Given Hapunda

73  Column 5 : target – this indicates the target of the project on each indicator.  Row 1 : shows indicators based on the outcome level (goal and objectives).  Row 2 : shows indicators based on the strategy/mechanism levels (inputs, activities and output). There are other optional columns that can be added:  Indicator direction (positive or negative) - There are times when we want to reduce incidence of something (for example, incidence of maternal death) in a project. In such instances, the indicator direction we desire is negative. On the other hand if the desire is to increase something e.g. enrolment of girls in school, the indicator direction is positive.  Assumptions – to make sense of the indicators progress sometimes we need assumptions made on certain activities.  Indicator timeline – this indicates when the project started measuring the indicator and when a project intends to stop measuring a particular indicator.  Comment – additional column for project staff to comment on project progress made on a particular indicator can be helpful for decision-making, especially if comments explain “why and why not” progress was made. Tracking Qualitative Indicators To track progress using qualitative indicators, thematic maps on a specific project component or indicator are compared before and after the project. Changes in the dynamics and factors influencing the indicator either positive or negative determine the nature of change made. Change can be negative or positive on projects, programme or policies. For instance, if the views expressed in the baseline thematic map are negative while those expressed in the endline review are positive, then a project can claim it made positive change. To achieve this, projects deliberately develop questions asking about the before and after situation e.g., kindly tell me your situation before your participation in the project” and, kindly tell me about your life after participating in the project?” Another way of tracking qualitative indicators is by developing a scale with adjectives that need to be accompanied with respondents own voices as separate means of verification. These adjectives need to be explained right at the beginning of the project to stakeholders and respondents so that the tracking is systematic and the respondents explanations of the adjective attached correspondent with each other. For instance, an indicator assessing perceptions of stakeholders’ views on implementation of activity X can use