Week 9 Topic Discussion

[Daniel M Parker]

Imagine that you’re analyzing survey responses with regard to the use of bednets for prevention of malaria. You find that a large proportion of respondents report not using bednets. However, you have no data about why they are not using bednets. What approach(es) might you use in order to figure out why respondents are not using bednets?

[tullaya.sita]

In order to figure out, WHY respondents are not using bednets? I think the proper approach should be a qualitative study. Because we need to understand the community/participant’s view not using bednet. I think the appropriate qualitative study method is the semi-structured interview.

[Saranath]

Do you mean an indepth interview, right?

[tullaya.sita]

Yes, I meant to be an in-depth interview and focus group interview.

[Daniel M Parker]

Yes in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and observations can all be valuable.

Oftentimes we have to balance how well we will be able to understand something and how much time we have. FGD are one way to quickly collect qualitative data, but there are tradeoffs. Participant observation would give us a very in-depth understanding, but it can take a long time.

[Ameen]

If the result is from a study in a rural area, I’d use Focus Group Discussion (FGD) combined with an in-depth interview to find out why they are not using bednets. First, I would do an IDI with key informants from the community such as village leader or village health volunteer on the general issue about the bednets in the community and also discussion about how to recruit community member who is not using bednets into the FGD. The two key informants also can help scope down the issues and give some guidance on how to conduct FGD appropriately regarding community character. The FGD may not be a typical conversational group interview, it can be activities with some entertainment or treat to make participants feel more informal and feel free to express their opinions and the root cause of the problem.

[Saranath]

I think, besides the IDI and FGD, observation method is also interesting to explore (if possible). Sometimes, you will never understand that person’s situation or thought, until you put yourself in someone’s shoes.

[Ameen]

Agreed, in interviewing, sometime participant doesn’t aware or may deliberately omit about an important topic which could lead the researcher to the root cause. Observation can help resolve the bias. I think if researchers want to do the method they should have a plan about the period of time for the observation and how they could be part of the activities without interfering. The participant may not act like in everyday life or ‘get everything ready to be seen’ if they know beforehand about the study. In interviews, the participant may not naive and would speak out only what likely to reflect a good image of them.

I used to have fieldwork on the dietary pattern. Instead of interviewing on the pattern, we join the cooking time and observe how and what they use in cooking such as the portion of seasoning or eating portions.

[Daniel M Parker]

This is a very good example of ‘participant observation.’ One of the best ways to understand how someone makes their food is to join in the process (if appropriate)

[Daniel M Parker]

Yes, this is a really good point to bring up here. While an outsider won’t be able to completely understand all aspects of a community, they may notice some things that a community member wouldn’t even think to tell them about. For this reason, observations, mixed with interviews and FGD, can be extremely valuable.

[w.thanachol]

I would go with focus group discussion first, however, if the result for discussion were varied or not saturated, I would prepare an in-depth interview for further data collection. For better understanding of their culture and thoughts, I will conduct a direct observation by living with them and follow through their daily activities.

[Pacharapol Withayasakpunt]

I would use both focus group discussion (FGD) using general participants; and in-depth interview to key informants; to develop deep understandings.

After that, a quantitative evaluation research might be helpful to improve the situation.

[imktd8]

If I am analyzing survey responses with regard to the use of bednets for prevention of malaria and I have no data about why they are not using bednets. To correct the data to analyze, the qualitative study is selected to study. For the method I will select to collect the data are in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. These help to get the reason and behavior why they do not use the bednets. In addition to decrease the bias, I will offer the electronic survey to collect the data. This is because some people may be shy to inform the information which they think it is the privacy data.

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