One of the main contributions of statistical tools – and in particular of survey methods – to the enhancement of human rights and democratic governance assessments, is to allow to capture objective facts and subjective perceptions directly from people’s experiences and views – without the intermediary of experts’ opinions or theories. This is of the highest importance in developing countries, where sound knowledge and understanding of daily problems and the perceptions and expectations of the people – and in particular the poor – are essential preconditions for designing and implementing policies and programmes that are truly consistent with the issues at stake: extreme poverty, problematic access to basic services, social and political exclusion, widespread corruption or weak governance.