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Baseline and End-Line Survey

Baseline and Endline Surveys

“Baseline” and “Endline” Surveys
in the World of Global Development

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.

Importance of baseline and end-line surveys

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.

RASA Foundation’s important principles in designing the survey

  • Conduct the baseline/end-line survey as early as possible.
  • The survey design must be based on the evaluation design which is, in turn, based on the program theory. Data must be collected across the results chain, not just on outcomes.
  • The comparison group sample must be of adequate size, and subject to the same, or virtually the same, questionnaire. Whilst some intervention-specific questions may not be appropriate, similar questions of a more general nature can help test for contagion.
  • Multiple instruments (e.g. household and facility level) are usually desirable and must be coded in such a way that they can be linked.
  • Survey design takes time. Allow six months from the beginning design to going to the field, though 3-4 months can be possible. Test, test, and re-test the instruments. Run planned tabulations and analyses with dummy data or the data from the pilot. Once data are collected one to two months are required for data entry and cleaning.
  • Include information to allow tracing of the respondents for later rounds of the survey, and ensure that they can be linked in the data.
  • Avoid changes in survey design between rounds. Ideally, the same team will conduct all rounds of the survey.

RASA tips for conducting baseline and end-line surveys

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:

  1. Conduct baselines right before your intervention: A baseline survey should be conducted right before the intervention begins. The idea is to provide as little room as possible for variables outside of your control to affect your subject. So, if you allow a significant amount of time to elapse between the baseline and the beginning of the project, you may end up wrongly attributing some changes to the effect of your intervention.
  2. Survey the same population: If the objective of conducting a baseline and an endline is to compare the two (amongst other evaluations and considerations) to estimate the impact of your project, you need to survey the same subjects before and after. You cannot conduct a baseline of people with one characteristic and an endline of people with another and then deduce a change. You need your baseline survey to act almost as a control group in a traditional scientific study, where the only measurable change between them and the subject of your endline survey is the effect of your intervention.
  3. Iterate and reiterate: While developing your tools for the baseline and endline (e.g. a questionnaire), brainstorm all the different ways a question can be asked, as well as any possible responses. In global development, when we are so often working across populations and languages, this preparedness becomes so much more important, because the meanings and lengths of questions and answers can vary widely. Consult our content design considerations as you develop your surveys.
  4. Consider the length of your survey: Sometimes, in a desire to capture every single possible variable, a survey can end up becoming so long that respondents stop before they have completed it. To avoid this, it can be helpful to discuss with the team whether it is possible to capture certain variables through other tools or methods, such as focus group discussions, individual interviews, or observational data. Upon the completion of your project, you can then evaluate the impact of your intervention across multiple sets of data.
  5. Test your surveys: It is always very insightful to perform usability tests on your survey with a few respondents in the field before actually conducting your baseline survey. This will test the respondents’ comprehension of your questions as well as the time it takes to answer them all.