Glossary
Short definitions of the terms you'll meet in Pulseform, in plain language. Each one links to the page where it is used.
Project terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Project | The funded piece of work. Everything in Monitoring belongs to a project. See Projects, outcomes and activities |
| Activity | Something the team does: a training, a distribution, a visit |
| Output | The direct, countable product of an activity: 200 people trained, 50 kits handed out |
| Outcome | The change the project wants to see because of its outputs: better skills, fewer dropouts. Outputs are what you deliver; outcomes are what changes |
| Impact | The longer-term change the project contributes to, often beyond the project's life |
| Results chain | Activities → outputs → outcomes → impact: how the work is expected to lead to change |
Measurement terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Indicator | Something you measure repeatedly against a target, to see whether you are on course. See Indicators |
| SMART indicator | One that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. "% of trained teachers using the new method in class by June", not "better teaching" |
| Baseline | The value at the start, before the project acts. Without it you cannot show change |
| Target | The value you aim to reach, and by when |
| Target period | One stretch of time with its own target, such as a quarter |
| Direction | Whether success means the number going up, down or staying the same |
| Actual value | What you measured in a period |
| Achievement status | Achieved, on track, at risk or off track: the actual value compared with the target. See status colours |
| Disaggregation | Splitting a figure by gender, age or location to see who it covers. See Disaggregation analytics |
| Monitoring plan | Who collects an indicator, how, how often, and on which day. See monitoring plans |
| Data source / means of verification | Where a figure comes from: a register, a survey, a spreadsheet. See Data sources |
| Data collection | One round of collecting values: a visit, a monthly round, a register review. See Record indicator values |
Accountability terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Accountability | Listening to the people you serve and acting on what they say. See What is MEAL? |
| Complaint / feedback | Anything people tell you about the project, good or bad. Record all of it. See Complaints and feedback |
| Risk | Something that might happen and harm the project. Read its likelihood and impact together. See The risk register |
| Mitigation | What you do now to make a risk less likely or less harmful |
| Donor report | A frozen snapshot of the project's figures for one period. See Donor reports |
Survey and research terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Survey purpose | Academic, institutional or general. It decides which analysis tools a survey gets. See Surveys at a glance |
| Likert scale | A rating from, for example, 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) |
| Item | One question or statement in a scale |
| Construct / dimension | A group of items that together measure one idea, such as behavioural engagement |
| Reverse-worded item | An item written in the opposite direction ("I skip lectures"), so a high score means less of the idea. It must be reversed before analysis |
| Reliability | Whether a scale gives consistent results |
| Cronbach's alpha (α) | The common measure of reliability, from 0 to 1. Around 0.70 or more is usually acceptable; below 0.60 is weak. See Academic surveys |
| Corrected item-total correlation | How well one item agrees with the rest of its scale. A low value marks a weak item |
| Alpha if item deleted | What alpha would be without that item. If it rises, the item may be weakening the scale |
| Sample size (N) | How many valid responses the analysis uses |
| Margin of error | How far a result from your sample may be from the true value in the whole population |
| Pre/post (waves) | Measuring the same people before and after a program, then comparing. See Pre/post surveys |
| Paired t-test | The test that compares the same people's before and after scores |
| p-value | Roughly, how likely a difference this large would be by chance alone. Below 0.05 is usually called significant |
| Effect size | How large a difference is in practice, not only whether it is "significant" |
Institutional survey terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| eNPS | Employee Net Promoter Score: the share of staff who would recommend the workplace minus the share who would not |
| IPA matrix | Importance–performance analysis: what matters most to people, compared with how well you do it |
| Anonymity threshold | The smallest group whose results are shown, so no one can be identified |
Collection terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Collector code | The code a field worker types into the Collect app to get a survey or form. See Collector codes |
| Quota | The number of responses a collector is expected to bring. See Collector quotas |
| Personal link | A link that opens a form for one named person and works once. See Verified Participation |
| Message part (segment) | The unit a text message is charged in. See SMS credit |