2.6.1 Challenges of measuring inclusion in WASH

Collecting data often requires the use of surveys and questionnaires. Preparing the questionnaire and thinking of the right questions to be asked can be difficult.

  • Think back to previous sections in this study session and identify three reasons why trying to collect data by asking ‘Do you have a disability?’ may not give accurate results.

  • You may have thought of others but possible reasons include:

    • There are different definitions and understandings of what disability is.
    • There are many different types of impairment with different levels of severity; these variations would not be revealed by this question.
    • People may be reluctant to report that they or a family member are disabled.

Where there are variations within a data set, the data is more informative and useful if it is disaggregated. To aggregate means to combine or group together so disaggregated data are data divided into separate categories. For example, you read above about various estimates of the total number of people with disabilities in Ethiopia. To be useful for planning and implementing inclusive services for all, the total number does not provide sufficient detail and a more specific breakdown is needed. Disaggregated disability data have separate records for different types and degrees of disability among a population. It may be useful to further disaggregate data by sex (separate records for males and females) and by age (separate records for different age groups), in which case the questionnaire would need to include the right questions to produce these data.

2.6 Collecting data about persons with disabilities

2.6.2 Tools for data collection