Cheryl Doss (Tufts University) presented new MAGNET research at the Comparative Survey Design and Implementation (CSDI) workshop in April 2025 in Skopje, North Macedonia. Drawing on survey research from several sub-Saharan countries and cross-country validation work, Cheryl Doss highlighted how enumerator beliefs and the definition of “ownership” can reshape measures of women’s agency during the session Enhancing the Quality of Gender Data: Innovations in Survey Design, Measurement, and Validation.
The authors defined enumerators’ gender views as the subjective beliefs enumerators hold about gender roles and agency, measured with a brief module administered before training. These beliefs can shape how sensitive questions are asked and interpreted in the field. The study found that enumerators’ views influence responses on women’s agency and other sensitive domains. This underscores the importance of randomizing enumerators to households, designing enumerator-level interventions, and controlling for enumerator characteristics during analysis to safeguard data quality and comparability.
A second presentation showcased new tools from the MAGNET Initiative designed to capture key concepts in asset ownership: outside options, control, and preferences for individual versus joint ownership. Using data from several countries, the team examined what “ownership” entails in practice and whether people share common understandings of it.
The primary takeaway from the two papers is that the validity of empowerment metrics depends not only on questionnaire content but also on survey process and conceptual clarity. Accounting for enumerator beliefs and using validated tools to distinguish ownership, control, and preferences can materially change the story we tell about women’s agency. The presentations were followed by an open discussion.
International Food Policy Research Institute