Dear Jill:

If the purpose is to evaluate the initial and final situation from social perspective, considering the perception of the inhabitants, I believe that one of the most logical methods (and used in different social studies) is the application of surveys to affected population.

Some experiences are in this field, for example the master thesis of Milosev, Marina (2014) Urban regeneration for the London Olympics 2012 and its social impact on the local residents. This is available at http://hdl.handle.net/2099.1/24415

Unfortunately are in Spanish, but these theses of our master in Land Management and Valuations use the surveys methods to evaluate different social problems, for example;

Acosta Campoy, Daniela (2015) Asentamientos informales, caso de estudio infravivienda en Invasión Polígono 4 de marzo en Hermosillo, Sonora, México, available at http://hdl.handle.net/2117/77794, or

Orozco Martínez, Carolina (2013) El papel de la vivienda en el proceso de aculturación de la comunidad inmigrante ecuatoriana, colombiana y dominicana, residente en Barcelona. El caso del barrio Poble Sec, available at http://hdl.handle.net/2099.1/19979

In addition in the book of MOSER, C. A. and KALTON, G. (1971), entitled Survey methods in social investigation, edited by Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. London, No. 2nd Edition, 549 pp., you will find a detailed approach of the method.

I hope help you.

Best regards.

Rolando.

Development induced resettlement involves many benefits and costs, depending on how the households are compensated.  For example, in China, many peasants have to resettle because their land is expropriated in the process of urban development.  Typically they are compensated in the form of a new housing unit in the city and, probably, some monetary compensation.  In this sense, their gains include money, housing, and urban infrastructure and amenities.  However, it is very difficult for them to find a job in the city without social networks. More important, they lose the attachment to their land and the sense of rural community.  I guess the last two factors are difficult to measure, if not impossible.

Let us suppose that we are dealing with voluntary relocation only. In this case, we should assume that there is a welfare improvement.

But it appears that you want numbers. So your dependent variable is a zero or one indicator of whether the family moves. The explanatory variables are the attributes of the family and the differences of the places.

Since you want to analyze the effects of resettlement at the household level, this implies that you should ideally conduct a household survey. In spite of the overall effects being distinctively good (positive) or bad (negative), there is a greater likelihood that there would be an entire range or pattern of these impacts. In practice, the most fundamental and effective method to study these impacts would be through cost-benefit analysis. The method could become increasingly complex by factoring-in multiple and secondary benefits (or costs).  For instance, in case of resettlement projects, the monetary compensation or a substitute accommodation against one's land is a primary benefit, while attaining new infrastructures and facilities like parks, piped water supply, sanitation, schools, banks, etc. within a newly planned development are secondary benefits. but on the other hand these may be against certain costs. Most resettlement projects in developing countries with limited compliance of norms, pose high social costs on affected persons. These social costs are at times difficult to account like breaking of the social structures, traditional security systems, etc. It is here that different surveys and analytical/ accounting methods have to be devised or applied to quantify these costs too, within the larger ambit of cost-benefit analysis of course.