ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the features of an effective social monitoring programme. Household surveys instruments that often form the core of social monitoring programmes but are also used extensively in baseline studies, rapid rural assessments and social impact assessments are then discussed in detail. Household surveys, discussed in detail in the following section, can provide a range of qualitative and quantitative data to provide a reliable view of change from the community perspective. As with the household surveys, care needs to be taken to ensure that the survey picks up variations in the local economy, be they weekly, fortnightly, monthly or seasonal. The establishment of an ongoing programme to monitor the social and economic effects of a development project should be an integral part of the impact assessment process, in the same way that environmental monitoring programmes are established to monitor the effects of development projects on the physical environment.
