Conducting Community Surveys

Study Notes

Planning Survey involves formulating a survey questionnaire, identifying the community and population, reviewing available information from secondary sources, conducting preliminary interviews, determining information needed, and identifying variables.
Gathering the Data Needed entails pretesting the interview schedule/questionnaire, interviewing sample respondents, supervising interviews, field editing questionnaires, data cleaning, and conducting rapid reconnaissance.
Processing and Analyzing Data includes final editing, coding and encoding data, analyzing and interpreting data.
Documenting the results includes writing a survey report.

Objective 1: To understand the use of community surveys as a research tool for generating information for development planning in a community.
Objective 2: To discuss the process of forming focused questions based on identified problems.
Survey questionnaire, Focused Group Discussion, and Rapid Rural Appraisal are three methods used to gather information during a community survey which can inform development planning.

The survey objectives determine the purpose, general questions to be answered, and how the findings will be used to develop a community development plan.
Identifying the community and population begins by selecting a community that needs an intervention project to improve living conditions.
Reviewing available information includes reviewing existing socio-economic profiles of the community and agricultural studies.
Conducting preliminary interviews and rapid reconnaissance involve a short visit to the community, informing community leaders, and conducting a quick assessment of population distribution, composition, and occupation.

The purpose of the survey instrument is to determine the existence or absence of basic human needs or services in the target area, assess which human needs require improvement, research limiting factors that hinder improvement, identify appropriate changes to help overcome constraints, and determine how to mobilize agents of change.
Variables or indicators are used to measure an activity's progress towards its intended objectives with specific inputs, outputs, and outcomes.
Input Indicators refer to actions undertaken, such as the delivery of farm inputs, the number of visits made by extension personnel, and the construction of farm-to-market roads.
Output Variables refer to tangible results, such as the size of farmland planted, returns per unit area, the number of farmers visited, and the length of farm-to-market road constructed.
Impact Indicators refer to changes in the environment, such as the increase in productivity or an available supply of a specific resource.