Understanding of Provided Information

The indicator measures the extent to which people correctly comprehend the provided information, such as beneficiary selection criteria, conditions for accessing services, etc. Measuring and acting upon such data helps with making communication with communities more effective. It can also prevent any problematic misunderstandings.

Calculate the indicator's value by using the following methodology:

1) Select upcoming events where important information will be provided. For example, information on how to access certain types of support.

2) Define several questions to assess whether a respondent correctly understood the provided information. Prioritize using open-ended questions, such as “Can you please tell me who can access …?” or “How can a person access …?”. Avoid using the question: “Did you understand what was said?”, as it is unlikely to give reliable data. The questionnaire does not need to capture exact responses to the questions, it should just offer the following options: 1) understood provided information; 2) did not understand provided information; and 3) no response.

3) Decide on which (or how many) questions must be answered correctly in order for the respondent to be counted as “correctly understanding the provided information”.

4) During the event, immediately after the information is provided, interview randomly selected members of the targeted population, using the questions defined in point 2. For each respondent, determine whether s/he can be considered as “correctly understanding the provided information”, using the criteria defined in point 3.

5) Calculate the indicator’s value by dividing the number of people who can be considered as “correctly understanding the provided information” by the total number of respondents. Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

Disaggregate the data by gender and age group.

1) Considering that the data must be collected immediately after the information was provided and that you might not be sure exactly who will be attending the data-collecting events, it might not be possible for you to use a fully representative sample of respondents. However, since this is a process indicator aimed at giving you a rough idea of people’s understanding of the provided information, even such ‘imperfect’ sampling should be acceptable. The data will be able to help you decide whether the provided information is sufficiently clear or whether some changes are needed.