Programme Planning, Implementation and Evalution

PROGRAMME PLANNING, IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION 2(1+1)

Lesson 32 : Techniques of Participatory Rural Appraisal

Venn diagram on institutions

Purpose:

• To identify institutions/groups/important persons active in the community and how they interact with each other.
• To identify the importance or influence of institutions/groups or decision making in the community.
• To find out how different organisations and groups relate to each other in terms of contact, co-operation, flow of information, provision of services and improvement in development programmes.

Venn diagram on institutions shows institutions, organisations, groups or individuals who are important in the village, as well as the villager’s view of their importance in the community. Additionally the diagram explains who participates in these groups in terms of gender and wealth. The institutional relationship diagram also indicates how close the contact and cooperation between those organizations and groups is.

What to evaluate?
Venn diagram, one of the commonly used methods of PRA is used in institutional context to discuss:

• Importance and functions of various institutions
• Extent of communication between organizations
• Improving the links between institutions and organizations
• Significant roles of new organizations
• Level of cooperation extended by formal and non formal groups
• Communities perception of the institutions/persons etc.

Who will evaluate?
PRA team, elderly of the village, extension staff, religious leaders and other knowledgeable persons is responsible for listing and evaluation of individuals and institutions influencing decision making of the community.

Venn diagram is also popularly known as Chapati diagram, as the method uses circles of various sizes to represent institutions or individuals. The bigger the circle, the more important is the institution/individual and small circle indicates little importance. However, the distance between circles, represents the degree of contact between individuals or institutions. Overlapping circles indicate the degree of contact between institution e.g. a large overlap indicates high interaction and no overlap- a distant relationship.

(Ref: Kunwar and Vashistha , A Textbook of PRA and Methods for Community Participation, Pg 38, 2004)

1. Size of the circle is in relation to the perceived importance i.e. big circle more importance.
2. Distance from the centre in relation to access- less distance, easier access.