EMI

DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS

AND
REPORTING

Prepared & Presented

By
Girma Kebede
EMI
OBJECTIVES

 Discuss the need and use of data and

information in project monitoring and
evaluation.

 Clarify the major techniques of data

collection, analysis and reporting.
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Reflection Questions

1. On your table discuss the data collection methods you

are familiar with? What are the advantages and
limitations of each method?

2. Which data collection methods you have been

frequently using in your current assignments? What
were the main reasons for selecting these methods?

3. Which method is best for M & E purpose and why?

EMI Data and Information

 Often used interchangeably, but they refer to two

distinct concepts.

 Data is mathematical and other symbolic surrogates,

which are generally agreed upon to represent people,
events and concepts. Simply it is raw facts.

 Information is data placed into a meaningful context

for its recipient. It is the responsibility of those
managing information systems to run data into such
information.
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Why and When do we Collect
Data?

WHY?
 To assess the situation to get information for strategy and
project design and development,

 for the identification of opportunities and/or gaps and prioritizes

the gaps according to the need of the target population and
area.

 for assessing the progress of project during its implementation

(monitoring), and

 to determine projects success or impact in achieving its goals

and objectives,
EMI When?

Should be collected:
 before specifying the project objectives, targets and
development activities, because it provides a picture of
the local situation and helps to determine the
appropriate strategies and development intervention to
be pursued.

 during the course of project implementation to truck

(monitor &/or evaluate) progress, and

 it is also important to obtain information for assessing

the achievement of the project goals and objectives
after it starts operation (evaluation).
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Data Sources and Methods of
Collection
Data Sources
Data can be obtained both from primary and secondary sources.

Primary sources:

• Direct project beneficiaries

• Selected informants.

Secondary sources:
• Libraries - Specialized agencies
• Scholars - Statistical reports
• Officials - institutional data basis, etc.
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Methods/Techniques of Data
Collection
 There are various means and methods
of obtaining data or information. These
are;
EMI Methods of Data Collection
Method Definition Source Advant. Disadvant.
a) Primary Source
Semi- Soliciting and Primary Goes right to Can be
Structured recording sources like the source expensive;
information by project of the Requires
Interview asking limited Beneficiaries information some special
(SSI) questions or people interviewing
closely skills
related/work
on the issue
to be
addressed
Focus Small group Primary Introduce Somewhat of
Group discussion sources like elements of an artificial
focusing on project spontaneity setting
Discussion issues to be Beneficiaries since which may
(FGD) assessed or discussion create
addressed is allowed to biased
be free information
 Method Definition Source Advant. Disadvant.
EMI
Primary
Source
Structured Published list Systematical When well Expensive;
Interview of ly selected done, it requires
Questionnaires informants obtains high degree
(Survey) to be answered highly of skill
by selected reliable
respondents data

Direct First hand and Primary gives Can be

Observation exposure of the sources like assessor expensive if
project team to project good lots of
the behavior or Beneficiaries exposure exposure is
phenomenon /area required;
being assessed Difficult to
standardize
data
 Method Definition Source Advant. Disadvant.
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b) Secondary
Sources
Documentary Systematic Libraries; Already Not always
Research reading and Scholars; collected and available on
gathering of Officials; needs low level topics/areas
needed data of efforts to needed; Can
compiled by Specialized analyze be outdated;
secondary Agencies Usually
sources incomplete

Statistical and Sorting and Ministry Data Available in May contain

Planning Data analyzing of Basis; most line gaps; Usually
data/informat Planning ministries; un-aggregated;
ion from Departments Easy to obtain; Requires a
extent data Can be specialist to
basis Statistical analyze it
voluminous
Centers

Key Informant Interviewing People or Economical; Informants

Approach of agencies who Relies on may inject
knowledgeab are in a knowledgeable their own
le secondary position to informants biases
sources know about
the subject
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 What factors determines the Choice of

Data Collection Methods/ Techniques?
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The choice of methods or techniques

depend among others, on:
• the kind of information needed,
• who is collecting it,
• when, and how it will be used and
• the resources available.

In most cases a combination of methods

is recommended to be used so that data
can be cross-checked.
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REPORTING
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REPORTING
is a systematic activity of processing and
distributing information to partners depending on
the type of information they require.

is a tool through which we know what happened

or what we got from activities undertaken
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WHY REPORT?
 enables the assessment of progress and
achievements and helps focus audiences on the
results of activities, enabling the improvement of
subsequent work plan (for decision-making and
learning)

 to communicate how effectively and efficiently

an organization/a programme/ project is meeting
its objectives.

How de we determine the type of report

we produce?
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TYPES OF REPORTS
There are various small categories of reports. The two
major broad categories are:

Informative: contains only facts and figure (leaves the

analysis, interpretation, conclusion and recommendation
to the users)

Interpretive: includes analysis, interpretation,

conclusions and recommendations by the writer of the
report.

Which type of report is produced by your organization?

and why?
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 Reporting requirements depends upon two
important elements (why & for who is the
report to be about)
- the users’ objectives/purpose and
- Audience type
 Many donor organizations have their own
reporting formats and standards.

 Can you share us the reporting standards

of your organizations?
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Reporting Lay-out of …
1. Context
2. Objectives (for period covered by report)
3. Activities and outputs
4. Organisation
5. Assessment and Forecast
6. Additional guidelines for financial report
is also included
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 To identify your purpose, you must ask your self
at least one of the following question:

 What are you trying to achieve from the report?

 What effect/outcome do you expect?

 What do you wish to change in the readers mind or

knowledge, or attitude?

 Are you trying to inform, instruct, describe,

persuade, convenience, sell, plead, analyze,
evaluate, provoke or what?
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 Also clearly know/understand:
 Who your audiences are i.e. who will read the report and what
are they looking for?
 What will happen as a result of the report? Or what are they
going to do with the information they are looking for?
 What their vocabulary is?
 What their intellectual skills are?

 Put yourself in the shoes of the report's intended

reader/audience

 A report submitted to the beneficiary community is

entirely different from that of a report submitted to a
donor or other partner organizations
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 If you adopt some simple actions and

steps
you can reduce the headache of report writing
You will generate better reports quicker, and with
less effort.

 Steps such as the one shown below can

help to write reports more effectively. Not
prescription.
EMI Report Writing Steps

Step I : Planning and Designing

(purpose, scope & preparation)
Step II: Writing (draft)
Step III: Formatting (draft)
Step IV: Editing and Finalizing
(check & deliver )
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 Guiding principles which would help you to

produce readable and concise reports are:
1. Use active verbs
2. Be specific
3. Be Direct
4. Avoid Jargon
5. Avoid redundancy
6. Drop unnecessary details
7. Tighten up
8. Use Graphics

 What do you understand by these principles?

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Active Verbs
 are clearer and do not hide the doer and its
achievements in the brush at the end of the
sentence.

 are more direct and penetrate the reader’s mind

more easily.
Example: - All construction work was completed on time
by the community. (passive)
 The community has completed all construction work
on time. (active)
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Specific

 Use definite and specific subjects, not vague,

generalized ones, and

 Minimize or avoid catch-all nouns.

Example: Instead of stating Kebele Leaders says “

… technical support will be provided for
organization working on OVC support”, we
can use a specific tone like that … The Chair
Person of the Kebele says “ … technical
support …”.
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Be Direct

 Many report writers take pages to clear

and fill in background which is in most
cases unnecessary.

 We need to go directly to the main

points in the report.
EMI Avoid Jargon

 unnecessary technical or word jargons

which is not agreeable or convenient to
the reader. For instance words like
“utilize”, and “problematic”, can be
replaced with simple words like “use”
and ‘difficult”.
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Avoid redundancy
 Writers always say the same thing in
several different ways

 In preparing a report, we should decide

as which is best express our thought
and remove out redundant parts.
Otherwise we are unnecessarily inflate
the size and content of our report
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Drop Unnecessary Details

 Never offer more details than you need

to achieve your purpose or than your
audience cares about.
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Tighten Up

 Make your report sentences and phrases concise.

 Example 1. “If the local community might be

impacted by this project …”
“If this project affect the local community …”

 Example 2. “ The X initiative of Y organizationhas

made considerable progress on raising attendance
rate of many girls”
“ The X initiative of …. has raised attendance of girls
by ---%”.
EMI Use Graphics
 Include in reports :
- the real pictures & photographs,
- drawings,
- graphs,
- tables and
- lists.

 Photographs and drawings are supposedly

each the equivalent of a thousand words.
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 How we take in information during a
presentation
EMI Features of Good Reports
narrates an activity and/or event
is presented in a formal way
is prepared for a specific audience
explains how the information is gathered
states why the information is collected and
how useful it is
discuss the main issue/findings
may include conclusion reached
may also include recommendation as
required
EMI Points to be considered during report preparation

 Define the objective of the report

 Identify your audience
 Know what the audience wants to know
 Determine the time frame for reporting
 Design appropriate data collection tools
 Use good formats for reporting
 Carefully select useful information for your target users
 State conclusions and recommendations (as necessary)
 Circulate the draft report to get comments for improvements
 Review as necessary and prepare summary of main findings,
conclusions & recommendation (if your report is big)
 Distribute to those concerned
 Keep your own document
EMI Structure of Reports
Depends on:
 What is required
 Who needs the report, and
 How much information is desired
Structure of full-fledged formal reports:
 Title page
 Acknowledgement
 Table of content
 Executive summary
 Introduction
 Analyses and findings
 Conclusions
 Lessons learned
 Recommendations
 Attachments
 References
 List of interviewees, etc.
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REPORTS OFTEN
REQUIRED
BY ORGANIZATIONS/
DONORS
EMI What type of reports are asked by
your organizations/donors?

 Two types of reports are often required by

organizations/donors (in addition to regular
financial information):
–Written progress/monitoring reports
–Evaluation (Internal mid-term
evaluations and final evaluations)
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M & E Reports
M & E reports are tools through which we
know what happened (the progress) or what
we got from program/project activities
(achievements).

 Monitoring report focuses on what goes into

a project/program, the process undertaken
and its out puts

 Evaluation report focuses on what we got

from the development intervention
(performance & achievements attained)
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Qualities of M & E Reports
 well planned,
 systematic and
 presented in simple, clear and logical
manner
EMI PROGRESS REPORTS

 Whoever approved your project will want to

keep informed regularly.

 Progress reports are probably the most

common and most important format an
organization has for conveying information
about a project to its donor, partners and other
important stakeholders.
EMI When do we prepare progress
reports?

 The reporting time depends on the type of

recipient and initial agreement

 In most cases progress reports are

prepared on quarterly and annual basis
(rarely on monthly basis)
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Scope of Progress Reports

 Progress reports should focus on

presenting in a concise format the
advances (or lack thereof) made on a
project during a specific quarter.

 What do you think are the major

components of progress reports?
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A Good Progress Report:

 is prepared for a specific audience

 states why it is prepared and how useful it is
 explains how the information is gathered
 focuses on accomplishments/activities and
results/changes
 assesses performance over the past reporting period,
using established indicators, schedules, baselines
and targets
 states explicitly whether and how much progress or
results surpassed, met, or fell short of expectations,
and why?
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 A Good …

 specifies actions to overcome problems and

accelerate performance, where necessary
 explains the influence of comparative performance by
objectives on the resource request
 addresses issues related to specific target groups,
including the issues of gender and other factors, in
the analysis of program performance
 may include conclusion reached
 may also include recommendation as required
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Questions
 How do you view the quality of reports you
frequently prepare?
 Can we further improve the quality of
reports?
 If yes, which quality aspect & how?
 If no, what should be done?
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THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING