Measuring Social Norms and Girls’ Empowerment Report of the SenseMaker study of the
Publication Date: 2019/08/29
This report presents the findings from a SenseMaker story collection process conducted as part of a qualitative evaluation of CARE International’s Tipping Point project in Sunamganj, Bangladesh. Tipping Point aims to reduce the incidence of child marriage through shifting social norms at the community level, addressing the root causes of the practice and seeking to holistically effect change at the level of individuals, communities, and the broader enabling environment. The SenseMaker study was conducted by the Overseas Development Institute and researchers from Jahangirnagar University, in close cooperation with Tipping Point’s two local implementing
partners, JASHIS and ASD in Sunamganj district. The evaluation team collected 875 stories in total: 325 from girls; 214 from boys; and 336 from mothers and fathers of adolescents.
The primary analytical approach for assessing the nature of change within Tipping Point communities was comparing the data from Boundary Partners (girls and boys who participate in Tipping Point ‘Fun Centre’ groups, and parents of adolescents who participate in Fun Centre groups) with data from non-Boundary Partners from the same village.