Conducting Surveys on Disability: A Comprehensive Toolkit

Fact File
Training of the Survey Team
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The importance of the training of the survey team is often underestimated in surveys on disability. As a
consequence, the length and the quality of the training phase is not always sufficient. The quality of the data
obtained, largely depends on the understanding and the commitment that the team has with regards to the
objectives of the survey as well as the comprehension of the tools and the methodology. In fact, non-response
occurs mainly when surveyors do not fully understand the survey goals and concepts, ask the questions
inconsistently, record answers inadequately which leads to a general lack of uniformity in the way the survey
is implemented.
This section of the toolkit focuses on the month-long training that was carried out for the Master Trainers and
Monitors of the NDSA, who in turn, were in charge of training the survey teams on the field. These training
sessions were elaborated with the help of a number of persons working in the field of disability and with
the participation of persons with disability within the training sessions. However, the confrontation between
scientific requirements of neutrality and inclusion of organisations of persons with disability remained constant
throughout the survey.
Who Should Survey
This is a difficult question to answer. The decision depends on the socio-cultural and economic context that
the study is being carried out in; it also depends upon the education level in the country. When defining the
survey plan, a number of questions need to be taken into consideration and explained to the partners and the
stakeholders in order to be accepted.
Persons with Disability as Surveyors
Whatever the context of the survey, the decision to include persons with disability needs to be taken
at the very onset, when budgets and methodologies are being decided. In certain settings, surveyors
with disability might encourage families to talk about the members of their own households and facilitate
dialogue, whereas in other situations this might highlight certain types of disabilities and still stigmatise
other forms, making it even more difficult to find disabilities that are not socially and culturally accepted. In a
number of traditional societies the concept of disability is still closely linked to that of ability. There is a belief
that certain categories of persons with disability can and should be helped because they have the potential
to become contributing members of society. The inclusion of persons with disability needs to be systematic in
order to ensure that they are part of the process at every stage and the required measures need to be taken
in order to minimise the barriers that impede their work.
In the case of the NDSA, the decision to include persons with disability was strongly influenced by the
geographical setting as well as cultural and social norms. Of course the barriers and inaccessibility of certain
remote areas needed to be taken into account: a number of clusters selected for the NDSA were situated in
mountainous areas and could only be reached after several days on foot, on horseback or by donkey.
Moreover, in a country like Afghanistan, where the level of education is very low in the general population,
it was extremely difficult to find persons with disability having the required level of education and
who did not already have a stable job. In each regional centre, the NDSA team interviewed persons
with disability and trained the ones that had the minimal qualifications. However, it was not possible
Training of the Survey Team
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