CRA toolkit: Glossary of terms

In the CRA Toolkit a wide variety of terms, concepts and acronyms are used. This Glossary provides a detailed explanation, and where available, a definition of the main terms used in the field of community risk assessment in general and the CRA Toolkit in particular. The Glossary starts with an overview of useful links to other glossaries on disaster risk assessment and participation tools. Next, a definition is given of key terms on disaster risk assessment. In a following section, the key concepts and the methodological material which underpin the CRA Toolkit are explained in detail. Finally, the numerous CRA methods and tools, listed alphabetically and grouped according to type of material, are described, providing links to a web based source, where available.

Glossary Menu

Glossary

Links to other Glossaries

• IDRC Indigenous Knowledge: Section 4: Data Collection
• ISDR Terminology: Basic terms of disaster risk reduction
• WB Participation Sourcebook. Appendix 1: Methods and Tools Glossary of Tools.
• Disaster Risk Assessment Portal: Techniques Used in Disaster Risk Assessment
• MSP Resource Portal: Building your Capacity to Facilitate -Multi-Stakeholder Process and Social

Basic terms on disaster risk assessment (from ISDR Glossary)

• Capacity

  A combination of all the strengths and resources available within a community, society or organization that can reduce the level of risk, or the effects of a disaster. Capacity may include physical, institutional, social or economic means as well as skilled personal or collective attributes such as leadership and management. Capacity may also be described as capability.

  Source: ISDR Terminology: Basic terms of disaster risk reduction

• Coping capacity

  The means by which people or organizations use available resources and abilities to face adverse consequences that could lead to a disaster. In general, this involves managing resources, both in normal times as well as during crises or adverse conditions. The strengthening of coping capacities usually builds resilience to withstand the effects of natural and human-induced hazards.

  Source: ISDR Terminology: Basic terms of disaster risk reduction

• Hazard

  A potentially damaging physical event, phenomenon or human activity that may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation.

  Hazards can include latent conditions that may represent future threats and can have different origins: natural (geological, hydrometeorological and biological) or induced by human processes (environmental degradation and technological hazards). Hazards can be single, sequential or combined in their origin and effects. Each hazard is characterised by its location, intensity, frequency and probability

  Source: ISDR Terminology: Basic terms of disaster risk reduction

• Hazard analysis

  Identification, studies and monitoring of any hazard to determine its potential, origin, characteristics and behaviour.

  Source: ISDR Terminology: Basic terms of disaster risk reduction

• Resilience / resilient

  The capacity of a system, community or society potentially exposed to hazards to adapt, by resisting or changing in order to reach and maintain an acceptable level of functioning and structure. This is determined by the degree to which the social system is capable of organizing itself to increase its capacity for learning from past disasters for better future protection and to improve risk reduction measures.

  Source: ISDR Terminology: Basic terms of disaster risk reduction

• Risk assessment / analysis

  A methodology to determine the nature and extent of risk by analysing potential hazards and evaluating existing conditions of vulnerability that could pose a potential threat or harm to people, property, livelihoods and the environment on which they depend.

  The process of conducting a risk assessment is based on a review of both the technical features of hazards such as their location, intensity, frequency and probability; and also the analysis of the physical, social, economic and environmental dimensions of vulnerability and exposure, while taking particular account of the coping capabilities pertinent to the risk scenarios.

  Source: ISDR Terminology: Basic terms of disaster risk reduction

• Vulnerability

  The conditions determined by physical, social, economic, and environmental factors or processes, which increase the susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards. For positive factors, which increase the ability of people to cope with hazards, see definition of capacity

  Source: ISDR Terminology: Basic terms of disaster risk reduction

Definition of key concepts used in CRA Toolkit

• Methodology

  A complete framework that prescribes an entire process for the assessment of disaster risk and action planning at the community level and offers a broad strategic approach. A methodology in some instances combines certain methods and tools to support this process. Examples include: ADPC's "Community Based Disaster Risk Management" methodology, the International Hurricane Centre's "Working with Women at Risk" methodology, etc.

• Method

  A set and sequence of steps that should be followed to accomplish the task of assessing risk and planning for disaster reduction action at the community level. A method can be implemented through using a number of tools. The CRA Toolkit distinguishes between disaster risk assessment methods, such as Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment and Hazard Risk Vulnerability Assessment, and general assessment methods, such as livelihood analysis, gender analysis, etc.

• Tool

  A means or instrument by which a specific risk assessment task is accomplished. The CRA Toolkit distinguishes between participatory tools, such as transect walks, timelines, activity calendars, and technical assessment tools, such as geological hazard maps, surveys.

Types of methodological resources

• Comprehensive manual

  A comprehensive manual describes in detail both the conceptual framework which underlies the methodology concerned and the different steps required to carry out the risk assessment.

• Step-by-step manual

  A step-by-step manual describes in detail the sequence of steps required to successfully carry out a community risk assessment and also highlights the different participatory and technical assessment tools required.

• Guidelines

  Guidelines provide a conceptual framework and key concepts for identifying, analysing and assessing communities' disaster risk but do not describe in detail the steps and tools required for actually carrying out an assessment.

• Overview

  An overview provides a summary description and analysis of a range of available methods and tools for assessing disaster risk at the community level. Overviews are mostly written from an academic perspective and aim at analyzing the relevance of the different methods in view of their contribution to improving risk reduction policy and practice.

• Training manual

  A training manual aims at facilitating a learning and knowledge sharing process on the issue of community risk assessment either through a workshop or self-study, outlining the training methodology used and providing training material which supports the learning process.

Methods included in the CRA Toolkit

• Disaster Risk Assessment Methods

• Assessment of Knowledge, Awareness and Practice (KAP)

  KAP is based on the assumption that a person's knowledge influences his/her attitude, which in turn influences their behaviour. It usually involves written, standardised questionnaires that are composed of yes/no questions. KAP surveys are useful for finding out what your target audience already knows and how they do things. As a research method they can give an insight into the behavior of a large group of people in a short time frame, and are particularly useful if you plan to paint a before-and-after picture of a programme's success. Outputs have statistical significance, and it can be used as a baseline against which to compare findings at the end of your project.

  Organisation: DFID
  Source: Monitoring and Evaluating Information and Communication for Development (ICD) Programmes: Guidelines. ICD, March 2005, p. 13
  See also: the Turkey case study in the CRA Toolkit - Umraniye Women's Outreach Community Disaster Preparedness Project

• Capacity and Vulnerability Assessment (CVA)

  CVA involves a participatory analysis of (post) disaster situations which can be applied at a range of scales from the community to the country. It is expressed in terms of capacities and vulnerabilities. It helps identify disaster management responses that would support development initiatives in the community.

  Organisation: CDP (Centre for Disaster Preparedness, Philippines)
  Source: Heijmans, A and Victoria, P. 2001. Citizenry-Based & Development-Oriented Disaster Response: Experiences and Practices in Disaster Management of the Citizen's Disaster Response Network in the Philippines, p. 70

• Capacities and Vulnerabilities Analysis (CVA)

  CVA enables the givers of aid to learn how to give it so that it supports the efforts of people to achieve social and economic development (i.e. how to make relief interventions more developmental) but it has been used more widely in disaster preparedness and mitigation. CVA was designed for NGOs, to help them consider when and how to respond to a disaster by understanding what impact their interventions will have on capacities and vulnerabilities. The basis of the CVA framework is a simple matrix for viewing people's vulnerabilities and capacities in three broad, interrelated areas: physical/material, social/organisational and motivational/attitudinal (five other factors are added to the matrix to represent the complexity of livelihoods analysis).

  Developed by: Mary B. Anderson and Peter J. Woodrow in Rising from the Ashes - Development Strategies in Times of Disaster [1989], referred to in Social vulnerability, Sustainable Livelihoods and Disasters, Report to DFID. Terry Cannon, John Twigg and Jennifer Rowell, see pp. 9-23.

• Community Wide Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (CVCA)

  CVCA model focuses on three questions: who are the community's "most vulnerable"; where do they generally reside; and, what is their capacity to respond or recover? The model is based on an 18-step process starting with the creation of a Planning Team that gathers up-to-date information in order to define and map the population, as well as the high-density and high-risk areas. The characteristics of the "most vulnerable" groups are then superimposed over the operational map in order to identify needs, expectations, and priorities to be considered during an emergency.

  Organisation: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC)
  Source: Community-Wide Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (CVCA)

• Damage, Needs and Capacity Assessment (DNCA)

  DNCA involves a participatory analysis of the disaster event focussing on the damages caused, the immediate needs and priorities of the affected community, and of the remaining capacities people use to cope with the adverse effects.

  Organisation: CDP (Centre for Disaster Preparedness, Philippines)
  Source: Heijmans, A and Victoria, P. 2001. Citizenry-Based & Development-Oriented Disaster Response: Experiences and Practices in Disaster Management of the Citizen's Disaster Response Network in the Philippines, p. 64

• Disaster Risk Assessment (DRA)

  DRA is the process of determining the nature, scope and magnitude of negative effects of hazards both within an anticipated time period and at numerous spatial scales.

  Adapted from ADPC's description of community disaster risk assessment.
  Source: Abarquez, I. & Murshed, Z. 2004. Community-Based Disaster Risk Management: Field Practitioners' Handbook. ADPC, Bangkok, p.31

• Gendered Community Risk Assessment

  Gendered Community Risk Assessment extends the disaster risk assessment as the research methods build on the ideas, feelings and observations of women.

  Organisation: International Hurricane Center, Florida International University
  Source: Enarson, E. et al. 2003. Working with Women at Risk: Practical Guidelines for Assessing Local Disaster Risk, p. 4

• Hazard and Vulnerability Assessment (HVA)

  HVA enables the identification of the physical hazard that is acting to generate impacts. Analysis which has made use of concepts such as impact chains or grids has proven useful for this.

  Organisation: GTZ
  Source: Kohler, A et al. Guidelines: Risk analysis: a Basis for Disaster Risk Management, p. 33

• Hazard Risk Vulnerability Assessment (HRV)

  HRV assessments produce subjective perspectives on hazards, risks and vulnerabilities for an area which has been well defined in terms of both time and space.

  Organisation: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC)
  Source: Community-Wide Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (CVCA)

• Hazard Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (HVCA)

  HVCA involves a participatory analysis of historical hazard trends and present threats undertaken at the level of the community (hazard assessment). It is combined with an understanding of the underlying reasons why hazards become disasters (vulnerability assessment) and of the available resources an affected community uses to cope (capacity assessment).

  Organisation: CDP (Centre for Disaster Preparedness)
  Source: Heijmans, A and Victoria, P. 2001. Citizenry-Based & Development-Oriented Disaster Response: Experiences and Practices in Disaster Management of the Citizen's Disaster Response Network in the Philippines, p. 54

• Participatory Capacity and Vulnerability Assessment (PCVA)

  PCVA is an enabling process whereby communities can analyse their disaster experiences and take action to address their vulnerabilities.

  Organisation: Oxfam
  Source: de Dios, H. Participatory Capacity and Vulnerability Assessment: Finding the Link Between Disasters and Development, p.15

• Participatory Disaster Risk Assessment (PDRA)

  PDRA is a process whereby all concerned parties collect and analyze disaster risk information, in order to make appropriate plans and take actions to reduce and/or eliminate disaster risks that threaten them adversely. It is both a dialogue and a negotiated process involving those at risk, authorities and other stakeholders.

  Organisation: ADPC (The Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre)
  Source: Abarquez, I. & Murshed, Z. 2004. Community-Based Disaster Risk Management: Field Practitioners' Handbook. ADPC, Bangkok, p. 8

• Participatory Vulnerability Assessment (PVA)

  PVA is a systematic process that involves communities and other stakeholders in an in-depth examination of their vulnerability, and at the same time empowers or motivates them to take appropriate actions. The overall aim of PVA is to link disaster preparedness and response to long-term development.

  Organisation: ActionAid International
  Source: Participatory Vulnerability Analysis: A step-by-step guide for field staff

• Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA)

  VCA is an investigation into the risks that people face in their immediate environment, their different levels of vulnerability to those risks, and the capacities they possess to cope with a hazard and recover from it.

  Organisation: IFRC
  Source: How to do Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment. A Practical Step By Step Guide for Red Cross and Red Crescent Staff and Volunteers (to be published)

• General assessment methods

• Class Analysis

  Class analysis in the context of CRA is an assessment of a particular community from the point of view of the stratification of the society into classes. It identifies power structures and highlights how access to resources and assets is defined within a particular context.

• Comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis (CFSVA)

  CFSVA is a series of assessments that systematically identifies and assesses chronic food security / vulnerability conditions of populations or areas in any given country. CFSVA's two key functions are to:

  • target development programme activities towards the hungry poor who most need them;
  • provide an authoritative review of the state and dynamics of food insecurity and vulnerability, so as to serve as a basis for other assessments.

  Organisation: World Food Program
  Source: Vulnerability Analysis & Mapping - VAM, Defining A 'Baseline', The Comprehensive Vulnerability Analysis (CVA)

• Cost benefit analysis

  Cost benefit analysis aims at measuring the financial and economic costs and benefits of a particular activity. Attempts are made to identify costs and benefits and these are then weighed against one another.

  Organisation: Emergency Management Australia (EMA)
  Source: Buckle, P et al. 2001. Assessing Resilience and Vulnerability: Principles, Strategies and Actions - Guidelines, p. 47

• Crop and Food Security Assessments

  Crop and Food Security Assessment assess the seriousness of a crisis by looking at the food produced nationally and the extent to which poor people can meet their basic food needs

  Organisation: World Food Programme
  Source: Emergency Food Security Assessment Handbook

• Food security Assessment

  A food security assessment is the evaluation of a country's food security based on the gap between projected domestic food consumption (produced domestically and imported) and the food consumption requirement by the countries population.

  Organisation: USDA Economic Research Service
  Source: Food Security Assessment model

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

  EIA is used to identify the environmental and social impacts of a development project prior to approval. It aims to predict environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning and design and find ways and means to reduce adverse impacts. It is also used to shape projects to suit the local environment and present the predicted impacts and mitigation options to decision-makers.

  Organisation: UNEP
  Source: Environmental Management Tools

• Gender Analysis

  Gender analysis refers to the variety of methods used to understand the relationships between men and women, their access to resources, their activities, and the constraints they face relative to each other. Gender analysis provides information that recognizes that gender, and its relationship with race, ethnicity, culture, class, age, disability, and/or other status, is important in understanding the different patterns of involvement, behaviour and activities that women and men have in economic, social and legal structures.

  Organisation: Canadian International Development Agency
  Source: What is gender analysis?

• Hazard Analysis

  Hazard analysis involves identifying and investigating both the hazard location and its geographical extent. It further examines the identified hazard’s strength (scale, magnitude, intensity) and probability of occurrence. The many methods and instruments available for hazard analysis operate on the basis of available scientific data.

  Organisation: GTZ
  Source: Kohler, A et al., Guidelines: Risk analysis: a Basis for Disaster Risk Management, p. 32. (See also “Hazard Analysis” under point 2).

• Household Livelihood Security Assessment (HSLA)

  HLSAs provide comprehensive sociocultural, economic, and ecological assessments of a given area for planning and project implementation.

  Organisation: CARE
  Source: Household Livelihood Security Assessments: A Toolkit for Practitioners, July 2002

• Institutional Analysis

  Institutional analysis focuses on an analysis of internal and external capacities (human, financial and material) of an organisation to implement specific activities and absorb inputs such as training. It is complementary to stakeholder analysis, only differing in that it focuses more specifically on the capacity of potential institutional partners to collaborate in project implementation. This is achieved by focussing on the respective roles and responsibilities of collaborating agencies.

  Organisation: CARE
  Source: Household Livelihood Security Assessments: A Toolkit for Practitioners, July 2002

• Livelihood Analysis

  Livelihood analysis comprises an assessment of capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living.

  Organisation: DFID
  Source: Sustainable Livelihood Guidance Sheets

• Needs Assessment

  Needs assessment involves the identification and prioritisation of the needs of individuals, families, groups, communities and service providers.

  Organisation: Emergency Management Australia (EMA)
  Source: Buckle, P et al. 2001. Assessing Resilience and Vulnerability: Principles, Strategies and Actions – Guidelines, p. 34

• Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)

  PRA uses the same methods as RRAs, however the emphasis is on community empowerment and not the acquisition of data within a short time-frame. The process involves intense community participation and assumes an open research agenda. Because PRAs tend to focus on one community rather than a region, they are best used as a complement to RRAs in order to further the design process once the RRA diagnosis is complete.

  Organisation: CARE
  Source: Household Livelihood Security Assessments: A Toolkit for Practitioners, July 2002, p. v.

• Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)

  Rapid Rural Appraisal consists of a series of techniques which enable "quick and dirty" research. RRA claims to generate results of less apparent precision, but greater evidential value, than classic quantitative survey techniques. The method does not need to be exclusively rural nor rapid, but it is economical in terms of research time. It is essentially extractive as a process as the agenda is still that of the outside researcher.

  Organisation: IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development)
  Source: A Guide for field projects on adaptive strategies

• Social and Institutional network analysis

  Social and Institutional network analysis enables the identification of organisations, their role/importance and people’s perceptions of them. It also identifies individuals, groups and organisations that play a role in disaster response and that can support the community.

  Organisation: IFRC
  Source: Make that Change: Community Based Disaster Management, p. 40

• Social Impact Assessment (SIA)

  SIA is a method used for examining social change due to external sources, especially specific development projects, but also government policies, technological change, and social processes - anything that has a social impact.

  Organisation: International Association for Impact Assessment
  Source: Social Impact Assessment Bibliography

• SWOT analysis

  SWOT analysis is a tool used in institutional assessments to capture and identify an organization’s geographic and programmatic scope of action, its perceived effectiveness and level of acceptance and support by community members and local institutions. The analysis is broken down into Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

  Organisation: CARE
  Source: Household Livelihood Security Assessments: A Toolkit for Practitioners, July 2002

• Vulnerability analysis

  Vulnerability Analysis is a systematic investigation of the characteristics of a person or group and their situation that influence their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impact of natural hazard.

  Source: Wisner et. al, At Risk, 1st edition, p. 11

Tools included in the CRA Toolkit

• Participatory tools

• Activity calendars

  An Activity Calendar is used to identify the variety of activities that an individual, group or a community undertakes over the course of a specific duration of time (eg a day) and the duration of each activity. This tool can be useful to identify the different tasks performed by men and women and when they do them. This information can then be useful for scheduling meetings, activities or the overall project.

  Adapted from the IFRC “Harmonization Toolkit”

• Community mapping

  Community mapping is a tool used to visualize the resources, services, vulnerabilities and risks in a community. These may include health clinics, schools, water sources, shelter as well as identifying risks such as flood areas, health hazards, indicating which locations or populations are vulnerable.

  Adapted from IFRC “Harmonization Toolkit”

• Concept mapping

  Concept mapping is a diagrammatic technique for representing the relationship between concepts and terms. The map is generated by creating a diagrammatic representation, using lines to connect key words. The resulting 'map' shows links between key ideas that can then be read through to clarify relationships between key terms

  Source: The Concept Mapping Home Page

• Focus group interviews

  Focus Group interviews are discussions guided by a facilitator with a group of selected individuals focusing on a specific issue. It is usually held at a later stage in the community assessment with a group of people from similar and often specialized backgrounds. They are often individuals who through their profession or interests are involved with the issue. Although the discussion may focus on a specific topic, the group members may talk freely and spontaneously about the issue.

  Adapted from the IFRC “Harmonization Toolkit”

• Hazard and resource mapping

  Hazard and Resource mapping identifies areas at risk from specific hazards and vulnerable members of the community. It also identifies available resources that could be used by community members in disaster risk management.

  Organisation: ADPC
  Source: Community-Based Disaster Risk Management: Field Practitioners’ Handbook, Abarquez, I. & Murshed, Z. 2004, Bangkok, pp 38-39

• Hazard mapping

  Hazard mapping is the process of mapping different hazards and the likely risk they pose to people, property, infrastructure, and economic activities. The exercise can be undertaken with the participation of community members, and can be drawn at varying scales and in varying degrees of detail, to show the frequency/probability of occurrences of various magnitudes and/or durations.

  Organisation: Church World Service Emergency Response Program
  Source: What terms do we use in Disaster Management?

• Hazard risk scoring matrix

  Hazard risk scoring matrix involves the use of ranking tools to prioritize hazards or disaster risks, needs or options.

  Organisation: ADPC
  Source: Community-Based Disaster Risk Management: Field Practitioners’ Handbook, Abarquez, I. & Murshed, Z. 2004, Bangkok, pp 47-48

• Historical profiling

  Historical Profile is a visual tool for gathering information about what happened in the past. The aim of an Historical Profile is that the community identifies all the events, risks and hazards that have left their mark in the growth and development of the community. Through the profile the community, especially the younger generations, will get to know, understand and appreciate the community’s development over time. It is useful to track changes in the environment, community behaviours and understand causal links. Analysis of the patterns in the profile can help generate an awareness that can influence the decisions that community members make in the planning process.

  Adapted from the IFRC “Harmonization Toolkit”
  See also: Wageningen University and Research Centre, MSP Resource Portal: Building your Capacity to Facilitate – Multi-Stakeholder Process and Social Learning

• Kinship charts

  Kinship charts involves the diagrammatic representation of kinship relations which makes use of symbols to indicate males, females, marriages, divorces, siblings, descent, and deceased relatives.

  Organisation: Oregon State University
  Source: Anthropology Glossary

• Oral histories

  Oral histories are collections of stories told by a member of the community. Normally, an oral history is transcribed onto paper, or is video or tape recorded. Oral histories can yield information about a community which is not documented in formal records. It can be a useful tool when there are no historical written records.

  Adapted from IFRC “Harmonization Toolkit”.

• Participatory GIS (PGIS)

  PGIS is a spatial decision making tool attempting to utilize GIS technology in the context of the needs and capabilities of communities that are involved with and affected by development projects and programmes.

  Organisation: Integrated Approaches to Participatory Development (IAPAD)
  Source: Participatory GIS
  See also: Natural Resource Institute, University of Greenwich, GIS and Participatory Approaches in Natural Resources Research.

• Photography

  Photography is a tool used to visually capture events, activities, people and places at one moment in time. Photography is useful in the context of community development and risk assessmnet to gain an understanding of different individuals’ perspectives about their community, their self-perception, and observations about the environment around them. It can be a useful tool to compare understanding with regard to disaster risks between groups of people and men and women, adults and children.

• Problem tree

  The problem tree is a flow diagram which shows relations between different aspects of a particular issue or problem. This tool is useful to direct participants toward analysis of the situation and helps the community to build up a picture of the major problems they face. From these they can look for the root causes that need to be addressed to reduce vulnerability.

  Adapted from IFRC “Harmonization Toolkit”.
  See also: Wageningen University and Research Centre, MSP Resource Portal: Building your Capacity to Facilitate – Multi-Stakeholder Process and Social Learning and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Urban Upgrading, Tools: the Problem Tree

• Risk mapping

  Risk mapping is the process of mapping elements/areas at risk and differentiating between low, medium and high risk areas. This activity is best conducted by involving community members and allowing them to lead the exercise. This exercise may also include mapping resources/infrastructure and describing the state in which these are in.

• Seasonal calendar

  A Seasonal Calendar is a tool which helps to explore changes taking place in a community over the period of one year. It can be used to show different events such as hurricanes or floods, social and economic conditions including economic recession, long periods of droughts, and activities such as carnivals, holidays and harvest.

  A Seasonal Calendar can be used to identify periods of stress, hazards, disease, hunger, debt, vulnerability. It identifies what people do during these periods, their coping strategies, when they have savings, and when they have time for community activities. The calendar can be used to identify division of work between men and women in the community as well as a planning tool for the best time to implement a project.

  Adapted from IFRC “Harmonization Toolkit”.

• Timeline

  A timeline is a tool that narrates the disaster history and significant events that happened in the community. One column gives the year and the other column lists down the events that took place. Timeline is a widely used participatory tool that aids understanding of a community’s history. It gives a quick impression of the community, how it is moving forward and/or what legacies persist in the community. It generates information of the major events (e.g, earthquake, epidemic, landslide, flood, new school building, electricity, new road built, new technology etc) which have impact upon the society.

  Sources: Abarquez, I. & Murshed, Z. 2004. Community-Based Disaster Risk Management: Field Practitioners’ Handbook. ADPC, Bangkok, p. 37 and Wageningen University and Research Centre, MSP Resource Portal: Building your Capacity to Facilitate – Multi-Stakeholder Process and Social Learning

• Transect walk

  Transect walk involves walking in the community along a predetermined path, taking notes and asking questions as one goes.

  Organisation: ADPC
  Source: Abarquez, I. & Murshed, Z. 2004. Community-Based Disaster Risk Management: Field Practitioners’ Handbook pp 43-45

• Venn diagrams

  A Venn diagram is used to illustrate the extent to which individuals, organisations, projects or services interact with each other or overlap. The diagram will also show the links between different types of groups, in a clear, graphic format. They can also be used to summarize the roles that different groups play and how their importance varies.

  Organisation: DFID
  Source: Sustainable Livelihood Guidance Sheets
  See also: Wageningen University and Research Centre, MSP Resource Portal: Building your Capacity to Facilitate – Multi-Stakeholder Process and Social Learning

• Vulnerability mapping

  Vulnerability mapping involves mapping geographical areas, resources and people or households in vulnerable areas likely to be impacted/affected by hazards.

• Wealth Ranking

  Wealth ranking is a technique which enables the rapid collection and analysis of specific livelihood data. This visual tool considers factors such as ownership of, or use rights to, productive assets, lifecycle stage of members of the productive unit, relationships of the productive unit to locally powerful people, availability of labour, and indebtedness.

  Organisation: The World Bank Group
  Source: The World Bank Participation Sourcebook, Appendix I, Methods and Tools, Glossary of Tools

• Technical Assessment Tools

• Census data

  Census data provides useful baseline information related to a community in terms of population demographics, employment statistics, and general household composition. This data is sourced through household surveys and then statistically compiled.

• Delphi Techniques

  Delphi Techniques involves the grouping, sorting and ranking of ideas, issues or questions, with the purpose of gaining group consensus on a common issue.

  Organisation: Wageningen University and Research Centre
  Sources: MSP Resource Portal: Building your Capacity to Facilitate – Multi-Stakeholder Process and Social Learning and Audience Dialogue, Glossary of Research Methods

• Direct observation

  Direct observation involves the witnessing of phenomena without any intervening factor between the observer and that which is being observed. A record of the situation is made.

  Organisation: Foundation Coalition
  Source: Glossary of Terms

• Geological hazard maps

  Geological hazard maps are maps that include geological information of an area that allows one to identify, assess and characterize the various areas that are vulnerable to geological hazards.

• GIS

  GIS (geographical information system) is a computerized system for the collection, storage, and retrieval of geographic data.

  Organisation: IAPAD
  Source: Community Mapping Glossary

• Key informant interviews

  Key informant interviews are the process of collecting information (usually factual) about a community or group of people, by finding and interviewing key informants. These are people who are likely to be well informed about an issue, and willing to answer without bias.

  Organisation: Audience Dialogue
  Source: Glossary of Methods

• Questionnaires

  Questionnaires are forms that people fill out, used to obtain demographic information and views and interests of those questioned. Questionnaires are especially good for collecting subjective data and are often more convenient and more consistent than personal interviews.

  Organisation: Usability First
  Source : Usability Glossary

• Secondary data

  Secondary data is information that was collected in the course of another study or is part of a publicly available set of data. It is normally in the form of official statistics or documentary sources, that have not been generated by the researcher.

  Sources: New York University, Tutorial Glossary and University of Canterbury, Glossary of Sociological Terms

• Semi structured interviews

  Semi-structured interviews are guided conversations where broad questions are asked, which do not constrain the conversation, and new questions are allowed to arise as a result of the discussion. This is different from questionnaires and surveys where there are very structured questions that are not deviated from. A semi-structured interview is therefore a relatively informal, relaxed discussion based around a predetermined topic. It is usually best to conduct such interviews in pairs with one person doing the interview and one taking detailed notes. The process of a semi-structured interview involves the interviewer presenting the context of the study and its objectives to the interviewee or interview group (such as a family or household). The set of questions are prepared but open, allowing the interviewees to express opinions through discussion. Questions are generally simple, with a logical sequence to help the discussion flow. Interview questions should be tested prior to interviews.

  Organisation: Wageningen University and Research Centre
  Source: MSP Resource Portal: Building your Capacity to Facilitate – Multi-Stakeholder Process and Social Learning

• Surveys

  Surveys are whole exercises of measuring public opinion. Note: Do not confuse a survey with a questionnaire

  Organisation: Audience Dialogue
  Source: Glossary of Methods

• Water testing tools

  Water testing tools refer to chemical apparatus that often comes in portable testing kits used for monitoring the quality of water and also to enable the protection of scarce water resources to become polluted by regular monitoring.