Investigating difference: applications of wealth ranking and household survey approaches among farming households in Southern Zimbabwe

The paper compares the results of wealth ranking and household survey approaches, which were applied in tandem for a sample of farming households in southern Zimbabwe. It concludes that wealth ranking provides an accurate indicator of relative wealth and that ranking can be a useful complementary method to be employed alongside survey assessments. Qualitative discussions during ranking exercises reveal details of the historically, socially and economically constructed understandings of wealth and well-being of different actors. The conventional assumption that surveys always provide 'better' data is thus questioned. (from original abstract)