Methods used for Assessments in the Rachna Program

Over the life of RACHNA, three sets of population based surveys were conducted: 1. Program wide baseline and endline surveys for INHP-II and Chayan to assess program performance; 2.Rapid Assessments Surveys (RAPS) in a sample of one district, referred to as a panel district, in each of the INHP-II program states to study the effect of program processes on outcomes; 3. Two evaluation Research studies with a pre-test, post-test, , quasi-experimental evaluation design in two program states, Uttar Pradesh and Andra Pradesh, respectively, to test the effectiveness. This paper describes the methodology of these surveys, briefly compares the methods used in these surveys with other large scale surveys such as the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the District Level Household Survey (DLHS)/Reproductive and Child Health Survey (RCH) and the Coverage Evaluation Survey (CES), and discusses methodological issues relevant to the analysis used in this series of working papers.