This working paper discusses the advantages of measuring subjective household resilience.

It presents different options for the design and delivery of survey questions on subjective resilience at the household level. It then outlines some of the key limitations and methodological challenges of asking subjective questions and explore possible ways of overcoming various biases. Finally, the authors highlight how subjective household resilience can be used to improve policy and decision-making, through the evaluation and targeting of resilience-building activities, national and international resilience measurement, and the inclusion of bottom-up perspectives in decision-making processes at various levels of governance.

The paper advocates for the use of the measurement of ‘subjective’ resilience at the household level as an alternative approach. So far, the paper argues, efforts to measure resilience have largely focused on the use of ‘objective’ frameworks and methods of indicator selection.

[Adapted from source]