I collected data to investigate the factors hindering or promoting compliance with the standard procedures for eliminating malaria among healthcare service providers in a township working towards malaria elimination. My objective was to provide insights that can be used to develop effective strategies for enhancing malaria elimination efforts and healthcare delivery in the area.
I collected primary data. For the quantitative aspect, I interviewed all the HSPs in the townships using a self-administered structured questionnaire. I conducted IDI and KII with the selected participants for the qualitative aspect.
In my research, I used mixed methods to collect data. For the quantitative component, I employed a self-administered structured questionnaire. At the same time, for the qualitative aspect, I conducted In-Depth Interviews (IDI) and Key Informant Interviews (KII) with selected participants to gain an in-depth understanding of their perspectives and experiences. The data collection process involved using paper-based tools. The structured questionnaire was administered to participants, and their responses were later encoded into SPSS for quantitative data analysis to ensure accuracy and consistency. For the qualitative aspect, I used paper-based guides for IDI and KII, and recordings were translated into English verbatim. Thematic analysis was then conducted using NVivo to explore themes in the qualitative data.
I faced several challenges during the process of collecting data. These included traveling extensively to different healthcare facilities in the study area to meet with participants, difficulty recruiting participants due to travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and some missing data in the quantitative data collection. Furthermore, for qualitative data collection, I encountered challenges with travel logistics, increased costs, and potential interviewer bias, as some participants knew me as a public health officer working in the Ministry of Health.