Calculate the indicator's value by using the following methodology:
1) Review the following examples of statements expressing attitudes that either positively or negatively influence gender equality. Select those that are most relevant to:
- gender-related attitudes that are most prevalent in the project area and undermine gender equality
- gender-related attitudes that your intervention aims to tackle (as there is no point in measuring people's attitudes about issues that the project does not plan to influence)
If required, propose additional statements relevant to your project's focus and target area. When doing so, keep the following in mind:
- do not use more than 7 to 10 statements in total (people might provide less accurate answers due to being tired of enumerators asking them many similar-sounding questions)
- the statements need to be about the most common and problematic gender equality attitudes that are present in the target area; do not guess these attitudes - identify them using focus group discussions with the target group members and interviews with local gender specialists
- ensure that the statements are culturally sensitive – consult your female / male colleagues living in / nearby the target areas on how they would feel if someone asks them about such statements
EXAMPLES OF STATEMENTS
A man should have the final word about decisions in his home.
A woman's main role is taking care of her home and family.
Changing diapers and feeding kids should not be done by men, as it is women's work.
Fetching water should not be done by men, as it is women's work.
Decisions about buying major household items should be made by the husband.
It is important that sons have more education than daughters do.
Daughters should be sent to school only if they are not needed to help at home.
Men make better [select: political, community] leaders than women.
Women cannot be as good at business as men are.
When girls marry, they should stop going to school and stay home.
Women should not be working outside of their homes.
2) Incorporate the selected statements into your questionnaire by taking the following steps:
- include the following introduction: Now, I am going to read different statements. Please show me on this scale how you feel about 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 each statement. I would again like to assure you that your answers will not be shared with any people living in this area, and that you do not have to answer any questions that you do not want to.
- for each statement, include the following question: Which of these four faces [point to the scale] best represents your feelings about the following statement? [read out the given statement]
- for each statement, include in your questionnaire the following pre-defined answers: 1) strongly agree; 2) somewhat agree; 3) somewhat disagree; 4) strongly disagree
3) Conduct individual interviews with a representative sample of your target group members, assessing whether they strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree with each of the context-specific statements.
4) To analyse the data, provide 2 points for each response representing strong gender equality and 1 point for each response representing moderate gender equality. For example, in the case of the statement “A man should have the final word about decisions in his home”, response:
- “strongly agrees” would represent very low gender equality (i.e. no point given)
- “somewhat agrees” would represent low gender equality (i.e. no point given)
- “somewhat disagrees” would represent moderate gender equality (i.e. 1 point given)
- “strongly disagrees” would represent strong gender equality (i.e. 2 points given)
5) For each respondent, calculate the total number of points. The minimum number of points can be zero (highly unsupportive attitudes towards gender equality), and the highest number (highly supportive attitudes towards gender equality) equals to the number of survey questions multiplied by a maximum of 2 points per question. For example, 8 survey questions multiplied by 2 equals to the highest possible score of 16 points.
6) Count the number of respondents who scored at least half of the maximum number of points. For example, if the maximum is 16 points, you will have to count the number of respondents who scored 8 or more points.
7) To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the number of respondents who scored at least half of the maximum number of points by the total number of interviewed respondents. Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.