The Access Advantage Why a Gender-Balanced Field Force is a Methodological Imperative
Published on: Sat Apr 01 2023 by Ivar Strand
The Access Advantage: Why a Gender-Balanced Field Force is a Methodological Imperative
A core objective of any large-scale data collection effort, whether for a baseline survey or for programmatic monitoring, is to gather accurate information from a representative sample of the target population. The credibility of all subsequent analysis and decision-making rests on the integrity of this foundational data.
In many of the challenging environments where we operate, a simple and often overlooked factor makes achieving this objective impossible without a specific operational design: the gender composition of the field enumeration team. The recruitment and deployment of female enumerators is not a matter of social policy or preference; it is a non-negotiable, methodological requirement for generating complete and unbiased data.
The Structural Barrier of Access
The practical reality of conducting fieldwork in many socially conservative or post-conflict societies is that there are strict cultural norms governing interactions between men and women. In these contexts, it is often culturally inappropriate or explicitly forbidden for men who are not relatives to enter a household and speak directly with female members of that household.
This creates a hard, structural barrier to access. A field force composed entirely of male enumerators is, by its very design, physically and socially barred from interacting with what is often 50% or more of the population. This is not a challenge that can be overcome through skill or effort; it is a fundamental access constraint.
The Inevitable Consequence: A Corrupted Dataset
A failure to overcome this access barrier has severe and predictable consequences for the quality and integrity of the collected data. The resulting dataset is not just incomplete; it is methodologically compromised.
- Severe Sampling Bias. A sample that systematically excludes an entire demographic is, by definition, not representative of the population. Any statistical inferences drawn from such a sample are invalid. A program that bases its design or evaluates its impact on this biased data is operating with a flawed understanding of the community it seeks to serve.
- Data Invisibility on Critical Topics. For programs focused on issues where women are the primary stakeholders—such as maternal and child health, gender-based violence, or women’s economic empowerment—the exclusion of female respondents renders the data collection exercise effectively useless. The dataset becomes silent on its most important subjects.
- Inaccurate Household-Level Data. Even for general household economic or agricultural surveys, the inability to speak with female household members can lead to inaccurate data. The male head of household may not have reliable or precise knowledge of topics such as child nutrition, expenditures on healthcare and education, or the informal economic activities of other family members.
A Methodological and Fiduciary Imperative
Given these consequences, the assembly of a gender-balanced field force is a professional and fiduciary imperative.
From a methodological standpoint, it is the only way to ensure access to the entire target population and, therefore, the only way to collect a genuinely representative and unbiased sample.
From a fiduciary standpoint, funding a large-scale survey that is structurally designed to produce biased and incomplete data does not represent value for money. An investment in a flawed data collection instrument is an unsound investment.
Our Operational Standard
For these reasons, the recruitment, training, and deployment of female enumerators is a core and non-negotiable component of our firm’s methodology for field research in any relevant context. Our operational planning, including our security and logistical protocols, is designed from the outset to support the effective and safe deployment of mixed-gender and all-female teams.
The composition of a field force is not an administrative detail; it is a central design choice that determines the validity of the entire data collection effort. A survey that is structurally incapable of reaching half the population is a failed survey. A gender-balanced team is therefore not a reflection of a particular social value, but a prerequisite for generating the credible and complete data that high-stakes programmatic and policy decisions require.
