Data Needs for Gender Research - IFPRI Gender Methods Seminar

Data needs for Gender Research

Cheryl DossConsultant, Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets, CGIAR

Senior Lecturer, Yale University

July 8th, 2013Presentation given as part of IFPRI’s Gender Methods Seminar Series

Two sets of questions for gender research for agriculture:

1) How to improve agricultural productivity? And how does gender fit in?

2) How do changes in agricultural production affect women and girls and men and boys?

These fit into broader questions about the role of agriculture in development .

Data needs1) Survey data needs to be disaggregated; more data at the individual level2) Information on how institutions and structures -- markets for inputs, outputs, credit, and labor, and legal systems -- are experienced differently by men and women and how this impacts the well-being of individuals and communities and the processes of agricultural development and economic growth.

There are many issues related to data collection for gender. For a detailed discussion of the approaches and variables needed, see

Doss, C. (2013). Data Needs for Gender Analysis in Agriculture. IFPRI Discussion Paper 01261.

http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp01261.pdf

This presentation focuses on two issues:

• 1) Who to interview• 2) How to handle data from multiple people

within a household.

Collecting Sex Disaggregated Survey Data

Challenge 1: Who should be interviewed? • Does sex disaggregated data mean we have to

interview multiple people per household? • What do we mean by data at the individual

level?

Many possible units of analysis• Individual (farmer, worker, etc)• Household• Intrahousehold (dynamics within household)• Community• Regional/National• Land area or plot• Resource Unit (e.g. a forest or water source)• Institution or Management Unit• Value Chain

Who to interview?

Many household surveys interview one person – often the household head.

If interviewing one person, identify the respondent based on roles and responsibilities, such as the primary farmer.

For analysis, compare male headed, female headed, and couple headed. Include measures of household structure.

Options for interviewing multiple people in household

• Principal couple• One man and one woman• One or two randomly chosen people • Everyone that is relevant for a specific

module. Ask each person about their own…

What is the goal for interviewing multiple people within a household?

• Obtaining a more complete picture of the household. One person doesn’t have all of the information. – Gender differences in roles and responsibilities– Information hidden from spouses

• To learn where perceptions within the household differ.

Gender Asset Gap Project surveys:

• Individual level asset data collected in Ecuador, Ghana, and Karnataka, India

• Two respondents • Household inventory and individual

questionnaire.

Major Assets added by interviewing a second respondent (% added to inventory)

Asset Ecuador Ghana India

Principal dwelling 0.40 Na na

Agricultural parcels 1.36 0.35 0.15

Other real estate 3.91 0.41 0.35

Non-farm businesses

0.52 1.04 0.12

Ecuador Ghana

Asset N (assets)

% who disagree

N (assets) % who disagree

Dwelling 450 35.1 510 7.7

Agricultural land 94 30.9 873 3.3

Other real estate 164 20.1 413 7.8

Non-farm business 534 22.3 641 1.6

Disagreements among couples over who owns the asset.

Benefits to interviewing two people:

• In this case, few additional household assets were identified by interviewing a second person.

• But disagreements over ownership were identified; these may be important for understanding outcomes within household.

Challenge 2: How to analyze data with conflicting answers?

When you need one consistent answer – such as identifying the owner of a parcel of land. Create a decision rule:1. Use one answer (from the primary farmer,

head, primary income earner, oldest adult)2. Use the broadest definitions – include everyone

as an owner who claims to be an owner. 3. Use other information, such as marital property

rules

How to analyze data with conflicting answers?

• For some issues, the disagreement may be the important issue.

• May want to code households where there are major disagreements.

• For women’s empowerment, what may be important is her perception.

• Gender Disaggregated Survey, Kenya Agricultural Productivity and Agribusiness Project

• Interviewed Primary farmer and one other household member

Respondents by Sex and Relationship to Head of Household, Kenya

Primary Farmer Individual Respondent

Relationship to Head Male Female All Male Female AllHead 98% 36% 65% 79% 3% 32%

Spouse 0% 62% 33% 4% 91% 58%

Child 1% 1% 1% 15% 4% 8%

Other 0% 1% 1% 2% 2% 2%

N=farmers 1,160 1,369 2,529 566 957 1,523

Who is the household head?

• 35 both respondents claimed headship• 14 both respondents claimed to be the spouse• In 2 households, the two respondents

identified different men identified as head

1: Primary farmer (PF) does not list a parcel joint w/Individual Respondent (IR); IR lists parcel joint with PF2: PF lists parcel joint w/ IR, but IR does not list any parcel joint w/PF3: PF lists self as an owner on all land parcels; IR lists parcel owned individually.

Distribution of Responses among household members about land ownership

Type of inconsistency

Couples Non-couples

N= hhs Female primary farmer

Male primary farmer

Both males

Both females

Male primary/ Female ind.resp

Female primary/

Male ind.resp

None 52% 51% 90% 86% 62% 62% 53%1 5% 32% 0% 0% 5% 3% 20%2 32% 2% 0% 0% 0% 2% 11%3 6% 4% 10% 11% 33% 33% 7%Other 5% 13% 0% 3% 0% 0% 9%N=households 455 860 10 37 39 99 1,500

Distribution of Households by Percentage of HH Livestock Owned by Spouse of Primary Farmer.

None Some1 Most to All2 More than 100%

Conditional mean N=hhs

Male Primary Farmerimproved cattle 89% 2% 7% 2% 3.79 394local cattle 87% 6% 5% 2% 4.18 573Sheep 72% 11% 12% 6% 2.53 206Goat 60% 21% 12% 8% 4.46 223chicken (indigenous) 15% 42% 20% 22% 6.27 614chicken (improved) 67% 0% 6% 28% 24.17 18Female Primary Farmerimproved cattle 22% 7% 54% 18% 5.42 354local cattle 30% 13% 40% 17% 6.67 349Sheep 31% 8% 35% 26% 5.40 134Goat 27% 18% 32% 23% 6.32 159chicken (indigenous) 74% 11% 6% 9% 8.00 359chicken (improved) 89% 0% 0% 11% 10.00 9

Primary farmer identified total # of animals owned in the household; Spouse identified own animals. 1 Some includes at least one animal to 95% of household animals2 Most to all is more than 95% to 100% of household animals.

Percentage of Couples who Agree on Responsibilities for Livestock, by Sex of Primary Farmer.

Responsible Decide to sell Keep Income

Husband Wife Husband Wife Husband Wife

Improved Cow 19% 42% 48% 54% 52% 60%

Goat 23% 36% 20% 42% 23% 43%

Indigenous Chicken 68% 43% 52% 34% 51% 34%

Note: The sex of the person responsible is not identified in this table.

Conclusions

• Whether you interview one or multiple people will depend on the research question.

• Interview multiple people if needed for full information or when different perceptions within household will affect outcomes.

• Depending on who you interview, you may get very different answers.

• Need to consider whose answer you need. • Be transparent in how you choose.

References:

• The Gender Asset Gap Project: http://genderassetgap.iimb.ernet.in• Cheryl Doss, “The Gender Asset Gap in

Agricultural Assets in Kenya.” Draft.