From Binayak Das, Arghyam, Bangalore
Posted 30 January 2009
I work on Research and Advocacy in Arghyam, an organization that supports water-related activities in India. In 2008, we conducted the Arghyam Survey on Household Water and Sanitation (ASHWAS), a participatory survey that covers 28 districts of Karnataka covering 17,200 households. This was a people’s survey, and the surveyors were selected from the communities. They included students, women from self-help groups, local NGO partners and other volunteers. You can read more on the survey at http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/environment/cr/res30010901.doc (DOC; Size: 105 KB).
The survey was conducted through a questionnaire at the household (http://wwww.solutionexchange-un.net.in/environment/cr/res30010903.doc, DOC; Size: 199 KB) and village levels (http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/environment/cr/res30010902.doc, DOC; Size: 166 KB) on water, sanitation and health issues, and included a WATSAN village mapping and observation sheet (http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/environment/cr/res30010904.doc, DOC; Size: 122 KB).
Another interesting activity was the testing of water samples at the household and village levels for a few important parameters (fluorides, nitrates and bacteriological content). You can view a sample dataset from one village at http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/environment/cr/res30010906.xls (Excel; Size:
300 KB).
The output of the survey included:
- Gram panchayat report cards
- District report cards
- A state report card
- Advocacy document
Workshop at district level for sharing findings
Since we have gathered a large amount of data on WATSAN, we are keen to understand from experts and other people working on rural WATSAN the most useful ways to analyze the data, and the way to present the output in a user-friendly way.
Based on the parameters above, I request members of the Community to share information on:
- What are the desirable parameters for analyzing ASHWAS data?
- How should this data be presented to be useful to practitioners working on water-related issues?
Your inputs will help us process and provide data from the ASHWAS study in a form that is most useful for water practitioners.
Please see attachment below for the responses.