How to choose outcome indicators for your project

1. Start with a clear outcome
 
As you might know, an outcome is the change or difference that you want to make. For example, ‘increased dietary diversity (amongst participating households)’, ‘increased household income’ or ‘increased family stability’.
 
2. Brainstorm potential indicators
 
– Think about what you would see or hear if this outcome were achieved. What evidence would show that it was happening? For the example of increased dietary diversity, how would you know that households are eating a more diverse diet than they used to? What would be different? What would be happening? How would you measure this? For this example, it might be number of different foods, or food groups, eaten in a day or over a week, or for your project it might be something else.
 
– Do consider different types of evidence. You might use a combination of objective and subjective indicators.
Objective indicators are often quantitative. For example, the number of different food groups eaten per day.
Subjective indicators are often qualitative, and capture perceptions (feelings, opinions, beliefs). For ‘family stability’ a subjective indicator might be a self-reported stability level in a survey or a description in response to an interview question.
 
3. Refine and select indicators
 
– Involve participants and other stakeholders. In some circumstances, you can ask the people who are experiencing the change how they would know it has happened. This can often be the best source for identifying meaningful indicators.
 
– Assess the quality of your indicators. Choose indicators that will genuinely help you to measure progress and learn what is working.
 
– Check for clarity. Ensure that the indicators are clear enough for everyone to understand what is being measured and why.