Community Health Volunteer's Training Manual - Population Council

Topic 4 Conducting a baseline survey
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A baseline survey is done to establish the initial conditions existing at the start of a project.
It provides general information about the community which can be used to design projects.
Also, it is used to assess the effectiveness of the project by comparing the situation at the end
of the project with the situation at the beginning.
As far as your work as volunteers is concerned, a baseline survey is the first assessment of
the current health status and other health related issues at the start of a project. It includes
collecting data on the population of the community (men, women, and children), the
community sources of health care, health facilities, and health staff.
Procedures for conducting a baseline survey
To ensure that you have useful information from the baseline survey, you have to follow
established procedure. In conducting a survey, some of the steps to follow are:
Set the goals: The goals of the survey must be clear so that the results can be used to solve
the specific problem. State specifically what you want to achieve.
Sampling: Decide on the target population and the sample size. These are the people
you will ask the questions. Sampling is the process of selecting a part of the population/
community which has similar characteristics to the entire population/community.
Development of instruments: Determines the questions you will ask and the suitable
survey methods to be used in gathering the data.
Pre-testing: Test the questions on a similar population to the sample/ target population.
This enables the researcher determine clarity of the questions. The questions are revised
where necessary and the instruments finalised.
Data collection: Using some of the methods above, you collect various forms of
information from different people in the community who form your target groups.
Analyse the data collected: Analysis of the data is done and a survey report written.
Dissemination of findings: The stakeholders either receive copies of the survey reports
or they are called to a meeting and the findings of the survey are presented to them. The
report is then finalised and copies distributed to all stakeholders and other individuals or
institutions concerned.
Methods of conducting a baseline survey
There are many methods for conducting a baseline survey, but the method selected depends
on the goal of the survey. Some of the methods you can use as volunteers are interviews,
use of questionnaires, and focus group discussions. However, to improve the overall
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