Multiple Indicator Cluster SurveysMICS3Regional Training Workshop

Survey Techniques

• Fieldwork team – Roles and Responsibilities

• Field Procedures

• Conducting Face to Face Interviews

• Contacting Households

• Asking Questions and Recording Answers

FIELDWORK TEAM

• Supervisors

• Field Editors

• Interviewers

Team Size

• The actual number of interviewers per team will depend on a number of factors– Cluster size– Questionnaire length– Envisaged workload etc.

• A team of 1 supervisor, 1 editor, 4-5 interviewers recommended

Recommendations

• Spread out data collection to 2-3 months• Do not rush data collection• Begin data entry simultaneously with data

collection• Edit questionnaires while in the field, on

location• Provide feedback to fieldwork teams early on

to correct systematic mistakes etc

Supervisors

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Senior member of the field team

• Receives assignments from and reports to the field director

• Responsible for :– the well-being and safety of team members, – the completion of the assigned workload and the

maintenance of data quality. • to make the necessary preparations for the fieldwork,• to organise and direct the fieldwork, and • to spot-check the data collected.

ASSIGNING WORK TO INTERVIEWERS

• Make daily work assignments

• Assign interviews an interviewer can actually do (no less and no more)

• Distribute work fairly among the interviewers

• Ensure that each interviewer has all the required information and materials for completing the work

• Make sure that interviewers understand the instructions given and that they adhere to the work schedule

CREATING AND MAINTAINING MOTIVATION AND MORALE

• Essential to good quality work.

• Supervisors need to make sure that interviewers: – understand clearly what is expected of them;– are properly guided; – receive recognition for good work;– are stimulated to improve their work; – work in secure conditions.

CREATING AND MAINTAINING MOTIVATION AND MORALE

• Direct orders vs. voluntary compliance

• Be a “Leader”, not a “Boss”

• Participatory approach: Involve interviewers in decision making and maintain it

• Point out errors, in a friendly and private manner

CREATING AND MAINTAINING MOTIVATION AND MORALE

• Listen and try to resolve interviewer’s complaints

• Try to foster team spirit and group work

• Do not show preference for a particular interviewer

• Try to develop a friendly and informal atmosphere

CREATING AND MAINTAINING MOTIVATION AND MORALE

• Supervisors and editors must:– set good examples– demonstrate punctuality, enthusiasm, and

dedication – not pretend to have special privileges to work less– Be always well prepared to maintain credibility and

authority

• Interviewer morale and motivation depend on the supervisors morale and motivation

Field Editors

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Complete anthropometric measurements of children,

• Monitor interviewer performance:– Observe several interviews every day– Edit all completed questionnaires in the field– Conduct regular review sessions with interviewers

• Arrange for sending of questionnaires to the central office

• Maintain a suitable mechanism to monitor the flow of questionnaires

Interviewers

INTERVIEWER’S ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Locate structures and households in the sample and complete the questionnaires

• Check completed questionnaires

• Revisits for households and/or women/mothers/caretakers

• Assist the editor in conducting height and weight measurements of children.

FIELD PROCEDURES

PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENT SHEET

• Daily work assignment

• Recorded on the Interviewer’s Cluster Control Sheet (ICCS)

• Use of the ICCS– Columns 1 and 2 : id information– Columns 3 to 7: summary of results

Cluster Number: _____________________

Interviewer Number: _________________ Date: _________________

Number of Eligible

Interviews Completed

HH No. (1)

Name of Head of

Household (2)

Final

Result (3)

Women (4)

Children (5)

Women (6)

Children (7)

Notes (8)

Interviewer’s Cluster Control Sheet

BEFORE STARTING AN INTERVIEW

• The interviewer needs to make sure:– That Columns (1) and (2) of the ICCS is complete– To have a Household Questionnaire for each Household

assigned– To fill in the identification information on the cover page of

each Household Questionnaire– To know the location of the selected HH – To have sufficient materials to locate them (maps,

addresses, sketches)– To understand instructions from our supervisor – To have blank Woman’s and Children’s Questionnaires.

CONDUCTING AN INTERVIEW

BUILDING RAPPORT

• Consider the context you are in

• Be one of them rather than an alien

• Make a good first impression

• Do not be apologetic

• Always have a positive approach

• Stress confidentiality of responses

• Answer any questions frankly

• Interview the respondent alone – particularly important for Woman’s Interview

TIPS IN CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEW

• Be neutral

• Never suggest answers

• Do not change the wording or sequence of questions

• Handle hesitant respondents tactfully

• Do not form expectations

• Do not hurry the interview

CONTACTING HOUSEHOLDS

LOCATING SAMPLED HOUSEHOLDS

• We should have, for each sample cluster:

– Up-to-date maps to indicate the location of structures,

– Address information for each structure,

– A list of the names of the heads of all the households living in the structures

DEFINITIONS

• A structure is a free-standing building that can have one or more rooms in which people live,

• Within a structure, there may be one or more dwelling (or housing) units.

• A dwelling unit is a room or group of rooms occupied by one or more households.

• A household is a person or group of persons that usually lives and eats together

PROBLEMS IN CONTACTING HOUSEHOLDS

• The selected household has moved away and the dwelling is vacant,

• The household has moved away and a new one is now living in the same dwelling,

• The structure number and name of household head do not match with what you find in the field,

• The household selected does not live in the structure that was listed,

PROBLEMS IN CONTACTING HOUSEHOLDS

• The listing shows only one household in the dwelling but two households are living there now,

• The head of the household has changed,

• The house is all closed up and the neighbours say the people are on vacation for an extended period,

• The house is all closed up and the neighbours say that no one lives there,

PROBLEMS IN CONTACTING HOUSEHOLDS

• A household is supposed to live in a structure that when visited is found to be a shop,

• A selected structure is not found in the cluster, it was destroyed in a recent fire,

• No one is home and neighbours tell you the family has gone to the market

CONTACTING WOMEN, MOTHERS/CARETAKERS

IDENTIFYING ELIGIBLE RESPONDENTS

• HH Questionnaire is used to identify who is eligible to be interviewed with the Woman’s and Under-5 Questionnaires.

• All women age 15-49 years and children under 5 years of age who are members of the household are considered eligible for individual interviews

• Primary caretakers are interviewed only if mother is not in the household list (Deceased? Living elsewhere?)

ASKING QUESTIONS AND RECORDING ANSWERS

GENERAL PROCEDURES

• Understand how to ask each question, • Know what information the question is

attempting to collect• Know how to handle problems which might

arise during the interview• Know how to correctly record the answers the

respondent gives • Know how to follow special instructions in the

questionnaire

ASKING THE QUESTIONS

• Ask each question exactly as it is written in the questionnaire (customized/translated previously)

• Speak slowly and clearly.

• When in need to repeat the question, do not paraphrase the question but repeat it exactly as it is written.

• If, after we have repeated a question, the respondent still does not understand it, we may have to restate the question.

• Be very careful when we change the wording, that we do not alter the meaning of the question.

PROBING

• In some cases, we may have to ask additional questions or probe, to obtain a complete answer from a respondent.

• Be careful that probes are "neutral" and do not suggest an answer,

• Probing requires both tact and skill and it is one of the most challenging aspects for interviewers.

CHECKING COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRES

• Review each questionnaire after completing the interview, before leaving the household

• How to correct errors? Minor and serious ones

• Do not recopy questionnaires.

• Record ALL information on the questionnaires

• Calculations and anything out of the ordinary should be explained in the questionnaire.

RETURNING WORK ASSIGNMENTS

• At the end of fieldwork each day, the interviewers should:– Check that the cover sheet of a Household

Questionnaire for each household assigned is filled, whether or not the interview was completed.

– Report to supervisor about any problems – Return to the supervisor the completed Household

Questionnaires and accompanying Woman’s and Children’s Questionnaires placed inside.

Multiple Indicator Cluster SurveysMICS3Regional Training Workshop

Survey Techniques