LINKING COMPLEX EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND TRANSITION INITIATIVE |
Addressing the Perceived Needs of Refugees & Internally
Displaced Persons Through Participatory Learning and Action
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This project was made possible through Cooperative Agreement Number HRN-A-00-96-9006 between the US Agency for International Development and Tulane University |
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 | Introductions |
| Objectives of the study |
| Schedule of the study |
| Expectations |
PM
• Who are you?
• Where are you from?
• What do you do?
• Any experience with studies?
| To understand refugee/IDP priorities, challenges and aspirations. |
This information is used to decide what priority problem(s) to address.
| To learn who are the significant persons and organizations among the refugee/IDPs (and external to them) who have the greatest stake in addressing refugee priorities. |
Tentative Schedule Day 1 & 2: Initial Training Day 3: Introduction to community Participatory Map Day 4: Walkabout Day 5: Free Listing Day 6 - 8: Data collection continued; methods to be determined (Pile Sorting,Pair Wise Ranking, Venn Diagram, Key Informant Interviews) Day 9: Data management & analysis Day 10: Public meeting (identify settlement action tea - SAT) Day 11 & 12: Action planning with SAT Day 13: Public meeting (approve action plan) Day 14: Data management.
| HOPES | CONCERNS |
Section II.
Overview of the RAP
• More qualitative than quantitative
• More participatory than top-down
Source of diagram: Freudenberger KS, 1999. RRA/PRA Manual for CRS Field Workers and Counterparts.
| These are research methods which obtain in-depth information from people. The aim is to understand WHY people think and behave the way they do. Because it requires a lot of time with people to get in-depth information, we usually can only talk with a FEW people. |
| This is different from quantitative research methods like surveys. Here we obtain relatively little detailed information from each person. This is because with quantitative research we are interested in describing HOW MANY people know or do something (how many people have had vaccinations, how many people know about ORS). Quantitative research is less useful for describing WHY people know or do something. And, because we want to find out HOW MANY people think and do something, we interview A LOT OF people in quantitative research. |
| Both qualitative and quantitative methods are important, and whether we use one or the other depends on what we are trying to learn. |
| Identify the refugees/IDP’s overall priorities for action and the ranking of specific sectors among priorities |
| Identify priorities within specific sectors/issues |
| Identify the underlying reasons for specific problems before developing solutions |
| Identify the refugee/IDP’s language, concepts and beliefs surrounding specific behaviors/situations targeted for change; and, |
| Assess community reactions to programs to adapt implementation. |
BIAS
CAUSES:
x
x
x
x
Triangulation
(From Freudenberger, 1998)
Reduce bias by: | Using team members with different experiences and perspectives | ||||
| Continuously cross-checking information
using different methods and types of informants
|
Note: See the CRS Manual for RRA and PRA, pages 16-26.
Things We Do in Qualitative Research
• Triangulate our information - by methods, makeup of team, type of informant
• Be flexible - take out or add in questions/methods as the study progresses
• Use an iterative process - within & between interviews, within the study
• Use open-ended approaches - allow understanding of the wider context; let the informant lead.
Purposive Sampling
• Choose informants who have special knowledge of what you want to study
• Sampling Units:
| Persons |
| Times/days (e.g. morning vs. evening activities) |
| Events/Episodes (e.g. births, illnesses, meals) |
| Sites/microsites |
• Those with special local knowledge of our training study topics:
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Site Selection
(from Gittelsohn et.al., 1998; Freudenberger, 1998)
• Study area(s) should represent the target population
| An alternative is to focus on vulnerable groups |
• If there are different ethnic groups within the target population, select an area representing each group.
• Location of the study area should be logistically feasible as long as it does not compromise representativeness
• Triangulate within each study area
| Repeat data gathering activities in a second or third location of the same ethnic background |
| Purpose of this is to confirm what was learned in the first location within the study area |
| Since the purpose is confirmatory rather than explanatory, the amount of data-collecting activities needed is less than in the first location |
Examples of Site Selection
Example 1: 2 primary locations studied at the same time, with a possible secondary location for confirmation
Example 2: 1 primary location, 1 - 2 secondary locations studied later for confirmation
Example 3: 1 primary location studied over time (for monitoring & evaluation or exploring new topics)
Participatory Approaches
(PLA or PRA, RRA, RAP)
Three foundations:
• The behavior and attitudes of outsiders, who facilitate, not dominate.
• The methods, which shift the normal balance from closed to open, from individual to group, from verbal to visual, and from measuring to comparing.
• The partnership and sharing of information and experience between insiders and outsiders, and between organizations.
Source: Chambers R. 1997. Whose Reality Counts? Putting the first last.
Participatory Approaches
(PLA or PRA, RRA, RAP)
Key Principles:
• Reversal of learning: learn directly from the community, gaining from their knowledge;
• Offsetting biases: minimize biases by being relaxed and not rushing, listening not lecturing, probing instead of passing on to the next topic, being unimposing, and seeking out marginalized groups within the community to learn from;
• Triangulate, be flexible, iterative, & open-ended
• Handing over the stick (or pen or chalk): The local people take over the process of analysis of their information, presentations and learning;
• Seeking diversity: Actively looking for exceptions, dissenters and differences;
• Self-critical: The facilitators continuously examine their behavior and try to do better, correcting dominant behavior.
Source: Chambers R. 1997. Whose Reality Counts? Putting the first last.
RAP & Participatory Approaches
• Located between RRA and PRA
> Study team can define degree of participation
> Study team can shift toward RRA or PRA
Source of diagram: Freudenberger KS, 1999. RRA/PRA Manual for CRS Field Workers and Counterparts
RRA / RAP / PRA CONTINUUM
| RRA | RAP | PRA | |
| Objective | Gather quality information that captures the complexity of local situations and values local knowledge |
X |
Build local capacity to define, analyze and solve problems |
Who does it? |
Generally a team of outsiders that builds a rapport and works closely with local community | X | Generally a group of local people; sometimes facilitated by outsiders |
Output |
Information that can be used by outsiders and information that is left for use by the community | X | Local capacity building, skills in planning, sometimes partnerships with outside agencies |
| Mechanism | Discrete studies often lasting from 5 days to a month | X |
Extended process generally lasting months or years |
| Emphasis | Validity of information collected; capturing of the complexity of local situation | X | Local communities taking increasingly greater control over the process |
Tools, Techniques |
Qualitative Research Methods Participatory tools and techniques (Diagrams, ranking exercises, etc.) |
||
Source of table: Freudenberger KS, 1998. RRA/PRA Workshop Notes.
Section III.
Interviewing in Qualitative Research
Things We Do in Qualitative Interviews
• Use open-ended questions
• Avoid leading questions
• Probe issues in depth
• Let the informant lead
Use Open-Ended Questions
Closed Questions: Questions for which the answer choices are either given to the respondent or understood by the respondent
Examples:
"Is your hair black, brown, or red?" [Choices provided]
"Are you interested in research?" [Choice implied: yes/no]
Closed questions limit the breadth of information that a respondent has to offer.
Open Questions: Questions that allow the respondent to answer without presented or implied choices
Examples:
"What color is your hair?"
"What are your interests?"
Open Question Words:
What? Where?
Who? When?
How? Why? *
* "Why?" Limit the use of "WHY" questions in this type of work because it implies that there is a right answer
Avoid Leading Questions
(From Herman & Bentley, 1993)
• Allow people to answer in their own terms voicing their own views, values and experiences.
• Leading questions are phrased to suggest a particular answer or to imply that one answer is expected or more correct:
| "What fears do you have when your baby’s diarrhea does not stop?" |
| "What actions do you take to stop his/her diarrhea?" |
| "How good was the treatment your baby got at the health center?" |
| These questions were phrased to elicit answers related to fears, actions and treatments, respectively. |
• Non-leading questions on the same topics could be asked this way:
| "How do you feel when your baby’s diarrhea does not stop?" |
| "What do you do when his/her diarrhea does not stop?" |
| "How do you feel about the treatment your baby got at the health center?" |
Asking Non Leading Questions
| Leading | Nonleading |
| Do you think vomiting during diarrhea is serious? | |
| Do you give less food when your baby had diarrhea? | |
| Do you know that children lose water when they have diarrhea? |
Probing
"The key to successful interviewing is learning how to probe effectively…
...that is, to stimulate an informant to produce more information…
...without injecting yourself so much into the interaction that you only get a reflection of yourself in the data."
(Bernard, 1995)
Probing Techniques
• "What?" or "What" questions
| a stimulus without putting yourself in it |
• Silent Probe
| just remain quiet and wait for informant to continue |
| often happens as you are busy writing what the informant has just finished saying. |
• Echo Probe
| repeat the last thing an informant said and ask them to continue |
| "I see. The child has loose stools, becomes tired and will not eat. Then what happens?" |
• The Uh-huh Probe
| encourage participant to continue with a narrative by making affirmative noises: |
| "Uh-huh," "yes, I see," "right, uh-huh".30 |
Letting the Informant Lead
"In unstructured interviewing, you keep the conversation focused on a topic, while giving the informant room to define the content of the discussion."
"The rule is: Get an informant on to a topic of interest and get out of the way. Let the informant provide information that he or she thinks is important."
(from Bernard, 1995)
Tips for Interviewing -1
• Do not begin interviewing right away
| Friendly greeting and explanations |
| Establish ‘cultural ignorance:’ interviewer as learner |
• Listen and express interest in what the informant tells you
| More of a friendly conversation |
| Not a strict question & answer exchange |
| But remain neutral: don’t approve or disapprove |
• Try to encourage informant to expand on their answers and give as many details as possible
| informant’s tendency is to abbreviate answers |
| Use "describe," "tell me about" |
| Do not move on to a new topic until you feel you have explored the informant’s knowledge on the question at hand |
• Let informant’s answers determine the direction the interview takes (keeping within topics of interest)
Tips for Interviewing -2
• Use informant’s own language to ask new questions
| Do this as you learn informant’s language |
| This encourages informants to speak to you in their own language |
• Crude measure of success is the volume of response
| 80% at least ‘their’ words |
| most problems are the fault of the interviewer |
• Learn how to re-phrase/re-think questions
• Avoid using "why" questions as much as possible.
| implies that there is a factual answer |
| informants will try to give you a ‘right’ answer |
| ask, "What was happening at the time?" |
Use of Translators
Translators do the following:
| Provide literal translation |
| " Do not edit, ‘clean-up’ or summarize statements |
| Keep key terms in local language |
| " Don’t try to translate if too difficult |
| Keep your own dictionary of key local terms |
Process:
| Interviewer introduces translator to informant |
| Interviewer speaks directly to informant |
| Interviewer keeps eye contact with informant |
| Interviewer essentially ignores the translator |
| Interviewer/translator complete raws notes after interview |
| " write expanded notes together, if possible |
Section IV.
RAP Methods
PARTICIPATORY MAPPING
(From Freudenberger, 1998)
• Choose area of interest (inhabited village, village farming areas, district)
• Invite persons whose perspective you wish to learn about regarding area of interest.
• Do mapping exercise in large open area:
| Investigator identifies a couple of landmarks to orient the activity and draws figures on ground to represent these landmarks |
| Investigator "hands over the stick" to someone in the group and asks that person to identify on the map the most important sites in the area |
| " use sticks, stones, seeds, leaves as markers |
| Don’t ask about things on the checklist until all participants have identified sites important to them. |
| Interview the map using a checklist to probe |
| Copy the map into a field notebook as it is being drawn; transfer to flipchart paper later. |
| Record important quotes about sites on the map and record observations of the process |
Example Checklist for Map Exercise
(from Herman & Bentley, 1993)
• Persons, places or things related to health in the area
• Which parts of the community or households have the most vulnerable persons and why is this so
• Which parts of the community or households have the most sickness and why is this so
• Which households have the most vulnerable or malnourished children and why is this so
• Where do individuals live who have specialized knowledge about childhood illnesses and how to treat them
WALKABOUT - 1
• Type of Observation
• Usually do not take notes while observing
| reduces reactivity |
| May be able to discreetly jot down details of what you observe between observation sites |
• Usually have a focus (location, behaviors)
| Use a guide or checklist of topics |
• What to record:
| who, what, where, when, what, [why interpretation comes later] |
| Behaviors/conversations related to topic |
| What does not happen related to topic (that you might have expected) |
| Maps/diagrams related to focus topics |
| " e.g, drawing of activities at a water source |
WALKABOUT - 2
• Familiarize yourself with the checklist before you set out on your walk
| use it discreetly, as a reminder, if you need to refer to it during your walk |
• Walk around the community in pairs or threes
| not too many avoid attracting unnecessary attention |
| meander to absorb the community atmosphere, stopping to greet people |
• Visit places in the community related to specific checklist topics (e.g., water sources, where food is stored, fields)
• Have spontaneous informal conversations on checklist topics where people normally gather
• Discreetly jot down details of what you observe (between sites)
• Make notes of things said during conversations with people you meet.
Example of Walkabout Checklist
1. What are the available water sources?
(a) well
(b) spring
(c) reservoir/dam
(d) rain water
(e) seasonal pond
(f) public stand post/tap/fountain
(g) hand-dug well
(h) other
2. Are the water sources protected? (indicate which ones)
(a) yes
(b) semi-protected
(c) no
3. How far are water sources from peoples homes?
Water source Distance
___________ (a) less than 100 meters
___________ (b) 100-500 meters
___________ (c) less than 1 km
___________ (d) 1-2 km
___________ (e) 3-5 km
___________ (f) 6-7 km
___________ (g) more than 8 km
4. What activities take place at or near the water source?
(a) washing water containers
(b) washing clothes
(c) bathing/washing self
(d) watering animals
(e) other
5. Who collects water?
(a) women
(b) children
(c) men
6. What utensils (and means) are used for fetching water?
7. How is water transported from the source to the home?
8. Is water treated at the source, and if so, how?
(a) by filtering with a piece of cloth
(b) by chlorination
(c) by other means
9. How is drinking water stored in the home?
10. How is drinking water handled in the home?
Reactivity in Observations• Reactivity: people may change what they do or say when being observed
• What do we do with reactivity?
| always record reactivity in notes |
| analyze/discuss reactivity in ‘Biases’ section of the Expanded Notes Summary |
• Ways to reduce reactivity:
| repeated observations |
| extended visits (longer time) |
| choice of observer |
| interact with people prior to observing |
Free Listing - 1
Purposes:
| Identify a list of items included in a topic of interest |
| e.g. list of difficulties affecting the community |
| Identify the most known/prominent items in the culture |
| used to decide what to investigate more fully in the study |
| Identify the locally used words for these items |
Preparations:
| Translate and pre-test questions: |
| primary, probing and secondary question (optional) |
| Train for consistency in asking questions |
| Prepare Free List recording form |
Process:
| Identify informants |
| Knowledgeable about topic of interest |
| Minimum of 10 informants |
| Stratify by significant sub-group |
| Ask the primary question |
| Ask "What are all the main difficulties that people living in this settlement face?" "Name all the difficulties you face?" |
| Ask it with consistency |
| Do not ask "If...?" "Are there... ?" |
Free Listing - 2
Process (continued):
| Record each item mentioned on the recording form in the "Item" column, one row per item. |
| Probe after informant provides initial list of items |
| Ask "What else?" |
OR
| Repeat items mentioned & then Ask "What else?" |
| Record each additional item on the recording form |
| Need to agree on how much to probe; be consistent |
| Ask secondary question (Optional) |
| Ask secondary question for each item mentioned |
| Ask a question to clarify the meaning of each item |
| e.g., "Describe what happens when X occurs? |
OR
| Ask for additional information about each item |
| e.g., "What should a person do if X occurs? |
Free Listing - 3
Analysis:
| Make a list of responses for the entire sample |
| For each item on the list, count the number of informants who mentioned the item |
| When to collapse two or more items into one? |
| Singular or plural forms of the same word |
| Key informant clearly state two items are same |
| Generally, avoid the temptation to collapse |
| Forms of Tabulation: |
| Rank by frequency of mention (most common) |
| Rank by order of mention |
OR
| Rank by number of related items |
| Identify the most known/prominent items in the culture for topic of interest |
| Order items by frequency mentioned (%) |
| Select a relevant cutoff percentage |
| Look at distribution: what makes sense? |
| e.g., 50% or more of informants mentioned the item |
Free Listing Recording Form
| Free listing Recording Form: Main dif ficulties faced by pe rsons living in the settlement | |
| Interviewer: Location: Ethnicity: Original home: |
Date: Informant’s age: Time spent in settlement : Marital status: |
| Question 1. "What are main difficulties that people living in this settlement face?" List of Names of Each Difficulty Mentioned (Write Local Terms) | Question 2. "You mentioned ________ was a difficulty here. Please describe to me how this affects the lives of individuals faced with this difficulty?" |
| 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. |
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Free Listing Tabulation Form
| Term ( Item) | # | % | |
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