Presentation on social mapping

Social mapping; for Participatory rural appraisal

1. Social mapping A Tool for Participatory Rural Appraisal

2. Social Mapping To, Mr. Shahzad Khawer Mushtaq By, Roll # 14 , 18, 19 , 02, 17, 38 , 52, 70 & 85 BS 6 th & M.Sc. 4 th(SS) Sociology Department of Sociology & Criminology University of Sargodha

3. Introduction to PRA Appraisal – The finding out of information about problems , needs, and potential in a village. It is the first stage in any project . PRA is considered one of the popular and effective approaches to gather information in rural areas. This approach was developed in early 1990s with considerable shift in paradigm from top-down to bottom-up approach.

4. Cont. PRA is based on village experiences where communities effectively manage their natural resources . PRA is a methodology of learning rural life and their environment from the rural people . It requires researchers/field workers to act as facilitators to help local people conduct their own analysis, plan and take action accordingly . It is based on the principle that local people are creative and capable and can do their own investigations, analysis, and planning.

5. Defining PRA CHAMBERS (1992 ) “PRA as an approach and methods for learning about rural life and conditions from, with and by rural people .” He further stated that PRA extends into analysis, planning and action. PRA closely involve villagers and local officials in the process . The field work is people-oriented. It seeks information on indigenous knowledge, local customs and practices

6. Social Mapping “Social mapping is a visual method of showing the relative location of households and the distribution of different people (such as male, female, adult , child, landed, landless, literate, and illiterate ) together with the social structure , groups and organizations of an area.”

7. Importance of Social Mapping To overview community structure. Identifying who lives where in a community. It helps to visualize and situate the location of households and other social facilities/infrastructure in a village. It serves as a baseline for planning, implementation, monitoring , and evaluation of village development activities (including selection of village organizing strategy). It helps to learn about the social institutions and the different views local people might have regarding those institutions.

8. Material Required Large sheet of paper, pencils and color markers. If drawing on the ground , find a soft ground and use leaves , sticks , bottle , caps ,beans , or ,any other local materials for symbols.

9. Steps in Social Mapping There are several steps in Social Mapping which are following. Decide what type of area the map will show such as village. S elect a suitable place and medium, such as on the ground or on paper. P repare the outline or boundary of the map. D raw a simple village map showing some features such as roads, paths, and watercourse for direction.

10. Cont. Other landmarks that are important to participants should be identified and drawn on the map which include religious buildings, schools, health centers, traditional healers, places where people frequently meet, community centers , and other public and business buildings. Services or facilities such as irrigation, electricity, water, gas, telephone , and so on should also be marked on the map.

11. Cont. Then The location of houses in the community and agricultural area should then be marked on the map. Then indicate which direction is north. Discuss and analyze the results. Conclude the activity.

12. Analyzing Social Map Once the map has been completed, use it as a basis for conducting semi-structured interviews on topics of interest and for enabling local analysts to conduct their own discussions and analysis. These discussions should be noted or recorded . It might be useful to have a list of key questions to guide a discussion about community resources.

13. Cont. Key questions might include the following examples: What are the approximate boundaries of the community with regard to social interaction and social services ? What social structures and institutions are found in the community? How did public buildings develop? Who built the community centers? Who uses the community centers?

14. Cont. What are the religious groups and where do they live? How do people in the community decide on places of worship? What are the ethnic groups and where do they live? How many households are in the community and where are they located? Which households are headed by females and where are they are located? How is land distributed for housing? Is the number of households growing or shrinking ? Etc .

15. Last Step; Conclude the Activity Check again that the local analysts know how the information will be used. Ask the analysts to reflect on the advantages, disadvantages, and the analytical potential of the tool. Thank the local analysts for their time and effort.

16. Points to Remember Good facilitation skills are key. The approach outlined above is a general guide; be flexible and adapt the tool and approach to local contexts and needs . It is not necessary to develop an absolutely accurate map – the goal is to explore local perception about the social and physical structures of a community . The social map produced will only be a snapshot of the current situation.

17. Limitation Social mapping is easier when communities are small, but the process becomes much more complex when household numbers are high .