Baseline assessment guidance
Why do it?
A baseline study should be conducted after a needs assessment and before the start of the project planning. Sometimes baseline data is available, other times a baseline study is needed to determine thebasics. The purpose of baseline studies is to provide data against which you canassess your project’s progress and effectiveness. Baseline data help to set achievable and realistic indicator targets for each level of result in a project’s design (e.g. logframe). It helps to set the outputs, outcomes and impacts during the project planning. It is the first step in the project’s M&E system.
How to do it
- Identify the purpose and scope of the baseline study. Who should be involved in it? When will you do it? What area will it cover? Are there any assumptions you have made?
- Identify what data you will collect.What exactly will you measure? What data sources and methods will you use? How will you make sure data is disaggregated by gender and other demographic characteristics? Who will collect the data? What data is already available?
- Identify your indicators. An indicator can be a quantitative or qualitative measurement that communicates change, such as “change in human conditions or well-being (impact), change in systems or behaviour (objectives), change in results from project inputs and/or activities (outputs). An indicator does not explain change. For example, sex disaggregated indicators will not explain gender issues, but will provide data that allow gender issues to be explained and addressed.”[1]
- Analyse the data. Do you have a clear plan for data analysis?How will you turn the raw data into useful information?
- Reporting and dissemination.Who will write the report? How will you share the information?
What next?
Now that you have the baseline data you should be able to draw up a clear project plan (log frame) and M&E plan.
[1] Guidelines for Project Baseline studies, ASARECA