1 Formatting Your Survey

What should a format look like? For any questionnaire, whether small or big, the important things are: a.Skip patterns b.Options & Coding c. Grid d. Interviewer checkpoints 2

3 a. Skip patterns Sometimes, according to the response to a question, the next question does not need to be asked. This is where SKIP comes handy! Makes it easy for your Surveyor to administer the questionnaire. Makes it easy for data entry. Should be –consistent, easy to recognize; use  or –same line as the answer to the response associated with the skip

4 a. Skip patterns A4.3Is this person away for work today (for at least two nights)?YES NO  A4.5 A4.4How long was this person’s last trip away from the household for work? DAYS……..……………… 1 WEEKS…………………… 2 MONTHS....……………… 3  A4.7 A4.5How long ago did this person leave?DAYS……..……………… 1 WEEKS…………………… 2 MONTHS....……………… 3 A4.6In how much time do you expect this person to return?DAYS……..……………… 1 WEEKS…………………… 2 MONTHS....……………… 3 DO NOT KNOW …–999 A4.7Where did they go on their last trip, or where are they right now?UDAIPUR CITY…………………...1 UDAIPUR DISTRICT RURAL…..2 OTHER RURAL IN RAJASTHAN.3 OTHER URBAN IN RAJASTHAN.4 OTHER URBAN………………….5 OTHER RURAL…………………..6 DO NOT KNOW …–999

b. Options & Coding 5 Options can be single or multiple. You need to indicate the same saying: "CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY” if this is a multiple option question; else by not mentioning the above specifically, it is assumed to be a single option question. Coding is necessary to avoid writing too much text in the survey form and subsequent data entry and analysis is easier and clear cut; Include as many numeric codes possible for circling the options. It is more difficult to code later on. When coding your questions, make sure that all options are included. – For example, if there is a chance, even small, that people will say “I don’t know”, do include the code “-999” in the question.

6 b. Options and Coding For example: Single option

b. Options and Coding Multiple options 7 A4.10In which seasons was this person gone for work in the last year? (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY) WINTER……………………….1 SUMMER………………………2 MONSOON……………………3 Coding

b. Options and Coding.. Things to Remember Use CMF’s standardized codes (DK, Refuse, etc.) Close ended questions must have ALL options coded Use Others [specify] to capture factors not coded Use a separate code sheet where necessary – usually for industry codes 8

c. Grids 9 For questions that have to be asked repeatedly for multiple members in a household or objects such as each stove/ classroom/multiple loans and savings etc. Either ask the same questions for multiple members at a time, filing it horizontally OR Ask all questions on the current sheet/full section relating to the first member id and when you reach the end of the chronology ask the same questions for the next member. The same skip pattern as discussed earlier applies here.

10 c. Grids In 2.4 the surveyor should check whether the person is a permanent member of the household according to the project criteria and only then proceed to answer the series of questions that should be asked only to permanent members. You should not ask the question again to the respondent, so this is labeled as INTERVIEWER CHECKPOINT (just a reminder for the interviewer):

11 Grids can also look like this! (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) A1. 3 Is this home this household member’s permanent home? YES NO A1. 4 Is this person male or female? A1. 5 What is his/her relationship to the head of household? HEAD SPOUSE/PARTNER SON/DAUGHTER SON/DAUGHTER-IN- LAW....4 STEPSON/DAUGHTER... 5 GRANDCHILD BROTHER/SISTER BROTHER/SISTER-IN- LAW..8 FATHER/MOTHER FATHER /MOTHER-IN-LAW...10 GRANDPARENT GREAT-GRANDCHILD...12 OTHER FAMILY SPECIFY HOUSEHOLD HELP LODGER FRIEND OTHER(SPECIFY)

12 Grids.. The right side

13 d. Interviewer checkpoints These are instructions to the interviewers. SHOULD NOT ASK RESPONDENT. Mostly to verify information / clarifications, etc. Distinguish ICs by printing, making bold, underlining the instruction Eg. question was asked earlier and details follow in another section.. B5.17INTERVIEWER CHECKPOINT: Does this household own any livestock? YES……………………………….1 NO…  B5.22 B5.18Do you do animal husbandry?YES……………………………….1 NO… B5.19What is the total value of the following animal products produced by your livestock in the last year: 1)milk 2)meat (include livestock sold live for meat) 3)other animal products (wool, hide, dung cake, eggs, etc.) A. For home consumption?B. For sale?

14 Using existing surveys addressing similar questions; tested in the local context (some of these are available on the CMF website) –India Consumption – National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) Health – National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) Education – Annual Survey for Education Research (ASER) Industry codes (National industry classification – NIC codes) Poverty indicators – Cash-poor Housing Index Look-up existing survey formats –World Bank LSMS modules: country-specific. –Published datasets/ survey instruments Where to start from: Resources at hand