What is baseline data and how is such data collected?

• Baseline data are critical reference points for assessing changes.
• Baseline data is used as a starting point for gauging progress towards the goal and objectives and measuring the level and direction of change. It establishes a basis for comparing the situation before and after an intervention and making inferences as to the effectiveness of the project.
• Baseline data should include the kind of information that would be appropriate for measuring changes in accordance with the objectives of the programme or intervention.

For a programme to train service providers, data on providers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices might be collected from a KAP survey, and information about the experiences of women seeking services might be collected from interviews.

For an awareness raising campaign, the target population’s current level of awareness might be measured using questionnaires.

• Baseline data can be quantitative or qualitative or a combination of both.

Though the situation analysis and needs assessment can provide some information that can serve as a baseline, they are not the same thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questions to ask about a baseline plan

• Does the baseline data describe the situation prior to the intervention?
• Was it collected (will it be collected) within a timeframe close enough to the intervention so that meaningful conclusions can be reached regarding changes measured? There is no standard, recommended timeframe for meaningful, baseline data. The value of data for gauging possible change depends greatly on the context and environment. In a community that has witnessed rapid demographic change, data even a year old may not be useful as a baseline for measuring change.
• Does the information describe the situation and measure factors (knowledge, attitudes, demographics, practices, skills) that the objectives address?
• Does the data accurately reflect the situation for the target population? If taken from a sample, can meaningful inferences be made about the target population?

What kind of baseline data is necessary, useful, and practical to collect?

• Keep in mind that baseline data should be appropriate for measuring changes with respect to the objectives and goals of the intervention. The collection of baseline data should be carefully targeted to facilitate this measurement, not to address every issue.
• Programmes should aim to collect baseline data relevant to assessing their projects and interventions, and not overwhelm themselves with additional information.
• Examples of types of baseline data that could be collected include:
  • Incidence and prevalence of various forms of violence against women and girls
  • Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) around gender and violence against women (using knowledge attitudes and practices surveys or focus group discussions) to asses individual and community level norms.
  • Perceptions regarding accessibility and quality of services (women and providers)
  • Laws and policies addressing various forms of violence against women
  • Community level awareness around the existence and implementation of laws and policies, and the human rights framework
  • Infrastructure, commodities and protocols in place (e.g. at police stations and health care facilities) for addressing cases of violence against women
  • Number of women survivors accessing health care and other (e.g. social, legal, economic) services
  • Number of women accessing police services for domestic violence or sexual assault; number of reports filed; number of cases brought to trial; percentage of cases resulting in a conviction

(Bott, Guedes and Claramunt, 2004)

*It is not always necessary or feasible for organizations to conduct extensive baseline studies. Keep in mind that baseline data can also be collated from existing sources

Prevalence data on various forms of violence against women for example have been collected by government, non-governmental, advocacy, service and research entities at the national and local levels.

If such baseline data is important for the project’s monitoring and evaluation framework, a first step should be identifying existing and available information sources, including surveys and service data.

Illustrative Baseline Surveys:

Southern African Development Community Gender Protocol Barometer Baseline Studies. These baseline studies have been conducted for Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and include a chapter on gender-based violence.  They are available in English from Genderlinks.

United Nations Inter-agency Task force on Violence against Women (coordinated by UNFPA and DAW). Ten country pilot baseline assessments for Burkina Faso, Fiji, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Paraguay and Rwanda.  Available in English from the Inter-agency Network on women and Gender Equality.

Young Men Initiative for Prevention of Gender-Based Violence Baseline Research Technical Briefs (CARE and ICRW, 2009).  Available in English for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.

 

a) Quantitative

Quantitative (or numerical) data provide comparable data on “who” and “how much.

Quantitative methods are ideal for comparing across similar interventions, across different regions, or before and after an intervention is carried out. They also form the basis for statistical analysis.

Methods for collecting quantitative data:

• Surveys: Population-based or household surveys that ask women about their experiences of violence are considered the most reliable method for obtaining information on violence against women in a general population. Population-based surveys use randomly selected samples and their results are therefore representative of the larger population. Because they include the experiences of women regardless of whether they have reported the violence, such surveys are likely to give a more accurate picture than administrative records. This makes them useful for measuring the extent of violence against women, monitoring trends over time, building awareness and developing policy. When studies in different countries use similar methods to measure violence, it is also possible to compare the risk of violence that women face and understand the similarities and differences between settings.

• Service provider records (health, justice, social service records): Information collected routinely through agencies that come into contact with women who have suffered violence is known as service based data. It includes records from health centres, police stations and courts, public services and other support services for survivors of violence. Service-based data can be used to monitor the number of women seeking assistance from various agencies and can identify how many women in specific populations have sought support due to violence. This can facilitate estimates of the need for such services and their costs. It can also quantify the need for training among service providers and contribute to evaluating the response of agencies to which women turn for help. (United Nations, 2006)

• Demographic data: refer to the characteristics of a population commonly used in government policies and planning, including for example, sex, age, income, disabilities, mobility, marital status, number of children, education, home ownership, employment status, and location (e.g. urban/rural), among others. Race or ethnicity and religious background information may also be collected, though these characteristics of identity are often controversial for political and social reasons. This type of disaggregated data, together with surveys on violence against women, can help deepen understanding of which women and girls face the greatest risks of or experience different forms of violence, in addition to, which men face the greatest risks of or perpetrate violence.

 

The most comprehensive source of demographic data in most countries is the population and housing census. A population census is defined as the total process of collecting, compiling, evaluating, analyzing and publishing or otherwise disseminating demographic, economic and social data pertaining, at a specific time, to all persons in a country or in a well-delimited part of a country. A population census collects data on basic demographic and social characteristics of the population such as age, sex, marital status, place of birth and place of usual residence. It may also include questions on literacy, school attendance, educational attainment, economic activity status, occupation and number of children ever born, among others. It is, therefore, a rich source of data for examining differences between women and men and for studying specific population subgroups such as elderly women and men or those living in rural areas.  A population census also provides the basis for a sampling frame, so that when smaller-scale surveys are conducted, the findings can be extrapolated to the greater population. (United Nations Secretariat, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2006)

The Demographic and Health Survey (and Domestic Violence Module) is one example of this method.

Demographic data has also been used by the World Bank in conjunction with its Living Standards Measurement Survey, providing some data on prevalence of domestic violence and female genital mutilation/cutting across wealth quintiles and urban/rural residence. See, Socio-economic Differences in Health, Nutrition, and Population within Developing Countries: An Overview.

 

Administrative records are another important source of information for studying differences between women and men on a broad range of topics. Statistics on employment and unemployment, education, health, criminal justice, vital statistics and other data are periodically produced from administrative records. One of the most widely used administrative record systems is the civil registration system. Although the primary purpose of civil registration is to meet legal and civil requirements, it is an important source of sex-disaggregated information on births, deaths and marriages. When functioning properly, civil registration systems allow countries to produce periodic reports on vital statistics, such as number of live births by sex; number of deaths by sex and age; number of deaths by cause; marriages by characteristics of each spouse and many more.

For many countries developing the capacity to produce basic demographic statistics on a regular and timely basis (every five or ten years) remains a challenge. At the minimum, this would require the implementation of a population and housing census and the setting up and maintenance of a well-functioning civil registration system. Both require significant resources, technically trained civil service staff and long-term commitment from the highest levels of government.

(United Nations Secretariat, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2006)

• Pre/post intervention tests: True experiments are different from other designs because all participants are randomly assigned from a single population to either experimental or control groups. Random assignment of individuals (such as service providers or clients) or other study units (for example, clinics, villages, or districts) in experiments is different from random sampling in surveys. Random sampling ensures that the individuals in the study are truly representative of the population from which they are drawn. The purpose of random assignment is to ensure that the experimental and control groups are truly comparable to each other. Different techniques can be used to randomly assign study units, ranging from tossing a coin or rolling dice to using a table of random numbers or a computer-generated process. Although random assignment is the preferred technique, it is not always possible for ethical, programmatic, or other reasons.

In the pretest-posttest control group design, participants in both the experimental and control groups receive a pre-test: an initial measurement or observation of the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors or practices – most commonly done with a questionnaire, survey or actual test. The experimental group then receives or participates in the programme intervention, while the control group does not receive or participate in the intervention. After the intervention period is completed, both groups receive a post test - a second set of measurements or observations involving the exact same survey, questionnaire or test. Since the experimental group received or participated in the intervention, the hypothesis is that the post-test would reveal changes (in knowledge, attitudes etc) in the direction hoped for. Also, since both the experimental and control cases were randomly assigned, you would expect that the “scores” on the pre-tests would be equivalent for both groups. Because both groups were equivalent at the beginning of the experiment, you can feel confident in attributing any differences between the experimental and the posttest to the effect of the intervention.  (Adapted from Fisher and Foreit, 2002.)

 

The diagram below represents a true experimental design called the pretest-posttest control group design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Challenges and limitations of quantitative methods (United Nations, 2006)

• The development of surveys that can lead to comparable, meaningful data requires specific expertise. More work is needed to ensure greater uniformity and comparability in the collection and reporting of data on violence against women. Many of the estimates for intimate partner violence are not comparable because of differences in how violence is defined and measured. There are gaps in geographic coverage, populations addressed and types of violence measured.
• Service provider records are often not systematically collected, difficult to access, not disaggregated by sex, incomplete or inaccurate, or inconsistent. While this type of data may be useful for gauging changes in delivery of services, it cannot be used as an accurate account of how many women/girls are suffering abuse, since many do not report it or seek any service (health, police or legal). Service-based data cannot be used to measure the prevalence of violence since in most societies very few abused women report violence to the police or support services, and those who do tend to be the most seriously injured.
• Pre/post intervention tests need to be conducted with the target population receiving the intervention, as well as a sample control group with similar characteristics. It is often challenging to define and identify this group. There are also ethical considerations around involving women who may be experiencing violence in a control group that does not have access to services.
• Proper analysis of data also requires specific expertise. Errors in analysis often lead to improper conclusions and findings.

 

Sources of quantitative information:

The World Health Organization (WHO) Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women presents initial results based on interviews with 24,000 women in 15 sites and 10 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Peru, Namibia, Samoa, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand and the United Republic of Tanzania.

The study was implemented by WHO, in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), PATH, USA, research institutions and women's organizations in the participating countries.

Findings document the prevalence of intimate partner violence and its association with women's physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health. Data is included on non-partner violence, sexual abuse during childhood and forced first sexual experience. Information is also provided on women’s responses: Whom do women turn to and whom do they tell about the violence in their lives? Do they leave or fight back? Which services do they use and what response do they get?

Demographic and Health Surveys (Macro International) are nationally-representative household surveys that provide data for a wide range of monitoring and impact evaluation indicators in the areas of population, health, and nutrition.

Standard Demographic and Health Surveys have large sample sizes (usually between 5,000 and 30,000 households) and typically are conducted every 5 years, to allow comparisons over time.

Data is available for 83 countries. In the late 1990s, a standardized Domestic Violence Module was included as an option for governments to collect information on the following indicators:

• Experience of any violence ever and in the past 12 months
• Frequency of violence
• Consequences of violence
• Violence during pregnancy
• When spousal violence was first initiated
• Violence by women against their spouse/partner
• Whether and from whom help was sought
• Whether the respondent's mother experienced spousal violence

Over 25 countries have implemented this module.

The Demographic and Health Surveys also include an optional module on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting that provides data on:

• Knowledge of female genital cutting
• Prevalence of female genital cutting
• Percentage of women with at least one living daughter
• Type of female genital cutting
• Person who performed the female genital cutting
• Median age at female genital cutting
• Attitudes towards female genital cutting

International Violence against Women Survey (European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control with inputs from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute and Statistics Canada) is an international, comparative survey on violence against women based on the methodology of the International Crime Victim Survey.  The survey was initially implemented in eleven countries (Australia, China (Hong Kong), Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Mozambique, Poland, Philippines and Switzerland), interviewing over 23,000 women.

The survey covers the following areas:

• Prevalence and severity of violence
• Risk factors and correlates
• Physical and psychological consequences
• Percentage of violent incidents reported to police and other agencies
• Criminal justice system response and women’s assessment of these

The book and survey instrument are available for purchase from Springer.

International Men and Gender Equality Survey [IMAGES] (International Centre for Research on Women and Promundo) is one of the most comprehensive survey instruments developed to understand men’s behaviours and attitudes related to gender equality (including violence against women) – and changes in those attitudes and behaviours over time.  The survey is also implemented with women to compare attitudes and behaviours between the two. The men’s questionnaire is available in English and Portuguese.  The women’s questionnaire is available in English and Portuguese.

Elaboración de las Líneas de base Sobre Tolerancia Social y Tolerancia Institucional de la Violencia Basada en el Género en Colombia [Baseline surveys on Social and Institutional Tolerance of Gender-based Violence in Colombia] (Integrated Gender-Based Violence Programme in Colombia of the Spanish Government Millennium Development Goal Fund). These baseline survey instruments were developed under the auspices of the multisectoral programme in Colombia, incorporating elements that will allow comparability with some of the aspects of both the WHO Multi-country Study and the International Men and Gender Equality Survey. The public institutions survey instrument is available in Spanish.  The household survey instrument is available in Spanish

See also the baseline survey instruments used for the SASA! community mobilization initiative.

Additional Resources:

Guia para el Desarrollo de los Estudios Nacionales sobre Violencia Contra las Mujeres y VIH en Belice, Honduras Y Nicaragua (PAHO, 2006).  Available in Spanish.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Database on Violence against Women includes information from Member States on what mechanisms have been implemented to address violence against women surveys that have been conducted. The database is updated on an ongoing basis. Search the database by country.

 

b) Qualitative

Qualitative approaches provide contextual, in-depth information on the “why” and “how.” Qualitative information complements and provides greater insight into quantitative data. It is extremely useful for understanding community level norms and attitudes underlying violence against women, the non-quantifiable factors that affect service providers’ responses to cases of violence, including stigma and discrimination, and the barriers and challenges faced by women in accessing services and support.

 

Challenges and limitations of qualitative methods

• Qualitative participatory methods require more time and resources
• Qualitative data is harder to analyze and compare
• Qualitative data is sometimes less “credible” to policy makers and donors who prefer numbers

Interventions aimed at addressing attitudes and beliefs in particular should balance quantitative data with qualitative approaches in their monitoring and evaluation plans.

For example, quantitative data might reveal the number of cases of violence against women reported to the police. Qualitative methods and participatory discussions with women and front-line police officers can provide critical insight into factors impacting the number of reports or lack thereof.

They might highlight for example, a lack of familiarity with rights and obligations set forth in law, the perception that police are unresponsive to survivors’ needs, the fear that if a woman brings a case to trial, she will be stigmatized in her community, thrown out of her house, or subjected to further violence, or discomfort with having to recount experiences with violence in a public setting or to officials that are insensitive.

 

Methods for collecting qualitative data include

• Pre/post intervention focus group discussions with target populations
• Pre/post intervention interviews with target populations and key informants
• Participatory methods such as, participatory learning and action and participatory action research

Participatory Learning and Action and Participatory Action Research include a range of methods that emphasize the full participation of local communities as a way of learning about specific needs, challenges and opportunities, and identifying appropriate action for addressing concerns. These techniques use community members’ knowledge and experience as a point of reference, engaging in participatory discussion to stimulate group reflection and motivate participants to act collectively. Individual and collective empowerment of participants and community level social transformation are explicit goals of participatory learning and action and participatory action research and the techniques are particularly useful if the main objectives are social change or the transfer of skills. If accuracy of data is critical, a more traditional approach to research may be more appropriate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main principles of participatory research are that:

• It involves a flexible, interactive process of exploration that stimulates creativity, flexibility and improvisation in the use of methods to facilitate learning.
• Community members direct the process, in the sense that knowledge is produced on the basis of their own experiences. Community members also define the priorities of the research, as well as the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data.
• The role of outsiders is to facilitate rather than direct the learning process and the production of knowledge.
• Participants, not just the researchers or external agents, own the methods and the results. The socialization of knowledge and techniques in participatory research is greatly encouraged.
• Diversity is enhanced rather than averaged out. Participatory research attempts to reveal differences between situations, attitudes, and practices according to social class, gender, and ethnicity and tries to learn from cases that apparently do not conform to the expected.
• Triangulation is used to validate results. This refers to the use of different methods for studying the same phenomena, or using the same method with groups that represent diversity, for instance by gender and class, to see whether results are valid for each group.
• The entire process, not just the results, is designed to enhance empowerment of individuals and communities, thereby stimulating social change. Emphasis is placed on assessing the quality and understanding the impact of participation, rather than just promoting participation

 

Open ended stories were also used in the assessment of interventions in Melanesia and East Timor to get a sense of women’s experiences with violence and with the accessibility and quality of services for survivors/victims. Through two stories of fictional women—one beaten by her husband, and another involving her younger sister who was raped by a schoolmate—this study explored the types of support to which women might have access in Melanesia and East Timor. The stories were presented during focus groups discussions and participants were asked where these women would go for help, what kinds of barriers they would encounter, and what would be the likely outcomes of their efforts.

Community mapping

A community map is an excellent tool for collecting qualitative data, especially in cultures that have a strong visual tradition. As with many other participatory techniques, maps can be created on paper with colored pens or constructed in the dirt, using natural materials such as sticks and pebbles. Mapping can be used to identify or highlight many aspects of a community, including geographic, demographic, historic, cultural and economic.  With respect to violence against women and girls, community mapping can be used to identify for example, the number, locations and quality of various services (medical, legal, shelters and others) available to survivors; or the high-risk areas where abuse, sexual harassment and assaults are likely to occur on the way to-and-from work, school or in other public spaces. (Ellsberg and Heise, 2005)

How-to approach community mapping:

1.  The community was visited and community members were invited to participate:

2. The purpose of the visit was introduced and people’s interest and availability to participate was assessed.

3. Participants were requested that someone draw a map of the desired area.

4. Some people will naturally reach for a stick and begin drawing on the ground. Others will look around for paper and pencils. Have materials ready to offer, if it is appropriate.

5. As the map is beginning to take shape, other community members will become involved. Give people plenty of time and space. Do not hurry the process.

6. Wait until people are completely finished before you start asking questions. Then interview the visual output. Phrase questions so that they are open-ended and nonjudgmental. Probe often, show interest, let people talk.

7. If there is additional information that would be useful, you may ask focused questions once conversation about the map has finished.

8. Record any visual output, whether it was drawn on the ground or sketched on paper. Be accurate and include identifying information (place, date, and participant’s names if possible).

(CARE International, 1998)

 

 

 

 

 

Community mapping is also an excellent tool for getting perspective on the kinds of services that are available in a particular community, where they are located, and what challenges women may face in accessing them. Maps can be used to pinpoint the location of police stations, shelters and safe houses, clinics, counseling and testing centers, and other services, and serve as a framework for understanding any barriers and obstacles preventing women from utilizing them. These might include for example, the fact that a clinic or testing center is located in a visible, public location (and therefore lacking adequate anonymity to ensure privacy and safety; police stations and courthouses are located miles away from a woman’s house and from other services, and are not accessible by public transportation; or shelters are located right next to where the perpetrator lives or works.

In the United Kingdom, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the End Violence against Women Coalition have developed an online mapping of survivor services available across Britain.  The Map of Gaps highlights the disparities in availability of services in order to advocate for women survivors’ equal access to the services they may need in situations of abuse.   The services mapped, include: general violence against women services, domestic violence services, women’s refuges (safe spaces/ shelters), services for ethnic minority women, perpetrator programmes, specialist domestic violence courts, sexual violence services, rape crisis centres, sexual assault referral centres and prostitution, trafficking and sexual exploitation services. View the maps.

 

Venn diagrams

Venn diagrams, also known as circular or “chapati” diagrams, are useful for analyzing social distance, organizational structures, or institutional relationships. The facilitator draws circles of different sizes to represent individuals or organizations that are linked to the problem or community under study. The size of the circles indicates the person, organization or service delivery point’s importance. The item’s location on the sheet represents how accessible the item is for the person or community.  The colors can be used to highlight positive or negative perceptions or relations with the given entity. The technique may be used in small or large groups. (Igras, Monahan and Syphrines, 1998)

Another method is to make two diagrams per group—one that indicates the real situation and another that represents the ideal situation. Through these diagrams, one can compare how different groups perceive a subject.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Venn diagrams of people and services women might turn to for assistance from an assessment of interventions in Melanesia and East Timor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Different qualitative methods can be used together.  The Venn diagram below in conjunction with Leila’s open-ended story presented earlier provide a more complete understanding of her experience and the support mechanisms available to her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Voice and Digital Stories

The photo voice and digital stories techniques, also known as shoot back, are an excellent method for participatory research. These techniques provide recorded documentation of first-person accounts on a particular topic. They are created by community members using text, voice-over, photographs, video, drawings and music. These approaches are used worldwide on a variety of topics, including domestic violence, rape, other sexual assaults and harassment. (Ellsberg and Heise, 2005)

The steps in the process include:

(Wang, 1999 as cited in Ellsberg and Heise, 2005)

• Conceptualize the problem.
• Define broader goals and objectives.
• Recruit policy makers as the audience for photo voice findings.
• Train the trainers.
• Conduct photo voice training.
• Devise the initial theme/s for taking pictures.
• Take pictures.
• Facilitate group discussion.
• Allow for critical reflection and dialogue.
• Select photographs for discussion.
• Contextualize and storytell.
• Codify issues, themes, and theories.
• Document the stories.
• Conduct the formative evaluation.
• Reach policymakers, donors, media, researchers, and others mobilized to create change.
• Conduct participatory evaluation of policy and programme implementation.

Similar to any and all research techniques where individuals are directly involved, the participant's well-being is the primary and central concern in the process of making digital stories.  Sensitivity, clarity and accountability for facilitator, narrator and viewer are important and can be achieved by:

• Recruiting participants on a voluntary basis who understand the process and implications of participation.  Narrators can be recruited from partner agencies or organizations responding to a specific need, and can include, for example, women or girl survivors accessing services, educators and advocates.
• Ensuring informed consent and the option for participants to opt-out of the process at any time.
• Ensuring the product emerges out of a participatory media production workshop in which: Participants work closely with a team of trainers on content, image and other aspects of the final video and participants are empowered through hands-on assistance with editing, computers, etc. to produce their own products.

In addition, it is good practice to accompany the videos with a detailed discussion guide for facilitators that addresses the videos in an ethical, human-rights based and gender-sensitive manner. These guides can include various components, such as:

• Guidance on a wide variety of topics, ranging from self-examination to choosing a discussion method;
• Story summaries and transcripts;
• Key points to address;
• Discussion questions, both general and story-specific;
• A story-subject index; and
• Websites and information about organizations that provide assistance related to the topic.

Photovoice and digital stories have been used to study sexual violence against girls in school; to better understand service provider and community attitudes related to HIV positive women who have experienced violence; to document alternative masculinities; to share the experiences of advocates who are spreading messages of zero tolerance; and for so many other initiatives.

Additional Resources:

Digitial stories on gender, human rights and violence against women (Sonke Gender Justice).  Available in English with accompanying discussion guides.

Digital stories of youth experiences in Brazil (Promundo and Silence Speaks).  Available in Portuguese with English subtitles.

Digital stories on domestic and intimate partner violence (Close to Home).  Available in English.

Video for Change: online training video (WITNESS). Available in English, French and Spanish with an accompanying manual in English, French, Russian and Spanish.

 

Timelines

Timelines or seasonal calendars are useful for exploring trends over time, and important events leading up to certain changes. They can be used to measure experiences at a national level (for example, the events leading up to specific changes in domestic violence legislation). They are also useful for diagramming change in a community (e.g., when social violence became a serious problem) or personal experiences in the life of an individual (for example, when a woman first started being abused by her husband, and what actions she subsequently took to overcome the violence). (Ellsberg and Heise, 2005)

In a timeline, events or trends are charted according to years, months, or days. Events may be plotted along a line, or a line may be plotted along a vertical axis to indicate increases in the frequency or severity of a specific problem. A common method in participatory research is to have community members diagram or “draw” the timeline or calendar on the ground using sticks and other natural items (such as leaves, rocks, or flowers) to mark key events. It is often helpful to involve multiple stakeholders (e.g. staff and volunteers from a women’s shelter, women activists, and members of the police who work with survivors of violence), who can collectively recollect the history and sequence of events related to the issue being explored.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Focus Group Discussions

Focus group discussions are a powerful method for collecting information relatively quickly. They are better suited for exploring norms, beliefs and practices than for seeking information on actual behaviours or details of individual lives. The focus group is a special type of group in terms of its purpose, size, composition, and procedures. A focus group is usually composed of six to ten individuals who have been selected because they share certain characteristics that are relevant to the topic to be discussed. In some cases, the participants are selected specifically so that they do not know each other, but in many cases that is not possible, particularly when participants belong to the same community or organization. The discussion is carefully planned, and is designed to obtain information on participants’ beliefs about and perceptions of a defined area of interest. (Ellsberg and Heise, 2005)

Focus groups differ in several important ways from informal discussion groups:

• Specific, predetermined criteria are used for recruiting focus group participants.
• The topics to be discussed are decided beforehand, and the moderator usually uses a predetermined list of open-ended questions that are arranged in a natural and logical sequence.
• Focus group discussions may also be carried out using participatory techniques such as ranking, story completion, or Venn diagrams. This may be particularly useful when working with groups with little formal education or when talking about very sensitive issues. (In the Nicaraguan study on a new domestic violence law, described in the following pages, however, participatory techniques were used successfully in focus group discussions with judges and mental health professionals as well as with rural men and women.)
• Unlike individual interviews, focus group discussions rely on the interactions among participants about the topics presented. Group members may influence each other by responding to ideas and comments that arise during the discussion, but there is no pressure on the moderator to have the group reach consensus.
• Focus groups have been used successfully to assess needs, develop interventions, test new ideas or programmes, improve existing programmes, and generate a range of ideas on a particular subject as background information for constructing more structured questionnaires. However, they are not easy to conduct. They require thorough planning and training of group moderators.

When planning a focus group, consider the following recommendations:

• Focus groups require trained moderators. Three types of people will be needed: recruiters, who locate and invite participants; moderators, who conduct the group discussions; and note-takers, who list topics discussed, record reactions of the group participants, and tape-record the entire discussion (if all participants give consent). Note-takers also help transcribe the taped discussions.
• Focus groups are usually composed of homogeneous members of the target population. It is often a good idea to form groups of respondents that are similar in terms of social class, age, level of knowledge, cultural/ethnic characteristics, and sex. This will help to create an environment in which participants are comfortable with each other and feel free to express their opinions. It also helps to distinguish opinions that might be attributed to these different characteristics among groups.
• If possible, experienced focus group leaders suggest conducting at least two groups for each “type” of respondent to be interviewed.
• The optimal size group consists of six to ten respondents. This helps ensure that all individuals participate and that each participant has enough time to speak. However, sometimes, it is not possible to regulate the size of a group, and successful focus group discussions have been carried out with many more participants.
• Analyze the data by group. Data analysis consists of several steps. First, write summaries for each group discussion. Next, write a summary for each “type” of group (e.g., a summary of all discussions conducted with young mothers). Finally, compare results from different “types” of groups (e.g., results from groups of young versus older mothers).
• The discussions may be taped for transcription later, but this substantially increases the time and cost of analysis. One alternative is to take careful notes during the discussion and to refer to the audiotapes for specific areas where there are doubts.
• Focus groups give information about groups of people rather than individuals.
• They do not provide any information about the frequency or the distribution of beliefs or behaviour in the population. When interpreting the data, it is important to remember that focus groups are designed to gather information that reflects what is considered normative in that culture. In other words, if wife abuse is culturally accepted, then it should not be difficult to get participants to speak frankly about it. However, some topics are very sensitive because they imply actions or orientations that are either culturally taboo or stigmatizing. For the same reason, focus group respondents should not be asked to reveal the details of their individual, personal lives in a focus group setting, especially when the subject matter of the focus group deals with sensitive issues such as domestic violence and sexual abuse. If a researcher wants information on women’s individual experiences, then that should be done in private individual interviews. In many cases, facilitators ask respondents to think about the perspectives and behaviour of their peers, for example, which allows them to draw on their experiences in general terms but does not ask them to reveal the details of their own behaviour or experiences in a group setting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Resources:

The C-Change: Innovative Approaches to Social and Behavior Change Communication,  Available in English.

The Most Significant Change Technique: A Guide to Its Use, Rick Davies and Jess Dart. Available in English.

The International Institute of Education and Development’s website, Participatory Learning and Action section. Available in English.

The Resource Centers Participatory Learning and Action website. Available in English.

Listening to Young Voices: Facilitating Participatory Appraisals on Reproductive Health with Adolescents (Care International Zambia, 1999). Available in English.

Monitoring and Evaluation with Children (Plan Togo, 2006). Available in English.

Methods for Reflection and Knowledge Sharing from the Knowledge Sharing Toolkit (ICT-KM Program, CGIAR, Food and Agriculture Organization and UNICEF). Available in English.