Attitudes Towards Women’s Political Participation

The indicator shows the extent to which the target group members are supportive of women’s active political participation.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of your target group members:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Introduction: Now, I am going to read different statements. Please show me on this scale the extent to which you agree or disagree with each statement [show the scale provided at the bottom of this page and explain how it works, including the meaning of each face]. There are no right or wrong answers – please answer according to your feelings about the statement. Again, I would like to assure you that your answers will not be shared with any people living in this area.

Q1: Which of these four faces [point to the scale] best represents your feelings about the following statement? ‘Political leadership should be largely in the hands of men.’

A1: strongly agree / somewhat agree / somewhat disagree / strongly disagree

Q2: Which of these four faces [point to the scale] best represents your feelings about the following statement? ‘Women are too emotional to be leaders.’

A2: strongly agree / somewhat agree / somewhat disagree / strongly disagree

Q3: Which of these four faces [point to the scale] best represents your feelings about the following statement? ‘Women who participate in politics or leadership positions cannot be good wives or mothers as well.’

A3: strongly agree / somewhat agree / somewhat disagree / strongly disagree

Take the following steps to calculate the indicator’s value:

  1) Provide 1 point for each “slightly disagree” response and 2 points for each “strongly disagree” response.

  2) Count the total number of points per respondent (the minimum can be zero, the maximum can be 6).

  3) Count the number of respondents who scored at least 3 points.

  4) Divide the number of respondents who scored at least 3 points by the total number of respondents. Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage. 

Disaggregate the data by age groups, ethnicity, education level, wealth, and other factors depending on the local context.

1) The visual scale is used to make it easier for the respondent to choose the response that best represents her/his feelings. If you do not wish to use the visual scale, you will have to ask the respondent: Would you say that you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree with the following statement? [read out the given statement]

2) The questions for this indicator were developed based on the guidance provided by Promundo.