A Baseline Survey, How and Why?

Being commissioned for a Baseline Survey

Researchers these days are really on high demand. You won't believe how much organizations are spending in order to solve problems and gain knowledge through research. There is need to understand that as a researcher the learning process is continuous and you have to catch up with what is prevailing around you. When somebody knocks on your door in order to give you a job to do, as a researcher you have to take it seriously. Ever conducted a Baseline Survey? Ofcourse that word isn't really new to you but believe it or not, sometimes researchers may know a Baseline but when it comes to practice they are just horrible. Baseline Surveys are very, very important and there is no doubt that a properly done survey will really contribute significantly to an organizations knowledge. Lets briefly understand what a Baseline Survey is, how it is conducted and why it is conducted.

A Baseline Survey, The truth is out there

When an organization approaches you to conduct a baseline survey, please atleast pretend you know what it is even if it isn't 100% clear for you. Basically, you should at least have an idea. A Baseline Survey is about establishing benchmarks and understanding how a situation is prior to an intervention. For example, lets say that an organization has a project to build houses and boreholes for a community. When you are commissioned to conduct a Baseline Survey you are going to find out how many houses and boreholes are there prior to the projects commencing. But a Baseline Survey goes further than that, it explains what are the challenges and how the community is faring. So how and why should a Baseline Survey be conducted? Well follow through the next sub heading because it is simply straight forward.

A Baseline Survey, How and Why???

A Baseline Survey is one of those kinds of researches where you have to get it right the first time no matter what. You see, the whole idea in doing this research is to have a benchmark that you can use should you have an evaluation conducted after two or three years. That evaluation will be able to explain whether the objectives of a programme have been made whether good or bad. What an evaluation does is compare the current findings to the findings collected in the Baseline and then see whether progress has been made or not. Now how is a Baseline conducted in research? Well like all researches you first have to establish what kind of information you need to collect. You have to understand where you are going to collect the information and how.

If you are going to be conducting interviews with people you have to decide whether you will use structured questionnaires or unstructured questionnaires? So, basically how do you know what kind of information needs to be collected? As a researcher conducting a Baseline Survey, you must avail yourself to documents that explain much about the project or programme an organization is implementing. Don't just seat around waiting for things to happen, go out there and dig dipper. Ask the organization to provide you with all the relevant documents that explains what the organization is trying to achieve. Learn to ask questions so that you fully get to understand how things are done and so that your research report is really informative.

After you submit your Baseline Survey Report, be sure to hold a validation workshop with all relevant stakeholders in order to verify the findings collected. Be open to comments and criticism but remember to be composed and firm. More will be explained about the Baseline Survey in future but in the meantime all the Best in conducting your Baseline Survey!!!