Counts

Methods, tools & techniques

Methods, Tools and Techniques are ways of gathering data and collecting the information to learn what changes have happened.

Overview

Counts does what its name says: it puts a number or volume to things. That makes it a ‘quantitative’ way to collect data. It starts with things as they are and measures change as a project progresses.

Counts figure a lot in conservation projects where they monitor the presence, growth or decline of a species of plant or animal. Counts are also used in the social services to document anything from homeless people eating meals at a soup kitchen to the number of empty state houses in a suburb.

You can use counts to measure how many clients, programmes or service sessions a government agency may have funded a community organisation for. They call that their ‘outputs’. But counts are more than just numbers. You can use them to demonstrate how one thing has influenced another. An example might be an investment in a new facility that helps residents get to know each other better. Perhaps a home visiting service prompts more patients to visit the clinic. Observation and technology produce counts. The technology part is usually video or laser sensors to monitor behaviour, as part of a project.

    Useful Resources

    • Short video on counting animals and plants in the wild.

    Examples of Counts

    The Greater Vancouver Homeless Count is an example of a count being used for a social issue.  Organisers use the counts to measure the effects of public policy and the effectiveness of investment in services aimed at the homeless.

    This literature on the Ministry of Social Development website discusses on how we can improve the methods for counting the homeless population in New Zealand.

    New Zealand Transport Agency introduces a set of measurement guideline, principles and techniques in measuring pedestrian movement and activity for better transport strategy planning. Pedestrian counts, either by manual counting, or by employing technology (e.g., video imaging, infrared sensors), are important measures that provide insights.

    The Department of Conservation has a toolbox of methods to inventory and monitor birds and bird communities, including a decision tree to help you decide the method(s) best suited to your project needs.

     

    Advantages

    • Counts are usually about numbers, so they provide good evidence of changes – who took part, what they did and how interested they were.
    • Counts are simple and anyone with some basic guidance and support can count and record numbers.
    • Counts can be analysed quickly and the results compared with previous counts.

    Disadvantages & Limitations

    • Most counts, in nature and with people, have counting errors – some individuals missed, some non-existent recorded, or incorrect counts, large groups miscounted and individuals misidentified.
    • Counts only measure activities or their absence, they don’t say why something has happened, what has influenced the behaviour and how subjects are thinking.