Perceived Vulnerability

The indicator measures the proportion of the target group members who feel they are less vulnerable to a given hazard, addressed by a project, such as pests ruining vegetable harvest, droughts leading to livestock losses, flash floods damaging people’s houses, etc. Considering that the indicator is interested in whether people feel less vulnerable after project support was provided, the data should be collected during the mid-term/endline survey.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of the target group members: 

RECOMMENDED SURVEY (Q) QUESTION AND POSSIBLE (A) ANSWERS

Q1: If you compare how vulnerable you feel now to [state a very specific, easy-to-understand hazard] to how vulnerable you felt [specify a time before the support was provided – e.g. two years ago], would you say that currently you feel more, less or equally vulnerable to it?

A1: more / less / equally / does not know

(ask the following question only if the previous answer is LESS)

Q2: What are the main reasons why you feel less vulnerable? [Keep probing: Are there any other reasons?]

A2 Select one of the following:

1) the project’s support was stated as one of the reasons

2) the project’s support was NOT stated among the reasons

To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the number of respondents who said that thanks to the project’s support (amongst others), they feel less vulnerable to the given hazard, by the total number of interviewed respondents (exclude those who did not know). Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to percentages.

to be added later

1) Q1 should ask about one specific hazard only – do not include different hazards in the same question. If you need to assess whether people feel less vulnerable to several different hazards, use the following methodology:

- Use Q1 and Q2 to ask about each assessed hazard separately (e.g. if you assess three hazards, ask Q1 three times)

- Decide on how many of the assessed hazards the respondent has to feel less vulnerable to in order to be considered as “reporting to be less vulnerable to the given hazards” (e.g. a minimum of 2 out of 3 hazards)

- Determine the indicator’s value based on assessing the percentage of respondents who feel less vulnerable to the minimum number of hazards as a result of the provided support

Always only include those hazards the project tried to reduce (as a result of them being identified by the target communities, relevant authorities or other stakeholders).

2) Ensure that it is very easy for the respondents to understand what type of hazard the data collectors are asking about (be careful about how Q1 is translated to the survey language). Do not use general terms (e.g. “climate change”) or words that could be understood in many different ways (e.g. if you talk about crops being affected by pests, be specific about what types of crops you are asking about). Pre-test the questions and adjust them based on the data collectors’ feedback.

3) Considering that the indicator is interested in whether people feel less vulnerable after project support was provided, the data for this indicator should be collected during the mid-term or endline survey only (i.e. not during baseline survey).

4) It is recommended that if the respondent says that the project’s assistance was one of the reasons for why s/he feels less vulnerable, the enumerator then asks an additional question: “Can you please tell me which type of project support helped you the most to feel less vulnerable?” This will enable you to identify which of the project activities were perceived as most effective in decreasing people’s vulnerability.