Baseline data collection
A social baseline should explain the conditions through which a project can affect people, and establish measures that can be followed over time. Begin with decisions about siting, access, livelihood protection, services and benefit delivery. Those decisions determine which people, resources and relationships need investigation.
This methods section develops practical choices for social impact assessment using international good practice. The baseline survey series provides the detailed design and conduct: national statistical definitions, questionnaires, sampling, field protocols, estimation and reproducible analysis. Record the applicable national law and financing requirements separately from methodological guidance.
Organize the baseline around resources and access
The original Maluku design used a resource framework to connect household and community conditions. Its useful organizing questions remain: what resources support well-being, who can use them, under which rules, and how could the project change that access?
Cover human capabilities and labor; social support and institutions; cultural and religious relationships; environmental quality; land, water and other natural resources; livelihoods; housing; and basic services where relevant. These are prompts for inquiry. A fishing household, tenant farmer, trader and wage worker may depend on the same place in different ways.
Keep ownership, occupancy, customary claims and actual use distinct. Record seasonal access and unpaid contributions as well as cash earnings. The target data guide turns these relationships into measurable indicators and management questions.
Combine methods for a defined purpose
IFC's 2003 Addressing the Social Dimensions of Private Sector Projects connects scoping with secondary sources, qualitative inquiry, participatory methods and quantitative measurement. Its baseline section remains useful historical practitioner guidance; the financing agreement determines which requirements govern a particular project. IFC, 2003, pp. 4–9
| Method | Contribution | Design question |
|---|---|---|
| Official statistics and administrative records | Population context, services, historical trends and established definitions | Does the source describe the same place, population and period? |
| Interviews and observation | Institutions, livelihood mechanisms, access arrangements and contested accounts | Whose experience or knowledge is needed, and how will contrary accounts be recorded? |
| Focus groups and participatory mapping | Shared resource use, seasons, local categories and differences in perspective | Can participants speak freely, and what requires a separate interview? |
| Household and activity surveys | Distributions, quantities and relationships for a defined population | Is coverage a census or a probability sample, and which estimates can it support? |
Use rapid appraisal to discover issues and refine questions. Population percentages require an appropriate enumeration or sampling design; adding focus-group participants to household interviews does not create a representative sample. Investigate disagreements between sources by checking dates, definitions, coverage and interests before combining results.
Define coverage and reference conditions
Specify the project activities, impact pathways, study population, geographic extent and reference period. Include associated access routes, resource users and host-community services when those pathways warrant it. Map the places that matter to livelihoods alongside settlement boundaries.
Distinguish an area baseline from an affected-person census and asset inventory. Where involuntary resettlement is unavoidable, IFC Performance Standard 5 paragraph 12 requires a census with appropriate socioeconomic baseline data. The detailed survey guide explains these different purposes. IFC, 2012, PS5 paragraph 12
Record season, earlier project activity and other major disruptions. A baseline collected after an announcement, earthquake or compensation round describes that reference condition. Reconstruct earlier conditions only where the sources support the comparison.
Use national evidence and local knowledge together
In Maluku, the BPS Kepulauan Tanimbar Podes 2025 catalogue provides a current village-context source to examine alongside household evidence. Retain older Maluku Tenggara Barat names and dated boundaries when connecting historical records. The Indonesia guide develops the questionnaire and official-statistics crosswalk.
The Nepal guide makes the corresponding distinction between district profiles, national survey domains and project populations. Align the selected instrument's household definition, respondent, units, recall periods and geography; then add the local questions required by the impact pathway.
Prepare evidence for action and follow-up
Agree the indicator definitions and analysis plan before fieldwork. Pilot the questions, translations and selection procedures; train and supervise the team; record refusals, absence and coverage errors; and preserve a correction trail. Link findings to the responsible manager, action and next review date.
Return suitable findings to participants and invite correction while protecting confidential records. Use persistent identifiers and documented follow-up rules so that subsequent change can be interpreted. The questionnaire and fieldwork guide, sampling guide and methods references provide the next steps.