There may be several phases in your project when you need to collect data on stigma.

In this section we focus on useful approaches to use at different stages:

1. Early in the design and planning, when deciding whether to address stigma
2. During development of the theory of change
3. At an early project inception stage to describe/establish your starting point (baseline)
4. To further refine your planned approaches, such as testing stigma materials

As we have already detailed, people can talk about stigma and discrimination in different ways. It can also be hard to talk openly about sensitive, taboo issues.

Sometimes it’s easier to collect data on concrete discriminatory actions and examples of exclusion, yet as part of a good situational analysis it’s important to understand any stigma that underpins discriminatory behaviour.

Collecting data can take many forms. There are useful tools in the case studies below, on the Resources page of this section, or in Section 5: Measuring change.

Below are some case studies that might suit your project and context. Note that these are examples only, and this is not an exhaustive list of approaches.