In the modern development landscape, a project's impact extends far beyond traditional field reports and surveys. This training course is designed to empower M&E and project professionals to leverage the vast and often untapped data from social media analytics for a more dynamic and comprehensive impact assessment. By moving beyond traditional data collection, participants will learn how to tap into real-time public sentiment, track the diffusion of ideas, and monitor the discourse surrounding a project, providing a granular understanding of how and why an intervention is affecting a community.

This comprehensive program provides a practical, hands-on roadmap for sourcing, analyzing, and interpreting social media data for M&E. Participants will gain skills in using sentiment analysis tools to gauge public opinion, applying social network analysis to understand influence, and navigating the complex ethical considerations of this new frontier. The course is a strategic investment for organizations seeking to enhance the speed, scale, and relevance of their evaluations, ensuring their work is not only effective but also responsive to the conversations happening in real time.

Duration: 10 days

Target Audience:

• M&E Specialists
• Communications Officers
• Data Analysts
• Program and Project Managers
• Researchers
• Humanitarian Aid Workers
• Advocacy and Campaign Managers
• Public Health Practitioners
• Government Officials
• Consultants

Objectives:

• Understand the core concepts of social media analytics and its relevance to M&E.
• Master the process of sourcing and collecting social media data for impact assessment.
• Learn how to use sentiment analysis to gauge public opinion and attitudes.
• Develop a framework for using social network analysis to map influence and information flow.
• Ensure ethical considerations and safety protocols in collecting and using social media data.
• Overcome the technical and organizational challenges of implementation.
• Enhance the speed, scale, and relevance of evaluations.
• Communicate key insights from social media data to stakeholders.
• Build a culture of data-driven, proactive project management.
• Apply social media analytics to a wide range of sectors and contexts.

Course Modules:

Module 1: Introduction to Social Media in M&E

• The limitations of traditional data collection
• Defining social media analytics and its purpose in M&E
• The business case for social media data in impact assessment
• An overview of the most relevant social media platforms for M&E
• The difference between social media monitoring and social media analytics

Module 2: Foundational Concepts of Social Data

• Understanding the structure of social media data
• The difference between structured and unstructured data
• The importance of a clear and focused research question
• The role of a "digital footprint" in impact assessment
• An overview of the social media analytics workflow

Module 3: Sourcing and Accessing Social Media Data

• Navigating different data sources (e.g., APIs, scrapers, public dashboards)
• The importance of a clear data collection plan
• The role of keywords, hashtags, and geographic filters
• Strategies for cost-effective data acquisition
• Practical labs on using a basic data collection tool

Module 4: Ethical Considerations and Data Privacy

• The importance of a "do no harm" approach
• Navigating the public vs. private data debate
• The role of informed consent in data collection
• The importance of anonymizing and aggregating data
• Ensuring compliance with data protection regulations

Module 5: Data Cleaning and Preprocessing

• The importance of a clear data cleaning plan
• Handling noise, irrelevant posts, and spam
• The role of stemming, lemmatization, and stop-word removal
• The importance of a "clean" dataset for analysis
• Practical labs on data preprocessing

Module 6: Sentiment Analysis

• Understanding the concept of sentiment analysis
• The difference between positive, negative, and neutral sentiment
• The role of a sentiment dictionary and machine learning models
• Analyzing sentiment for project satisfaction and public perception
• Practical labs on conducting a sentiment analysis

Module 7: Topic Modeling and Thematic Analysis

• The importance of identifying key themes and topics
• The role of an unsupervised learning model for topic modeling
• The use of a "word cloud" and other visualizations
• The importance of a clear thematic analysis plan
• Practical labs on a full thematic analysis

Module 8: Social Network Analysis (SNA)

• Understanding the concept of a social network
• The importance of identifying key influencers and hubs
• The role of SNA in mapping information flow
• The importance of a clear and testable hypothesis
• Practical labs on a basic social network analysis

Module 9: Geospatial Analysis and Integration

• The importance of a Geographic Information System (GIS)
• Integrating social media data into a GIS
• The role of location-based data in project tracking
• Performing spatial queries and analysis with social data
• Creating maps and other geospatial visualizations

Module 10: Quantitative Impact Assessment

• The importance of a clear and measurable ROI
• Using social media data to track project reach and engagement
• The role of social data in a mixed-methods approach
• The importance of a clear and consistent reporting style
• The long-term implications for the organization

Module 11: Mainstreaming Social Media Analytics

• How to integrate analytics into existing M&E systems
• The importance of a phased implementation strategy
• The role of analytics in the project cycle
• Building a culture of adaptive management
• Case studies on successful integration

Module 12: Sector-Specific Applications

• Social media analytics in public health and health campaigns
• Social media analytics in disaster response and humanitarian aid
• Social media analytics in governance and advocacy
• Social media analytics in urban planning and smart cities
• Social media analytics in climate change and environmental awareness

Module 13: CBM and Social Media Analytics

• The potential of community-based monitoring with social data
• The importance of a participatory approach
• The role of a feedback loop for continuous learning
• The long-term benefits of a community-led system
• The ethics of community-based social media monitoring

Module 14: Practical Application and Simulation

• A hands-on simulation of a real-world project
• Participants work in teams to design and execute a monitoring plan
• Troubleshooting common challenges in data collection
• Analyzing and interpreting a set of social data
• Peer review and feedback sessions on the process

Module 15: The Future of M&E and Social Media

• The role of AI and machine learning in automated analysis
• The potential of new data sources (e.g., IoT sensors)
• The rise of complexity-aware M&E
• The long-term implications for the sector
• Anticipating the next wave of challenges

Training Approach

This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: info@skillsforafrica.org, training@skillsforafrica.org  Tel: +254 702 249 449

Training Venue

The training will be held at our Skills for Africa Training Institute Training Centre. We also offer training for a group at requested location all over the world. The course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, and buffet lunch.

Visa application, travel expenses, airport transfers, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant

Certification

Participants will be issued with Skills for Africa Training Institute certificate upon completion of this course.

Airport Pickup and Accommodation

Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: info@skillsforafrica.org, training@skillsforafrica.org  Tel: +254 702 249 449

Terms of Payment: Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 10 working days before commencement of the training.