Girl Effect adopts an industry-leading approach to measuring changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of both girls and the people around them.

In particular, we measure shifts in knowledge, new attitudes, new behaviours, and how these are reflected into shifts in social norms in relation to girls’ value, voice and connections. We also look at how these changes relate to concrete issues, like education and health. We do this because a girl’s voice in education can be different than her voice on health issues, and because social norms around girls attending school could be different than the norms around girls’ accessing health services.

In June 2017, we published the latest impact study of Ni Nyampinga, Girl Effect’s youth brand in Rwanda. This is our most in-depth and comprehensive study for Ni Nyampinga to date – looking at how a youth brand that works across print, radio and digital has reached mass scale, and can change how girls feel about themselves, but also how society acts and feels towards girls.

This study looks at audience reach and consumption, as well as the impact it is having on the lives of the people consuming the brand. By impact we mean demonstrating a direct effect, either positive or negative, on specific outcomes that relate to girls’ agency, such as a girl’s self-esteem, or her ability to express herself as a result of engaging with the Ni Nyampinga brand.

The data was collected from a Nationally Representative sample of 5,681 girls and boys aged 10+, and adults

Download the highlights of Ni Nymapinga’s impact below.

If you have any questions about the findings, please look at our FAQs below or if you’re interested in a deep-dive of the full set of results please get in touch with info@girleffect.org

FAQs

What research methodology did you use to carry out this research?

We carried out the following process:

1. We identified the outcome areas we wanted to measure and designed the survey questions: based on Ni Nyampinga’s objectives and the content delivered, we identified the key outcome areas of ‘value’ and ‘voice’ we wanted to evaluate and designed questions to ask about attitudes and behaviours in these areas. Where possible we used validated questions.
2. We collected survey data from girls, boys and adults: we conducted a survey among 5,681 girls, boys, men and women in Rwanda aged 10+. This included a booster sample of girls to allow us to conduct detailed impact analysis among our target group.
3. We carried out Factor Analysis to confirm the existence of unobserved variables: where we are attempting to measure complex, unobservable outcomes, such as self-efficacy, we used factor analysis to confirm the composition of these outcomes, and to determine whether observable effects on our exposed audiences have occurred as a direct result of exposure to our programmes.
4. We conducted regression modelling to assess impact: regression analysis allows us to compare those people exposed to Ni Nyampinga with those that haven’t been exposed, taking into account the potential influence of other factors which may affect outcomes; for example age, household wealth, level of education and access to other media. Thisallows us to be more confident that where there is a relationship between exposure to Ni Nyampinga and that the differences we are seeing in outcomes are due to exposure to Ni Nyampinga, not other factors.

When was the survey carried out?

The survey was carried out between November and December 2016.

How do you measure awareness of Ni Nyampinga?

We measure awareness by assessing  whether a person has heard of the Ni Nyampinga brand or products, be it prompted or unprompted.

What’s the difference between a consumer, a regular consumer and multi-regular consumer?

A consumer is someone who has consumed any of Ni Nyampinga’s products (talk radio show, magazine, digital or self-starting club) at least once in the past 12 months.

A regular consumer is someone who listens to the radio show at least once every two weeks, attends a self-starting club at least once every two weeks, accesses Ni Nyampinga digital at least once every two weeks or has read at least 2 of the past 4 magazines.

A multi-regular consumer regularly consumes more than one Ni Nyampinga product.

How do you measure a girl’s self-confidence?

Girls self-confidence is key aspect of understanding girls’ value and agency. We measure whether a girl holds positive values about herself, her self-esteem, and what she believes she can achieve in her life. Because we’re interested in measuring social norm change, we also measure how girls are perceived and valued by other girls boys and adults in her society.

Why do you measure your impact in probabilities?

Regression analysis produces results in the form of probabilities, which shows whether a group has a higher or lower probability of holding an attitude or behaving a certain way compared to another group. This allows us to compare people who were exposed to Ni Nyampinga with those who were not.

In our regression analyses, we were looking for changes in girls’ self-worth, confidence, and gender attitudes that are attributable to consuming Ni Nyampinga only. So the data that we collected through our survey was coded in such a way to show whether a girl showed a positive outcome (e.g. a girl believed in her own abilities) or a negative outcome (e.g. a girl did not believe in her own abilities). This meant we could predict probabilities that girls that consume Ni Nyampinga show positive outcomes in girls’ self-worth, confidence, and gender attitudes that we hope to see while controlling for other characteristics such as education or socio-demographic background.

What does measuring attitudes to gender equality in ‘leadership and voice’ mean?

As part of Ni Nyampinga’s theory of change, the brand aims to improve girls’ voice. We measure girls’ attitudes, confidence and skills to voice themselves, both in private and public domains. We also measure the attitudes of boys, families and decision makers towards a girl’s needs, concerns and innate values.

Learn more about Ni Nyampinga. 

Read the report: Ni Nyampinga Audience Survey 2017