Micro Analysis

  • Objective: Uncover local-level social structures and dynamics, political processes, as well as household livelihood strategies and relations.
Micro-level analysis typically focuses on the local community and household levels as the units for analysis. At the micro level, situational analysis helps uncover local-level social structures and dynamics, political processes, as well as household livelihood strategies and relations. Often examining both better-off and poor local administrative units within a country, this process aims to unveil varying power dynamics, inequities in accumulation strategies between communities with access to development opportunities and those consistently excluded from development.

In the study of local-level context and its relational dynamics issues of conflict and peace, risks, differential vulnerability and resilience at household and community levels are revealed. This level of analysis also sheds light on the perspectives of particular population group members, triangulating findings from macro-level sources.

  • For Program Design: This process – complementing macro and meso level analyses – helps programs to identify what groups are most marginalized from development, the drivers perpetuating their exploitation and possible triggers or opportunities for positive social change. Once all critical information gaps about the impact groups are closed, the team can proceed to final selection of the impact groups (phase 4), the elaboration of their characteristics, and the design of the program (phase 5). Strategic decisions about where to operationalize the program(s) will follow (for details, see the discussion page on the phases in situational analysis).
  • For Social Analysis and Action: In addition, these analyses – when rooted in PLA methodologies – enable program teams to work in collaboration with local people to analyze forms of marginalization, prioritize key issues, and come up with plans and strategies to address inequalities. This process focuses not only upon joint analysis and learning as an empowering process, but is also formed around strategic planning and activities generated at the local level, as opposed to the traditional top-down approach toward international development programming.
  • For Monitoring Change:  In addition, aggregating micro level analyses across a given regional zone can also build a rich depiction of its characteristics and conditions at the meso level. This information could offer an important basis for monitoring change over time, particularly in comparison to other regions within a country context as a basis for impact monitoring. Beyond the program, these analyses can also signal how shifting contexts affect conditions and characteristics facing communities across time.

Analyzing a Situation at the Micro Level

Similar to macro analysis, methods and tools chosen must be informed by research design, purpose and guiding questions to ensure that the study remains focused. It is recommended to use micro level analysis to either

  • Probe further on findings at macro level (e.g. how does a macro-level finding play out in communities?) or to
  • Help fill gaps in the macro analysis (e.g. sometimes there is no available information about certain marginalized groups at national level or empirical information about their poverty situation is available but not the underlying causes).

Further, tools must be reviewed in terms of potential risks or sensitivities and adapted to the context. Micro-level analysis can involve a range of methods such as resource and power mapping, PLA exercises, focus-group discussions and key informant interviews.

Held in May and August 2010, the ECAR Capacity-Building Initiative on Situational Analysis carried out a host of exercises that explored dimensions on resources and power (including issues related to natural resources), the disaggregation of communities, governance, livelihoods and gender. The exercises taught and practiced through this initiative – adapted from exercises that have become core methods in CAREs Bangladesh and Nepal – form the basis of methods featured within this compendium.

 

Tools for Analysis

Tools engaged in the East/Central Africa Regional Capacity-Building Initiative held in Tanzania included:

Teams facilitated these exercises with rural, agricultural communities. While these tools are specifically tailored toward farming communities, experienced PLA facilitators may experiment and adapt methods for non-agriculturalist or even urban contexts. The capacity building initiative began to explore how to use tools with pastoralist groups, though time and resources did not allow further refinement of these methods.

In This Section

Pages within this section include:

Overview of the phases of analysis for program design.

Macro Analysis Guidance, including frameworks for macro analysis on:

Meso Analysis Guidance: On looking across the macro-level analyses to gain an understanding of regional pockets and dynamics of inequality, poverty and exclusion.

Note on Participatory Methods

Participatory methods are essentially about engaging local people in ways that enable them to discuss and analyze the various dimensions of their lives, with an emphasis on processes of marginalization, discrimination and poverty. Ultimately, the exercises that have been conducted in a community / locality should be presented to the community and used to explore social actions that can address marginalization and poverty.

Participatory exercises can explore social structures and dynamics, political processes, as well as household livelihood strategies. Looking at the dynamics within and among households as well as communities, exercises can also be used to gauge relations of tension or cohesion, as well as dynamics of risk or resilience.

In time, the various analyses will enable the participatory researchers (in our case CARE staff and partners) to work with local people to come up with plans and strategies to address inequalities and forms of marginalization that have been analyzed, rather than imposing top down solutions. To do so, however, requires that staff practice the methodologies and become good at engaging people in such exercises by improving their facilitation and analysis skills.

For more information, please see the Case Example on how CARE teams have used participatory methods for situational, underlying causes of poverty analysis.

 

Resources

  • B Bode, M Picard and D Wu (2011). Micro Analysis. From Situational Analysis for Program Design: methods guidance for macro, meso and micro levels. CARE: East and Central Africa Regional Management Unit.