Methodology and analytical framework
p. 9-13
Texte intégral
1Three basic methodological approaches are adopted in this study. These are literature review, data collection and analysis, and an impact evaluation framework.
2There is a fairly large volume of literature on the role of women in development, the constraints they experience, efforts made to encourage them to be more involved in development, etc. Structural adjustment programmes have been implemented in many countries of the world. Much research has been focused, therefore, on the impact of such adjustments on women and children. A review of existing literature is presented in a later section.
Data Collection
3For the primary data, two methods of collection were employed: personal interviews and the administration of questionnaires. Personal interviews were conducted with specific target groups: the chairmen, treasurers and directors of personnel of the selected local governments, the chief executives of the states’ Women’s Commissions, the women in charge of women’s affairs at the local government level, as well as staff employed for Better Life projects.
4Three main target groups were identified and three specific questionnaires were assigned, one to cover each group:
- leaders of the Better Life Programme in the local governments
- heads and secretaries of the various Better Life projects in the selected local governments
- rural women, randomly selected
5A minimum of 200 prospective respondents were selected from each of the three local governments.
Impact Evaluation Framework
6Evaluation or impact assessment involves value judgements in which a given situation is compared with another, usually regarded as ‘standard’ or ‘ideal’. In this framework, three types of approaches were adopted:
- before and after
- with and without
- achieved and expected
7The summary of the approaches presented here relies substantially on the work of Oyejide and Soyibo (1990) which was based on an earlier study by Murphy (1985).
8In the before/after approach, a situation x at time t1, i.e., (xt1), is compared with the same situation x at time, t2, i.e., (xt2). The deviation (xt2 – Xt1) measures the impact, that is the impact index. In order to employ this approach, the evaluator requires to know xt1, that is, the situation before the commencement of the programme. This might be difficult if the programme is commenced without collecting baseline data. Another problem could arise even when such data are available. It might be difficult to attribute a particular change to the existence of a programme as distinct from what would have happened without the programme. Programme goals might also change over time, therefore, the data collected may become irrelevant later.
9For the with/without approach, a situation x at time t2, (xt2) is compared with another situation y, also at time t2, (yt2) where x is with the event and y is without the event. The deviation (xt2 – yt2), is the measure of the impact. This is like comparing a target group with a control group in experimental science. A major difficulty with the use of this approach is the problem of obtaining a complete control group in practice. This constitutes a great limitation to the use of this approach in social science research.
10The third approach, the achieved/expected comparison, compares a situation x at time t2, (xt2) with an expected situation x*, also at time t2, (x*t2). The deviation, (x*t2-xt2), is the measure of the assessment impact. In this case, x*, i.e., the standard or ideal, must have been well defined and agreed upon by the programme designers and the evaluators. Murphy (1985) considered this scheme as the only valid evaluation approach of a programme. This approach has two major merits. One, it constrains the programme designers to indicate clearly what the programme objectives are, and what the expected result would be in measurable terms. Two, it requires that the designers specify how progress and achievements will be measured, to establish a basis for programme monitoring and the procedure for reporting achievement.
11There are several problems in adopting these techniques. For example, the with/without approach is difficult to adopt since the Better Life Programme was designed to cover the entire nadonal economy; thus a control group cannot be found within the economy. The achieved/expected approach could theoretically be applied since the Better Life Programme specified achievement targets. However, such targets were not specified on the basis of geographical regions such as local government areas, and so, data for the purposes of this study were not available. Similarly the before/after approach faces difficulties. These arise because baseline data were not collected before the commencement of the Better Life Programme. However, a modified version of this approach could be adopted. One could assume that the positive responses obtained from the investigation were largely due to the influence of the Better Life Programme, especially as attempts were made in the questionnaire design to isolate other factors that might influence responses. The analysis was, therefore, carried out in the assumption that most positive responses could be attributable to the implementation of the Better Life Programme.
Data Analysis
12The methods of analysis employed in this study took cognizance of the uses to which the results would be put, as well as the users of the study. Consequently, fairly simple analytical techniques were adopted, to enable users derive maximum benefits from the findings. The techniques included simple, but appropriate tools, and used descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, means, percentages and measures of comparison. The computation was aided by some computer software packages available at the University of Ilorin. The results are presented mainly in tabular form for ease of comprehension.
Basic Research Assumptions
13Assumptions made for the analysis in this study include:
- Women should have increased their involvement in development activities in rural areas since the introduction of the Better Life Programme in 1987 (development activities refer to socio-economic activities which enhance the wellbeing of the individual through the generation of income, improvement of health, etc.).
- Most Better Life projects were located in rural areas of local governments.
- The Better Life projects should have benefited rural women.
- The Better Life Programme projects in Kwara State were likely to have performed better than those in Osun State given the performance of DFRRI in Kwara relative to that in Osun.
14These were examined in the analysis of the assembled data. In section five, the empirical findings are presented.
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