WASH Officer

A statistical method used in social and behavioral sciences to reduce variables in a variable set by combining two or more variables into a single factor. Factor analysis assumes that data on different attributes can be reduced to a limited number of dimensions as the attributes may be interdependent.

This is a statistical procedure that helps determine how well a set of variables measure a latent construct. It is commonly used as a measure of internal consistency in a scale constructed from different items that presumably measure one construct.

Coliform bacteria that can multiply at certain temperatures. Because some coliforms such as E. coli can be found in the lower intestines of humans, optimal temperature for growth is 37.5 degrees Celsius.

The scale, named after Rensis Likert, requires respondents to a survey to indicate their level of agreement to a given questionnaire item. The scales use a bipolar scaling method, measuring positive or negative responses to the item. In its most typical form, it has five items: strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree.

CLTS is a grassroots approach originated in Bangladesh and uses community involvement to increase sanitation coverage. Based on Participatory Rural Appraisal tools and approaches, CLTS emphasizes the importance of self respect and dignity to help communities achieve open defecation free status. Its application implies a shift from counting latrines to counting sanitized communities, abandoning the use of subsidies. CLTS was developed by Kamal Kar with support from WaterAid and the Bengali NGO Village Education Resource Center.

A test for detecting coliforms and E. coli in water that produces results rapidly. The Colilert test suggested in this document is a presence/absence test. It is inexpensive and detects E. coli down to 10 coliform forming units (CFU) per 100ml, below which is considered low risk.

An approach to increase sanitation coverage using the assumption that sanitation is a business where services and products can be sold by providers and retailers to interested consumers. It borrows from private sector experience to develop, place, and promote an appropriate product at the right price, which can be a latrine, toilet, or other excreta disposal system. It brings together supply and demand, and assumes that market research needs to be conducted to understand consumer demand, and that appropriate products and services need to be put in place to satisfy that demand. Program monitoring should be set up to keep the market operating effectively.

Statistical analysis that studies more than one variable at a time. It is generally used to refer to analyses that include at least three variables. For example, how age and education have an impact on hand washing practices.

Open defecation is defined as defecation in fields, forests, bushes, bodies of water or other open spaces.

Feminine hygiene for girls -- it's something you might not think of, but school attendance drops off dramatically once girls reach puberty. This is because of the stigma surrounding menstruation, lack of latrines and places to wash up at school, and lack of education about how to make and maintain reusable feminine hygiene products.

World Vision is helping to address these problems, along with installing pit latrines and washrooms at schools, so girls have a safe place to wash up so they can keep going to class. We are all about removing barriers to education.

A bacterial indicator of the sanitary quality of food and water. This bacterium is abundant in feces of warm-blooded animals and can be found in aquatic environments, in soil, and in vegetation. Coliforms may not be the cause of disease, but they can be easily cultured and may indicate that pathogens of fecal content are present.

The three top priorities are the provision of sufficient quantities of safe water, basic sanitation arrangements and promotion of good hygiene behaviours.

The first priority is to provide an adequate quantity of water, even if its safety cannot be guaranteed, and to protect water sources from contamination. A minimum of 15 litres per person per day should be provided as soon as possible, though in the immediate post-impact period, it may be necessary to limit treated water to a minimum of 7.5 litres per day per person. During emergencies, people may use an untreated water source for laundry, bathing, etc. Water-quality improvements can be made over succeeding days or weeks.

The total amount of chlorine remaining in water at the end of a specified period following chlorination. A positive residual is an indication that water is still safe to drink since it would still have an acceptable level of chlorine remaining.

Human excreta have been implicated in the transmission of many infectious diseases including cholera, typhoid, infectious hepatitis, polio, cryptosporidiosis, and ascariasis. Undernutrition, pneumonia, worm infestations, are also associated with unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene resulting in reduced physical growth, weakened physical fitness and impaired cognitive function, particularly for children under the age of five.

A dimension that organizes a phenomenon studied into simple classification groups such as "open defecators" vs. "sanitation facility owners" regarding access to sanitation. Categorical variables assume no intrinsic order of the categories. Also known as

"nominal" variables.

1.1 billion people still practice open defecation and 2.5 billion people still lack access to sanitation. Most countries that are not on track to meet the MDG target are in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.

A statistical analysis procedure used to make predictions. For example, using a five-point agreement-disagreement scale, the practice of hand washing may be predicted from the measure of a respondent's belief that other mothers of children under five in the neighborhood practice hand washing.

These are variables that may be measured quantitatively and that can take an infinite number of values. The most commonly used continuous variables in social science are interval variables. In interval scales, differences between two values are meaningful and equivalent. For example, the difference between 100 and 90 and the difference between 90 and 80 are identical. In interval variables, there is no absolute zero value. Examples of interval scales include attitude and opinion scales requiring an individual to express a level of agreement regarding a statement such as "My husband wants me to wash my hands before I cook."

Inadequate sanitation, particularly in the context of urbanization, allows for sewage or waste to flow directly into streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands, affecting coastal and marine ecosystems, fouling the environment and exposing millions of children to disease. Improved sanitation reduces environmental burdens, increases sustainability of environmental resources and allows for a healthier, more secure future for the population.