A baseline survey is a study that is done at the beginning of a project to collect information on the status of a subject (anything from crop yields to birth weights) before any type of intervention can affect it.
An endline survey, on the other hand, is the study conducted after the end of that intervention. The results of the endline survey are measured against some comparative data – ideally the baseline survey – often as part of an impact evaluation.
Properly estimating the impact of your intervention requires conducting a baseline survey as a benchmark against which the results of your end-line survey can be compared.
Baseline studies also help us determine the priority areas of projects with multiple objectives. Capturing the right information before your intervention begins can show you which aspects of your target population best align with which objectives. In fact, baseline and end-line surveys are sometimes required by funding organizations or partners in order to ensure the optimal use of their resources.
Often, the tools used in conducting the baseline and end-line surveys are the same as those used in the interventions themselves. This means that these surveys can actually be built into your digital tool, saving you both time and resources.
Conducting baseline and endline surveys is not as simple as asking the same set of questions before and after a project begins. Here are five tips from our experience working on over 50 projects over the years: