social research

Training Programme on Basic and Advanced Data Analysis using SPSS (27-30 November, 2007)

2007-11-07T23:20:00.000-08:00

When most people think of data analysis, they think of complex mathematical formulae. However, the advent of computer software programmes such as SPSS that can be used to analyse data, has meant that people do not have to know or learn mathematical formulae in order to be able to perform quantitative statistical analyses. Nowadays, all one needs to know, are the appropriate analyses to perform on the data and how to do it so as to obtain the information that is needed. Training Programme organized by Sambodhi Research and Communications is one such initiative to provide an advanced understanding of ways to analyse
data.

In the SPSS series, Sambodhi is announcing a four day training programme on Basic and Advanced Data Analysis using SPSS from 27- 30 November 2007 at New Delhi. The programme is fifth in the SPSS series, the earlier programmes being subscribed by leading agencies and projects that include UNDP, UNICEF, CRS, Worldvision, Actionaid,PHFI, PSI, CARE, BBC WST, HLF PPT, MPRLP etc.

The training programme would provide information and skills on the basics of using SPSS for informed decision-making. Specifically, the programme is aimed at:

Developing better understanding of basic concepts of statistics
Providing an overview of the computer assisted data analysis and statistical softwares
Developing requiste skills for bringing in data into SPSS and data transformations
Enhancing knowledge base and develop skills for selecting appropriate analyses and performing the analyses
Augmenting knowledge and skills for interpretation of analyses and presenatation in user friendly formats

Pedagogy

This training has been designed as a participatory programme that would build-upon the experiential learning of participants. The pedagogy focuses on interactive group learning and aims both at knowledge development and skill upgradation through peer learning. Training material developed by leading subject experts augments classroom learning. Participants will be provided with example data sets to analyze so as to facilitate experiential learning. All of the training components would be hands on, with participants completing the various analyses tasks.

Fee

The fee for training programme is Rs. 10,000/- per participant that includes tuition fee, reading material, lunch at the training venue and other training expenses. Outstation candidates are encouraged to make their own arrangements for boarding and lodging. Sambodhi can make these arrangements on payment of an additional fee of Rs.5,000/-. Service tax at 12.36% would be levied on overall course fee and has to be included in payments. Fee can be paid through Cheque/ Demand Draft in favour of "Sambodhi Research & Communications Pvt. Ltd." payable at Delhi.

About Sambodhi

Sambodhi caters to research and allied service needs of the social sector for design and development of state-of-art knowledge ware products and provision of knowledgebased services. Sambodhi’s domain of specialized services encompasses Development Consultancy & Research, Capacity Building, Data Analytics and Communication.

Training Programme: Qualitative Analytics for Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation

2007-06-01T04:24:00.000-07:00

Training Programme: Qualitative Analytics for Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation

Transition to demand driven approach to development has ensured application of people/stakeholder centric processes at all the stages of project cycle. While there are numerous tools and techniques applied to facilitate stakeholder dialogue to feed in the information needs of the project, it is required to be pragmatic while deciding on the best-fit mix of participatory tools & techniques to be used. Further to this it is imperative to customize the tools to the local socio-economic coordinates along with systematizing the oft-neglected data analysis processes so that the information generated fits in the M&E requirements of the project.

On this premise, Sambodhi Research & Communications, announces the Training Programme on “Qualitative Analytics for Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation” from 11-13 July at New Delhi.

The training aims at:

-Developing shared understanding of need & rationale of factoring in qualitative components in conventional M&E

-Augmenting knowledge & develop skills for designing qualitative indicators

-Facilitating better understanding of tools & methodologies of Qualitative Data Collection

-Enhancing knowledge with concurrent development of requisite skills for analysis of qualitative M&E information
Sensitizing towards computer assisted content analysis using computer softwares viz. ATLAS Ti & N6 Vivo

The fee for training programme is Rs. 8,000/- per participant that includes tuition fee, reading material, lunch at the training venue and other training expenses. Outstation candidates are encouraged to make their own arrangements for boarding and lodging. Sambodhi can make these arrangements on payment of an additional fee of Rs.5,000/-. Service tax at 12.24% would be levied on the course fee and has to be included in payments. Fee can be paid through Cheque/Demand Draft in favour of "Sambodhi Research & Communications Pvt. Ltd." payable at Delhi.

For further information Contact:

Sambodhi Research & Communications
F-40, LGF
Kalkaji
New Delhi-110019;+ 91-11-40560734, 65492502
rajata@sambodhi.co.in
swapnil@sambodhi.co.in
contact@sambodhi.co.in

Quantitative Social Research Methods

2007-03-31T01:49:00.000-07:00

Social research plays a crucial role in the development process as it provides the tools to bring about social change.

This book presents an in-depth look at social research - its fundamental postulates, tools and techniques of analysis - and assesses its relevance for the development and social sectors in India. The author explores how development changes take place and their impact on rural life, especially on the underprivileged and marginalised sections of society.

Divided into two sections, the book first discusses all aspects of social research - its various methods, scope, sampling methodology and significance, and presents quantitative, univariate, bivariate and multivariate data analysis with the help of software packages such as SPSS and STATA.

In the second section, the author examines the impact of social research on health and nutrition, poverty and rural development, education, water and sanitation, environment and natural resource management.

TRAINING PROGRAMME ON BASIC AND ADVANCED DATA ANALYSIS

2007-01-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

TRAINING PROGRAMME ON BASIC AND ADVANCED DATA ANALYSIS

USING SPSS
20-23 Feburary, 2007, Bhopal

This is to announce a unique opportunity for development professional from all walks of life to develop an in-depth understanding of basic and advanced data analysis using SPSS. When most people think of data analysis, they think of complex mathematical formulae. However, the advent of computer software programmes such as SPSS that can be used to analyse data, has meant that people do not have to know or learn mathematical formulae in order to be able to perform quantitative statistical analyses. Nowadays, all one needs to know, are the appropriate analyses to perform on the data and how to do it so as to obtain the information that is needed. Training Programme organized by Sambodhi Research and Communications is one such initiative to provide an advanced understanding of ways to analyse data.

About the training...
The training programme would provide information and skills on the basics of using SPSS for informed decision-making. After participating in the training programme, specifically, the participants will be able to:
Input data into SPSS.
Select appropriate data analysis techniques
Perform requisite analyses using SPSS
Interpret the data output for various decision- making needs
Present output to specific users in user friendly manner

This training programme is for professionals, researchers and practitioners who are involved in analysing data within organizations contributing towards different organizational decision-making needs. Those involved in quantitative research, will benefit by learning new quantitative data analysis skills and those involved in qualitative research, will expand their skill portfolio to include quantitative techniques. This training programme is also valuable for consultants involved in assignments that produce quantitative data.

Pedagogy

The training programme is designed to appeal to different learning styles, with an emphasis on active participation. The pedagogy for the programme would focuses on group learning and aim both at knowledge development and skill upgradation through interactive learning. Latest training material developed by leading subject experts would augments the classroom learning. Participants will be provided with example data sets to analyse so as to facilitate experiential learning. All of the training components would be hands on, with participants completing the various analyses tasks.

Programme Fee

The fee of the training programme is Rs. 15,000/- per participant that includes tuition fee, reading material, lodging & boarding and other training expenses. The training programme is residential. For Foreign nationals the programme fee is USD 500. Service tax at 12.24% would be levied on the course fee and has to be included in payments. Fee can be paid through Demand Draft in favour of "Sambodhi Research & Communications Pvt. Ltd." payable at Delhi.

For further information, contact:
Sambodhi Research & Communications
F-40, LGF, Kalkaji,
New Delhi-110019
011-40560734, 65492502
kultar@sambodhi.co.in, nitin@sambodhi.co.in, dharmendra@sambodhi.co.in

Training Programme on Basic and Advanced data analysis using SPSS

2006-09-17T12:06:00.001-07:00

Sambodhi is a venture envisioned to offer both customized and syndicated research and communication services covering the entire gamut of social, market and financial research. To start with, Sambodhi is focusing on social research as a key area by providing M&E support services to organizations to help them design programmatic orientation, reorientation and planning.

Training programmes organized by Sambodhi is one such initiative to provide an advanced understanding of ways to analyse data.Sambodhi announces a unique opportunity for development professionals to have an in depth understanding of basic and advanced data analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

Training Programme on “Basic and Advanced Data Analysis using SPSS” from

24 to 27 October

Training Programme on “Basic and Advanced Data Analysis using SPSS” is second in the series of training programme on SPSS. The earlier programme in the series were held at Delhi and had participation from leading development agencies viz. UNICEF, CARE India, Action Aid, CRY, HLFPPT, BBC World Service Trust etc. The training programme would provide information on the use of SPSS for informed decision-making. After attending the training programme the participants will be able to:

§ Input data into SPSS.§ Select appropriate data analysis techniques

§ Perform the analyses using SPSS§ Interpret the data output for various decision making needs

§ Present output to specific users in a user-friendly manner.

This training program is for professionals, researchers and practitioners involved in analysing data within organizations contributing towards different decision-making needs. Those involved in quantitative research will benefit by learning new quantitative data analysis skills and those involved in qualitative research, will expand their skills portfolio to include quantitative techniques. This training program will also be valuable for consultants involved in assignments that produce quantitative or qualitative data.PedagogyThe training programme is designed to appeal to different learning styles, with an emphasis on active participation. The pedagogy for the programme would focus both at knowledge development and skill upgradation through interactive and hands-on learning. Latest training material developed by subject experts would augment classroom learning. Participants will be provided with example data sets to analyse and gain experience.

Location: Delhi

Program Fee: The fee for the training program is Rs.10,000 per participant. This includes tutorials, reading and reference materials provided, lunch at the training venue and other training expense. Outstation candidates are encouraged to make their own arrangements for boarding and lodging. Sambodhi can make these arrangements for outstation candidates on payment of an additional fee of Rs.5,000. Fee can be paid through Demand Drafts in favor of "Sambodhi Research and Communications Pvt. Ltd." payable at Delhi.

For further information contact: kultar@sambodhi.co.in, nitin@sambodhi.co.in or call at 011-65492502 or 09811822157

Training Programme on Basic and Advanced data analysis using SPSS

2006-09-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

Training Programme on “Basic and Advanced Data Analysis using SPSS” from

24 to 27 October

Training programme on Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Projects

2006-07-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

Training programme on Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Projects
23-25 August 2006, Bhopal

In the present developmental paradigm, project based approach has become the mainstay of developmental imperatives. This has enhanced efficacy of the developmental initiatives at the same time facilitated optimal allocation of the limited resources. However, design, development and implementation of effective project management systems hold the key for these projects so as to facilitate various project management functions. And the most critical function that has maximum bearing on the project outcome is the monitoring and evaluation function. While monitoring function facilitates mid-course correction in attainment of project outcomes; evaluation helps analyze variances from envisioned objectives and goals. Providing ‘feed-forward’ to the project functionaries, M&E thus facilitates ‘learning by doing’. And therefore development and enhancement of in-house capacities to anchor the M&E function thus is prerequisite for learning organizations.

Sambodhi Research and Communications is organizing a three-day training programme on Monitoring and Evaluation of Developmental Projects on 23-25 August 2006 at Bhopal. The aim of the training programme is to augment the knowledge and skills of operational-level and middle level functionaries in various developmental organizations. Specifically, the training is aimed at:
§ Providing conceptual clarity for facilitating a better understanding of Monitoring and Evaluation
§ Enhancing knowledge base and develop skills for design and implementation of project monitoring systems for development projects
§ Augmenting knowledge and skills for undertaking evaluation of development projects
The programme has been designed as a participatory training programme that would build-upon the experiential learning of the participants. The pedagogy for the programme focuses on interactive group learning and aims both at knowledge development and skill upgradation through interactive and peer learning. Latest training material developed by leading subject experts augments the classroom learning. The training is residential.

Venue
Bhopal

Fees
The fees for the training programme is Rs. 8,000/- (Rupees eight thousand only) per participant that includes tuition fees, reading material during training and other training expense. Fee can be paid through Demand Draft favoring "Sambodhi Research and Communications Pvt. Ltd." payable at New Delhi..

For more information
For further information, mail to: contact@sambodhi.co.in/dharmendra@sambodhi.co.in or call 011-65492502

Sambodhi Reseacrh and Communications
F-40, Lower Ground Floor, Kalkaji, New Delhi-19
www.sambodhi.co.in

Training Program on " Basic and Advanced Data Analysis using SPSS"

2006-05-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

Training Program on " Basic and Advanced Data Analysis using SPSS"
4 -7 July 2006

This is to announce a unique opportunity for development professional from all walks of life to have an indepth understanding of basic and advanced data analysis using SPSS. When most people think of data analysis they think of complex mathematical formulae. However, the advent of computer software programmes such as SPSS that can be used to analyse data, has meant that people do not have to know or learn mathematical formulae in order to be able to perform quantitative statistical analyses. Nowadays, all one needs to know, is the appropriate analyses to perform on the data and how to do it so as to obtain the information that is needed. Training Programme organized by Sambodhi Research and Communications is one such initiative to provide an advanced understanding of ways to analyse data.

Sambodhi Research and communications is a startup venture envisioned to offer both customized and syndicated research and communication services covering entire gamut of research (social, market and financial research). Though to start with, we are focusing on social research as key entry area by providing monitoring and evaluation support/services to organizations to help them design programmatic orientation, reorientation and planning.

The training programme would provide information on the basics of how to use SPSS for informed decision-making. After attending the training programme, specifically, the participants will be able to:

Input data into SPSS.
Select appropriate data analysis techniques
Perform the analyses using SPSS
Interpret the data output for various decision making needs
Present output to specific users in user friendly manner

This training programme is for professionals, researchers and practitioners who are involved in analysing data within your organization contributing towards different organizational decision-making needs. Those involved in quantitative research, will benefit by learning new quantitative data analysis skills and those involved in qualitative research, will expand their skills portfolio to include quantitative techniques. This Training programme will also be valuable for consultants involved in assignments that produce quantitative data.

Pedagogy

This training programme is designed to appeal to different learning styles, with an emphasis on active participation. The pedagogy for the programme would focuses on group learning and aim both at knowledge development and skill upgradation through interactive learning. Latest training material developed by leading subject experts would augments the classroom learning. Participants will be provided with example data sets to analyse so they may gain experience. All of the training components would be hands on, with participants completing the various analyses tasks.

Location: Delhi

Programme Fee:
The fee of the training programme is Rs. 8,000/- per participant (including tuition fee, reading material during training and other training expense). For candidates wishing to avail boarding and lodging facilities, the programme fee is Rs. 12,000/-. Fee can be paid through Demand Draft in favour of "Sambodhi Research and Communications Pvt. Ltd." payable at
Delhi.For further information, contact:

Kultar singh
Sambodhi Research and Communications
H-27 A, Ist Floor
Kalkaji, New Delhi-19
09811822157, 011-55492502
kultar@sambodhi.co.in
kssiddhu@gmail.com

Multivariate Data Analysis

2006-05-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

Multivariate data analysis methods are complementary methods to sort out ideas or to put a new light on a problem, or to point out aspects which would not come out in a classical approach. Multivariate statistics help the researcher to summarize data and reduce the number of variables necessary to describe it.

Multivariate techniques can be further classified into two broad categories/situations i.e a) when researcher knows specifically about the dependent variable and independent variable and tries to assess relationship among dependent variable and independent variable such as in case of multiple regression, discriminate analysis, logistic regression and MANOVA etc. and b) situation when researcher doesn’t have any idea about the interdependency of variables and have large set of data; he tries to reduce the data by assessing a commonality among variable and tries to group variable/cases according to commonality such as factor analysis, cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling.

Further in situation where researcher have an idea about the interdependency of variable multivariate research statistics can be further classified based on nature of dependent variable i.e whether its metric or non-metric in nature (please refer diagram on next page). In latter case of data reduction technique also categorization depends on nature of data type i.e in case of metric data factor analysis, cluster analysis and metric MDS could be performed whereas in case of non-metric data non-metric MDS and conjoint analysis are preferred.

Quantitative research software for analysis : Getting started

2006-03-05T05:26:00.000-08:00

Quantitative research software for analysis : Getting started

STATA

STATA is an interactive data analysis program, which runs on a variety of platforms. It can be used to enter and edit interactively data, and for both simple and complex statistical analysis

The whole data analysis in STATA is pivoted around four windows mentioned below:

1) Command window
2) Review window
3) Result window
4) Variable window

Researcher can enter commands in the Command Window. The Review Window records your commands, which can be repeated by double clicking on it in the REVIEW window. It will then reappear in the COMMAND window and just have to hit return to re-enter the command. The VARIABLES window lists the variables available in the current data set along with the variable labels. The big window that pops up when you open STATA is called the RESULTS window. The Results window is the Log Window and all of the results will appear here. Researcher can cut and paste from this window to other applications but you cannot print directly from this window.

SPSS

Statistical package for social science (SPSS) is the most popular quantitative analysis software used today in social research. SPSS is a comprehensive and flexible statistical analysis and data management system. SPSS can take data from almost any type of file and use them to generate tabulated reports, charts, and plots of distributions and trends, descriptive statistics, and conduct complex statistical analyses. Besides, it is available from several platforms; Windows, Macintosh, and the UNIX systems.
SPSS for Windows provides a user interface that makes statistical analysis more intuitive for all levels of users. Simple menus and dialog box selections make it possible to perform complex analyses without typing a single line of command syntax. The built-in SPSS Data Editor offers a simple and efficient spreadsheet-like utility for entering data and browsing the working data file.

SAS

As one of the more widely used general-purpose software products, the SAS Sys-
tem is the ideal tool to use in survey research applications.

The beauty of the SAS System is that it enables an intermediate-level user, who
developed skill through on-the-job training or nonformal instruction, to perform
complex data analyses, data/file manipulation, and report-writing tasks in less time
than the formally trained computer science graduate would require using basic lan-
guages.

2006-03-01T05:14:00.000-08:00

Assigning Sampling weights in case of Multi stage sampling

A multi-stage stratified cluster design greatly enhances the feasibility of data collection, it results in differential probabilities of selection; consequently, each sampling unit or in the assessment does not necessarily represent the same number of students in the population, as would be the case if a simple random sampling approach were employed.

To account for differential probabilities of selection due to the nature of the design and
to ensure accurate survey estimates, Sampling weights are needed to correct for imperfections in the sample that might lead to bias and other departures between the sample and the reference population. Such imperfections include the selection of units with unequal probabilities, non-coverage of the population, and non-response.

In other words, the purposes of weighting are:
• To compensate for unequal probabilities of selection.
• To compensate for (unit) non-response/ and or non-coverage.
• To adjust the weighted sample distribution for key variables of interest and to make it conform to a known population distribution.

So, usually three types of weights are assigned:

• Sampling weight to account for unequal probability of selection
• Weights for non response
• Post stratification weights

Though in majority of the cases only sampling weights and weights for non-coverage/non-response is used.

Calculation of sampling weights

Calculation of sampling weights usually starts with the construction of the base weight for each sampled unit, to correct for their unequal probabilities of selection. In general, the base weight of a sampled unit is the reciprocal of its probability of selection into the sample.

For multi-stage designs, the base weights must reflect the probabilities of selection at
each stage and the overall base weight the household is obtained as before, by taking the reciprocal of its overall probability of selection.

The adjustment of sample weights for non-response/non-coverage

It is rarely that all desired information is obtained from all sampled units in surveys. For instance, some households may provide no data at all while other households may provide only partial data. Further not all sampling units in samples may be covered.

2006-02-26T12:28:00.000-08:00

Revealing Truth Behind Poverty and Poverty line

The most commonly used way to measure poverty is based on incomes or consumption levels. A person is considered poor if his or her consumption or income level falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs, which is usually defined as the "poverty line". Information on consumption and income is obtained through sample surveys, during which households are asked to answer detailed questions on their spending habits and sources of income. But the contentious issues are encapsulated in definition as what is necessary to satisfy basic needs varies across time and societies.

 Globally

It is preemptive that while measuring poverty world-wide, the same reference poverty line has to be used, and expressed in a common unit across countries. Thus World Bank uses reference lines set at $1 and $2 per day in 1993 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms (where PPPs measure the relative purchasing power of currencies across countries)

Empirical Framework: Poverty in India

The first absolute definition of poverty was given by Dandekar-Rath, who defined it as an expenditure of Rs 15 per capita per month for the Indian rural population at 1960-61 prices, and Rs 18 per capita per month for the urban population. The Government of India set up an Expert Group to suggest a methodology to measure poverty. The group submitted its report in 1993 and suggested a new poverty line: Rs 49 and Rs 56, for rural and urban areas at 1973-74 prices. This line was higher in real terms by approximately 15 per cent.
The most widely used measure of poverty in India is the 'head-count ratio'. The head-count ratio is computed on the basis of NSS data on consumption expenditure. People with an income below the poverty line are 'poor' and the proportion of the poor to the aggregate population is the head-count ratio. In the early-'60s, the GOI appointed a special working group of eminent economists to assess the level of poverty in India. The experts came up with a definition of the Poverty Line. This was based on a nationally desirable minimum level of consumption expenditure based on a standard balanced diet prescribed by the Nutrition Advisory Committee.

In India, poverty is officially linked to a nutritional baseline measured in calories (food energy method). The Planning Commission defines poverty lines as a per capita monthly expenditure of Rs 49 for the rural areas and Rs 57 in urban areas at 1973-74 all India prices. These poverty lines correspond to a total household per capita expenditure sufficient to provide, in addition to basic non-food items – clothing, transport – a daily intake of 2,400 calories per person in rural areas and 2,100 in urban areas. Individuals who do not meet these calorie norms fall below the poverty line.

In other words, any family who could not afford to buy a rudimentary food basket, which when consumed yielded a minimum level of calories, was considered poor.

For decades, the Planning Commission of the Government of India has regularly published “official” headcount poverty ratios, separately for rural and urban areas of every Indian state and Union Territory. The poverty counts are computed as the fraction of the population living in households with consumption per head below a poverty line. The poverty lines have been calculated to represent the minimum monthly expenditure per head associated, on average, with a sector-specific minimum calorie intake, recommended by the Indian National Institute of Nutrition. The lines are kept constant in real terms, and are inflated by using two different state-specific price indexes: the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL) for rural areas, and the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPIIW) for the urban sector.

Expenditure data are collected by the Indian National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) approximately every five years, from a large sample of Indian households interviewed over a one-year period.

Until the 50th round, carried out in 1993-94, all NSS surveys adopted a 30-day recall period for all expenditure items. This choice of recall period is unusual, as most statistical agencies use a shorter reporting period for items that are typically purchased frequently, like food, and a longer period for infrequent expenditures like clothing, footwear, educational expenses, and durables. Several experimental studies find that expenditure reports for frequently purchased items are on average proportionally lower when the recall period becomes longer.

Poverty status in India

Despite splendid achievements, India is still among the poorest nations in the world in per capita terms. It has managed to reduced poverty over that period, but only since about 1975 has the decline becomes fairly steady, albeit slow. And, although the incidence of poverty has declined from 45 to 36 percent between 1950 to 1993-94, population growth caused the number to ballooned up to double in the same period from 164 to 320 million. Of that total three out of four (76 percent) live in rural area.

The NSS 55th round in 2000 indicates that for the year 1999-2000, 23.10 per cent of the people are below the poverty line In absolute numbers it is 2,602,500,000 people. 23.62 per cent i.e. 670.07 lakh persons are urban poor and 27.09 per cent, i.e. 1932.43 lakh persons are rural poor (Government of India, Press Information Bureau). Almost 30 per cent of the population still lives below the poverty line of less than 100 US$ per capita annually (Sengupta, 1992).

In India there are so many people close to the poverty line, the simple headcount ratio, which gets almost all the attention, is extremely sensitive to small changes in both reality and measurement error. Further it would be gross generalization to assume all people living below poverty line are alike.

Indian poverty lines are also differentiated geographically, by state, and by urban and rural households within each state. Thus it is important to point that there is nothing like all India poverty line, either for urban or rural, instead, poverty counts are made for each state, within each sector, and added up to get urban and rural totals. Thus it is imperative to assess poverty at regional level, state level to understand the disparities and analyze who are these poor people and why they are still poor even after more than fifty years of independence.

The most commonly used way to measure poverty is based on incomes or consumption levels. A person is considered poor if his or her consumption or income level falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs, which is usually defined as the "poverty line". Information on consumption and income is obtained through sample surveys, during which households are asked to answer detailed questions on their spending habits and sources of income. But the contentious issues are encapsulated in definition as what is necessary to satisfy basic needs varies across time and societies.

 Globally

It is preemptive that while measuring poverty world-wide, the same reference poverty line has to be used, and expressed in a common unit across countries. Thus World Bank uses reference lines set at $1 and $2 per day in 1993 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms (where PPPs measure the relative purchasing power of currencies across countries)

Empirical Framework: Poverty in India

The first absolute definition of poverty was given by Dandekar-Rath, who defined it as an expenditure of Rs 15 per capita per month for the Indian rural population at 1960-61 prices, and Rs 18 per capita per month for the urban population. The Government of India set up an Expert Group to suggest a methodology to measure poverty. The group submitted its report in 1993 and suggested a new poverty line: Rs 49 and Rs 56, for rural and urban areas at 1973-74 prices. This line was higher in real terms by approximately 15 per cent.
The most widely used measure of poverty in India is the 'head-count ratio'. The head-count ratio is computed on the basis of NSS data on consumption expenditure. People with an income below the poverty line are 'poor' and the proportion of the poor to the aggregate population is the head-count ratio. In the early-'60s, the GOI appointed a special working group of eminent economists to assess the level of poverty in India. The experts came up with a definition of the Poverty Line. This was based on a nationally desirable minimum level of consumption expenditure based on a standard balanced diet prescribed by the Nutrition Advisory Committee.

In India, poverty is officially linked to a nutritional baseline measured in calories (food energy method). The Planning Commission defines poverty lines as a per capita monthly expenditure of Rs 49 for the rural areas and Rs 57 in urban areas at 1973-74 all India prices. These poverty lines correspond to a total household per capita expenditure sufficient to provide, in addition to basic non-food items – clothing, transport – a daily intake of 2,400 calories per person in rural areas and 2,100 in urban areas. Individuals who do not meet these calorie norms fall below the poverty line.

In other words, any family who could not afford to buy a rudimentary food basket, which when consumed yielded a minimum level of calories, was considered poor.

For decades, the Planning Commission of the Government of India has regularly published “official” headcount poverty ratios, separately for rural and urban areas of every Indian state and Union Territory. The poverty counts are computed as the fraction of the population living in households with consumption per head below a poverty line. The poverty lines have been calculated to represent the minimum monthly expenditure per head associated, on average, with a sector-specific minimum calorie intake, recommended by the Indian National Institute of Nutrition. The lines are kept constant in real terms, and are inflated by using two different state-specific price indexes: the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL) for rural areas, and the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPIIW) for the urban sector.

Expenditure data are collected by the Indian National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) approximately every five years, from a large sample of Indian households interviewed over a one-year period.

Until the 50th round, carried out in 1993-94, all NSS surveys adopted a 30-day recall period for all expenditure items. This choice of recall period is unusual, as most statistical agencies use a shorter reporting period for items that are typically purchased frequently, like food, and a longer period for infrequent expenditures like clothing, footwear, educational expenses, and durables. Several experimental studies find that expenditure reports for frequently purchased items are on average proportionally lower when the recall period becomes longer.

Poverty status in India

Despite splendid achievements, India is still among the poorest nations in the world in per capita terms. It has managed to reduced poverty over that period, but only since about 1975 has the decline becomes fairly steady, albeit slow. And, although the incidence of poverty has declined from 45 to 36 percent between 1950 to 1993-94, population growth caused the number to ballooned up to double in the same period from 164 to 320 million. Of that total three out of four (76 percent) live in rural area.

The NSS 55th round in 2000 indicates that for the year 1999-2000, 23.10 per cent of the people are below the poverty line In absolute numbers it is 2,602,500,000 people. 23.62 per cent i.e. 670.07 lakh persons are urban poor and 27.09 per cent, i.e. 1932.43 lakh persons are rural poor (Government of India, Press Information Bureau). Almost 30 per cent of the population still lives below the poverty line of less than 100 US$ per capita annually (Sengupta, 1992).

In India there are so many people close to the poverty line, the simple headcount ratio, which gets almost all the attention, is extremely sensitive to small changes in both reality and measurement error. Further it would be gross generalization to assume all people living below poverty line are alike.

Indian poverty lines are also differentiated geographically, by state, and by urban and rural households within each state. Thus it is important to point that there is nothing like all India poverty line, either for urban or rural, instead, poverty counts are made for each state, within each sector, and added up to get urban and rural totals. Thus it is imperative to assess poverty at regional level, state level to understand the disparities and analyze who are these poor people and why they are still poor even after more than fifty years of independence.

Qualitative data analysis using statistical software

2006-02-13T21:46:00.000-08:00

Qualitative data analysis using statistical software packages is gaining ground and is now used widely be researchers, not only because of ease but also because of time it save. Now there are whole ranges of statistical software that are available in market, which make life very easy for qualitative researchers, some of which I am listing briefly.

a) ETHNOGRAPH
Ethnograph uses segment as the basic unit to retrieve text from documents and can be described as text retrieval statistical software. Segments are then coded in form of twelve codeword, which can nest to seven levels deep as sort of query function to retrieve text. It is important to point that search result depends on query function in form of nests using codes.

b) HyperQual
Hyperqual is integrated software, which encompass all features for data entry, memory and retrieval. It thus helps in entering data collected from interviews, observations and documents for further analysis.

c) Hypersoft
Hypersoft provides integrated facility for data entry and data retrieval for theory building. Researcher can avail the facility of indexing, searching and analyzing textual data. Besides, Hypersoft does so by providing facility for annotating, categorizing, and coding of raw data.

d) NUDIST
NUDIST software developed by QSR International Corporation is one of the most widely used qualitative software. It is based on the concept of a building a logical hierarchical system of nodes where each node is logically related to other nodes. It does so by flagging and text search to construct a possibly large and highly structured hierarchical database indexing into the documents to be analyzed.
Node search uses seventeen operators including Boolean, proximity and other operators to generate new nodes to build hierarchical indexing categories encouraging generation of new ideas.

e) Textbase Alpha
Textbase alpha provides facility for coding of both narrative text and as well data having an internal structure. Textbase alpha also provides facility for assembling coded segments, which can be represented by frequency counts, and data matrix output. Textbase Beta, new and modified version of Textbase alpha provides facility to code longer portions of line.

f) SONAR
SONAR is basically text retrieval software, which also provides facility for coding. In SONAR, researcher doesn’t have to extensively prepare for text files and can instant retrieve data based on coded segments. Researcher can edit data by putting comments or an index of comments. SONAR also provides facility for conditional searches based on Boolean operators.

g) ATLAS/ti
ATLAS/ti is perhaps the most powerful software that is available today with an impressive interface. ATLAS/ti works on the same logic of searching, coding and indexing as NUDIST does, though in case of ATLAS/ti concept of node and hierarchical logical system, which is key to analysis process in NUDIST is not followed. Rather it focus on inter-code relationships and theory building, rather than straight code and retrieve. Researcher use codes and supercodes representing a series of statements expressing textual relationships, to build theory, concept and relationship through operators.

Though there are various qualitative data analysis software available, researcher should cautiously decide on software that should be used in a project depending on data to be analyzed and analysis theory to be followed.

Hypersoft provides integrated facility for data entry and data retrieval and Ethnograph provides facility to combine code words by using Boolean logic for constructing complex queries.

Though, in majority of cases, researcher wants to do much more than coding and in such cases ATLAS/ti and NUDIST provides the best facility for theory building. NUDIST and ATLAS/ti provides facility to code textual data. Researcher can attach annotation, indexing and memo to be used at query stages to build theory. Both ATLAS/ti and NUDIST software programmes are based on the analysis methodology of 'grounded theory’. Though this doesn’t mean that both these software can’t handle analysis based on other research methodology.

Qualitative Research Design: Sociometry

2006-02-04T23:20:00.000-08:00

Sociometry: Sociometry word originates from two Latin roots ‘socious’ and ‘metrum’, which signifies social measurement. Thus it is defined as the process of measurement of social distance between group members. It gained prominence through works of social psychologist J.L. Moreno in 1934, who propounded the graphical depiction of the structure of group relations called a sociogram.
The process of sociogram starts by listing respondent’s likes and dislikes. Based on like and dislikes, researcher can calculates the mean ratings to identify the social structure that exists. Researcher can complement the process by obtaining field notes through fieldwork, or ethnography. Researcher can combine the result of field notes and the sociometric testing, to draw a sociogram, which links various data attributes through arrows. The arrow in the sociogram signifies a number, which is obtained by dividing an individual's column score by n-1. Along with sociogram, a summary table is also constructed to show the frequency distributions.