number of accidents and burns in the kitchen	S
Cleaner air in the household	MDG 3 + 4 + 5 + 6	Reduced emissions from burning of liquid fuels	(Women’s) subjective perception regarding indoor air quality and smoke and changes related to electricity/ improved cooking technologies	S & E
		Reduced emissions from burning of wood fuel
Resource savings and reductions in toxic waste	MDG 7	Decreased use of wood fuels
		Decreased use of dry cells	Household’s subjective perception of changes related to electricity in terms of the use of battery-run radios and torches	E

Observation fields	MDG relevance	Indicator	What to measure?	Applicable for
Additional income from productive activities	MDG 1	Increased income from home­business activities facilitated by improved working conditions	User’s subjective perception of additional income	S & E
More food available and additional income generating activities	MDG 1	Increased agricultural activity	-	S & E
Time savings	MDG 1 + 3	Decrease of women’s workload	Women’s subjective perception of workload and working conditions and changes related to electricity/ improved cooking technologies	S & E
Improved learning conditions of school children	MDG 2	Increased time and money available for school education and learning	Parents’ subjective perception of improvement of their children’s school education	S & E
		Improved effective level of education of school children
Improved information and communication opportunities	MDG 2 + 3 + 6	Increased use of information and communication facilities	Household’s subjective perception of information and communication options and changes related to electricity (also crowded out activities)	E
Cleaner air in the household	MDG 3 + 4 + 5 + 6	Improved indoor air quality in households	Women’s subjective perception of changes in illness (respiratory and eye diseases)	S & E
		Decrease in medical costs for diseases related to indoor air pollution

Observation fields	MDG relevance	Indicator	What to measure?	Applicable for
Better medical service provision	MDG 4 + 5 + 6	Increase in medical quality of service provision	o Subjective perception of households regarding the quality of health care facilities and changes related to electricity	E
Improved studying conditions of school children	MDG 2	Improved studying conditions at school	o Subjective perception of school children regarding the conditions for studying in their schools and changes related to electricity	S & E
Improved social life in community	-	Enhanced social activity in households	o Subjective perception of social activity in households of the community and changes related to electricity	E
		Improved conditions for communal activities	o Subjective perception of public social activity in the community and changes related to electricity	E
			o Use of social activities/ services, e.g. percentage of households that regularly visit a community center	E
Enhanced safety in community	-	Improved public lighting	o Subjective perception of safety and changes related to public lighting	E

Further Information

• Portal:Productive Use