A Practical Guide to Measuring Women’s and Girls ...

A Practical Guide to Measuring Women's and Girls' Empowerment in Impact Evaluations

a p p e n d i x 1: e x a m p l e s o f s u r v e y q u e s t i o n s rel ated to women's empower ment

what are some examples of survey questions related to

women's empower ment?

Good survey questions are easy to understand and answer, pick up variation, minimize the risk of social desirability bias, have realistic recall periods, and are relevant and tailored to the local context. This appendix contains examples of questions that J-PAL affiliated researchers have used to measure women's empowerment in impact evaluations. These examples can be used to generate ideas and develop new survey questions.1 They are not an exhaustive list of questions from J-PAL affiliates' evaluations, nor do they represent the full range of questions that should be considered in a given topic area. These indicators are also not intended to be replicated without first refining and piloting them in a specific context. In particular, all the suggested survey question responses are based on extensive piloting in the field. We will have to do the same when generating our own surveys. Some of the survey questions were also adapted from standardized modules, which we try to note. We should also keep in mind that when survey questions are subject to social desirability bias, we may want to triangulate the results using multiple survey indicators, objective survey indicators, and/or non-survey instruments (detailed in Appendix 2).

The tables in this appendix include sample survey questions and responses related to measuring women's empowerment in the following realms: 1) economic; 2) social; 3) intimate partner and family; 4) political and civic; 5) psychological; 6) education; and 7) health. These domains are not mutually exclusive and many of the survey questions in this appendix fall under multiple domains.

1 The University of California San Diego's Evidence-Based Measures of Empowerment for Research on Gender Equality (EMERGE) website is another useful resource. The website compiles survey questions that have been used to measure gender equality and empowerment along with guidelines for selecting metrics.

Evidence-Based Measures of Empowerment for Research on Gender Equality (EMERGE) University of California San Diego. 2018. Accessed June 19, 2018. Emerge.ucsd.edu.

location: indonesia. photo: hector salazar salame | j-pal cover location: colombia. photo: lisa corsetto| j-pal

2

1. e co n o m i c i n d i c ato r s

Access to financial services: Participation in formal and informal financial services

Economic Indicators can help us understand the access women have to financial tools and resources within the household, what role and expectations women and their family members have regarding domestic labor and paid work outside the home, how women participate in household financial decision-making, and more. Many additional topics and survey questions could fit under this overarching category.1

access to financial services: participation in formal and informal financial services

Citation: Beaman, Lori, Raghabendra Chattopadhyay, Esther Duflo, Rohini Pande, and Petia Topalova. 2009. "Powerful Women: Does Exposure Reduce Bias?" The Quarterly Journal of Economics 124(4): 1497-1540.

Country: India

survey question Do you participate in a self help group?

How much savings balance do you have in the self help group?

suggested responses 1=Yes 2=No

[Enter amount]

How much did you contribute in savings last month? Does your family have an outstanding loan from the self help group?

In whose name is the loan? Do you have separate savings/financial assets from your husband?

[Enter amount]

1=Yes 2=No 999=Does not know

[Enter name]

1=Yes 2=No

Citation: Bandiera, Oriana, Niklas Buehren, Robin Burgess, Markus Goldstein, Selim Gulesci, Imran Rasul, and Munshi Sulaiman. "Women's Empowerment in Action: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Africa." Working Paper, March 2014.

Country: Uganda and Tanzania

survey question

On a scale of 1?10, where 1 is "not at all" and 10 is "a lot," how true is each statement for yourself? I save regularly

suggested responses [Enter number]

1 Time use is another survey category that may be useful to consider. See Appendix 4 section 12 of Oxfam's `How To' Guide for Measuring Women's Empowerment for more details on constructing time allocation survey questions.

3

1. e co n o m i c i n d i c ato r s

Access to financial services: Participation in formal and informal financial services

Citation: Beaman, Lori, Dean Karlan, Bram Thuysbaert, and Christopher Udry. "Self-Selection into Credit Markets: Evidence from Agriculture in Mali." National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 20387, August 2014.

Country: Mali

survey question Have you made a loan or asked for a loan in the last 12 months? Did you obtain the loan?

If you did not obtain the loan you requested, why did they refuse you the loan?

Has the entirety of the loan been reimbursed?

Are there people in the village that borrow from formal lending institutions (such as banks, MFIs, CMDT), moneylenders, or village associations (such as village savings and loan associations, tontines, etc.)? [If the answer to the previous question is Yes] What is the name of this institution? Does [INSTITUTION] offer loans?

For which of the following reasons can one obtain credit from this lender?

Does the institution operate in, or have credit officers that work in, this village?

suggested responses

1=Yes 2=No

1=Yes 2=No

1=Lack of guaranty 2=Project not considered profitable 3=Loan criteria 4=The lender didn't have enough credit 996=Other 998=I don't know

1=Yes 2=No

1=Yes 2=No

[Enter name]

1=Yes 2=No

1=General use 2=Agriculture 3=Small Business 4=Education 5=Consumption 996=Other [specify]

1=Yes 2=No

4

1. e co n o m i c i n d i c ato r s

Access to financial services: Participation in formal and informal financial services

Citation: Buchmann, Nina, Erica Field, Rachel Glennerster, and Shahana Nazneen. "Power vs Money: Alternative Approaches to Reducing Child Marriage in Bangladesh, a Randomized Control Trial." Working Paper, April 2017.

Country: Bangladesh

survey question Have you ever borrowed money or taken out a loan?

What are all the places that you have ever borrowed money or taken out a loan from? [Multiple options allowed]

suggested responses

1=Yes 2=No

1=Government bank 2=Private bank 3=Local MFI 4=NGO 5=Money lender 6=Middleman/trader 7=Agro-processors 8=Parents 9=Relatives 10=Neighbors 11=Friends 12=Social welfare department 13=Savings group/ROSCA 14=Cooperatives (registered and unregistered) 96=Other

5

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download