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This helps to identify people’s criteria for certain topics and make comparisons of them. In matrix ranking, criteria’s are used for the rows in a matrix and items for columns, people fill in the boxes for each row. The items are ordered for each of the criteria and people put in piles of stones, seeds etc., for scoring relative values. This helps in arriving at a comparative understanding of items based on different criteria and thereby making an informal choice.
Ranking exercises are not only relevant with villagers as participants, but often they are also very useful for planners and development practitioners. To work with illiterate farmers, problems have to be symbolized with pictures or objects. Ranking is used to identify the importance of agricultural problems. The problems had been identified in informal interviews during the preparation phase for the workshop. This method enables the participatory team to prioritize from a list of criteria for a certain object. It allows the team to understand the reasons for local preferences for such things as tree species, crops, vegetables, household animals and others. The criteria are likely to change from women to men.
A direct matrix ranking for tree species is shown here as an example (Figure):
|
Criteria
|
Tree species score
|
|
Eucalyptus
|
Neem
|
Acacia
|
Mango
|
|
Fuel wood (score based on individual criteria)
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
|
Building
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
2
|
|
Fruit
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
4
|
|
Medicine
|
3
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
|
Shade
|
1
|
4
|
2
|
3
|
|
Total score
Rank (composite)
|
11
III
|
16
I
|
9
IV
|
14
II
|
(Ref: Ray G. L., Extension communication and management , Pg232,2001)
In the example, the tree species considered best, good, not so good and worst on a particular criterion are given scores 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively. After tabulation, ranking of the tree species on each criteria and composite ranking of all the tree species on several criteria are obtained.
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Participants