The Flawed Indicator Trap

An indicator must measure whether a result is being achieved—not merely whether an activity took place.

Scenario (Amina’s Revision):

  • Expected Outcome: “Women report increased confidence to participate in community decision-making.”
  • Amina’s Flawed Indicator: “Number of women who attended training.”
  • The Problem: Attendance counts show who showed up but reveal nothing about whether participant confidence shifted.

Combining Quantitative & Qualitative Evidence

To fix this, Amina developed a complementary set of quantitative and qualitative indicators:

AMINA’S REVISED INDICATOR PAIR

QUANTITATIVE INDICATOR

QUALITATIVE INDICATOR

“Percentage of women reporting increased confidence in pre- and post-training surveys.”

“Documented examples of women speaking up in community meetings they previously avoided.”

INSIGHT: Neither indicator alone captures the result. Together, they demonstrate both the scale of change and what it looks like in practice.

 

The 7 Quality Criteria for Indicators

Before finalizing any indicator in a PMF, evaluate it against seven quality criteria:

Valid

Reliable

Sensitive

Simple

Useful

Affordable

Gender-Responsive

 

  1. Valid: Does it measure the actual result intended?
  2. Reliable: Will it yield consistent results across different data collectors?
  3. Sensitive: Will it reflect changes when progress occurs?
  4. Simple: Is it clear and easy to understand?
  5. Useful: Does it provide actionable information for management decisions?
  6. Affordable: Can it be collected within the project’s budget and staff capacity?
  7. Gender-Responsive: Does it capture gender equality dimensions, power shifts, or disaggregated data?

 

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