Existing frameworks to measure social change rely heavily on outcomes such as changes in income, increasing employment, or uptake in services – de facto evidence of the social changes. While these indicators are important, they are often post facto indicators functioning as proxies for the processes through which these outcomes are generated. Focusing on outcomes alone can sometimes hinder the ability to capture the impact of any organisation or programme, especially in complex and gendered contexts where social change is non-linear, dynamic, unpredictable, and mediated by social norms, institutions, and power relations.
To address the above concerns, we developed a preliminary framework to measure social change called the Process Measurement Framework (PMF). It is based on rigorous and in-depth research (using methods of embedded ethnography and participation-observation) from 2020 to 2023 with the help of two civil society organisations – Bhumika Women’s Collective (BWC) located in Telangana and Doosra Dashak (DD) located in Rajasthan.
In this next phase of developing the PMF to become actionable, reliable, and scalable, it needs to be transformed into a usable methodology. The PMF needs to be applied to a wide variety of social contexts and environments so that it can be rigorously tested and evaluated before being used. The objective of this project is to develop a PMF methodology that can translate seamlessly into any organizational or programmatic processes. In order to develop the PMF methodology, the following process will be undertaken with the help and participation of five partner organizations:
Understanding programmatic focus: Regardless of the nature of the organisation, the first step shall focus on the philosophy, principles, processes, people, and practices of the organisations to comprehend the manner in which they are attempting to influence social change. This will entail a detailed review of all programmatic documents, inception workshops and undertaking assessment field visits.
Analysis of the programmatic and field data: In the second step, systems maps shall be generated for each of the pathways of change. This shall be followed by mapping the emergences based on the analysis of all primary, secondary, observational, and interactional data collected. Developing the systems map and mapping the emergencies will enable the creation of a model of PMF methodology.
Evaluating the PMF Methodology: In the last step, the PMF methodology will be incorporated within the existing organizational structures. A baseline (qualitative and quantitative) and endline survey will be conducted to evaluate any changes occurring from implementing the PMF methodology.
The PMF will be developed in partnership with Doosra Dashak, Vishakha, Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST), Prayatn and Equal Community Foundation.