Data Collection Notes
Organization of Field Work
The project headquarters of KHDS 2004 were at the EDI (Economic Development Initiatives) offices in Bukoba Town. Here the human resources and finances of the project were managed, legal and contractual matters were taken care of, transport arrangements for field teams were made, the stock of field equipment was managed, future work was planned and all other activities necessary for the successful completion of the project were implemented. Details on recruitment, pre-fieldwork tracking, main field work, and tracking are given below. In addition to these activities, the questionnaire itself was piloted by supervisors in non-sampled households in Kibeta and Kitendaguro areas in Bukoba District prior to training.
Recruitment
Field staff recruitment started in spring 2003 with field supervisors. Four supervisors were recruited. After training, supervisors were involved in developing the survey instruments, planning field work, piloting the questionnaire, and preparing interviewer training manuals and materials. In November 2003, 36 interviewers were recruited; they were trained for three weeks. Interviewers were trained on the household questionnaire, mortality questionnaire, anthropometrics and basic communication methods with respondents. The training included actual household interviews in one rural area for all trainees. After training, an assessment of each interviewer on and off the field was conducted; the best 28 interviewers were retained. The field teams consisted of 4 teams of 7 interviewers and 1 supervisor. The final field team included one supervisor and 5 interviewers had worked on the KHDS 91-94.
Pre-Fieldwork Tracking
In order to facilitate the field work and prepare for tracking of movers, the KHDS 2004 had a pre-fieldwork tracking phase. Field management, supervisors and three interviewers did the prefield work tracking in October 2003. The team visited all 51 baseline communities with rosters from the 1991-1994 survey to complete a Household Tracking Form. This form identified the status and location of all panel respondents (all previous household members). When possible, panel respondents still residing in baseline communities were contacted in order to collect information on the status (alive/deceased) and location of all surviving panel respondents with whom the respondent resided in KHDS 91-94. When none of the panel respondents could be located in the baseline community, this information was collected by an informant (either a neighbor, relative or village leader).
For respondents who had moved out of the baseline community, tracking information was collected on the Individual Tracking Form. The form contained information on the name, age, and sex of the person tracked. It also included area of residence, which was divided into country, region, district, ward, village and sub-village. In addition, their marital status, name of spouse, contact details, professional details, hang out places, other names used and physical characteristics were noted. Furthermore, information on potential informants was collected on the Informant Tracking Form, in the event that tracking information appeared unreliable or insufficiently detailed to allow for the tracking of the panel respondent. Upon completion of the pre-field work tracking, data collected consisted of:
- Household Tracking Form which recorded the status of all panel respondents. If a panel respondent was reported to be alive, basic information on current location (same community, nearby community, district, region etc…) was recorded
- Individual Tracking Form for panel respondents who did not reside in or nearby the baseline community
- Informant Tracking Form for potential informants in the event that information on the individual tracking form proved insufficient to locate panel respondents who lived far from baseline communities.
The data collected were entered in the headquarters in Bukoba. These data were used to estimate the total number of households expected to be interviewed in KHDS 2004, considering migration and splitting of households. These data also allowed for careful planning of the main and tracking phases of the field work.
Main Field Work
The main field work started in January 2004. It consists of field team visits to the 51 baseline communities, as well as tracking of panel respondents who had moved to villages nearby the baseline communities. It excluded the tracking of panel respondents who had moved far either within the region or outside the region.
The field teams were divided into four groups of seven. One supervisor led each group. For the first two enumeration areas, teams were paired up in order to ensure data quality and consistency, as well as identify any over-sights in field procedures. For the remaining field work, each enumeration area was assigned one field team. When the survey team arrived in a community, the supervisor met with the village chairman to introduce the team, and, if necessary, explain about the survey in more detail. The supervisor also collaborated with the village chairman to find accommodation and guides who are familiar with household locations in the village. They also compiled a list of respondents for the community questionnaire and planned actual dates for administering the questionnaire.
Households in the village were grouped according to sub-villages. Appointments for administering the household questionnaire were then made with the household members. The interviewers completed the household questionnaire in two to three separate interviews depending on the size of the household and the number of sections that applied to the household. Fieldwork supervision was done in several stages to ensure high quality data collection. Supervision included revisits to households and direct observation during interviews by field supervisors and management team. During the revisits, the supervisor re-administered some of the sections in the household questionnaire, took anthropometric measurements and crosschecked clinic cards for children under the age six to verify the validity of the data. This also enabled collection of missing household data and anthropometric measurements for household members who had not been available during the initial interview.
Questionnaire checks were done in four stages:
- First, interviewers checked their own questionnaire after every household interview.
- Second, interviewers exchanged questionnaires among themselves for further checking.
- Third, the supervisor checked the questionnaires.
- Finally, field management occasionally checked the questionnaires.
For the field work, each team was given pre-printed 1991-1994 Household Rosters and 1991-1994 Children Living Elsewhere Rosters. They used these to check and confirm identities, relations and identification codes of respondents, which link them to the 1991-1994 survey (including completion of Section 1 question 10 in the household questionnaire, Section 2, and the Network Roster Card ).
Supervisors reported to the main office once a week to give an update of the work. They also reported any problems or queries that arose which enabled the field management to develop addendums. Addendums to the field manual were produced and distributed in the first few months of the fieldwork to clarify some aspects of the fieldwork and questionnaires. The field teams returned to the main office after completion in every enumeration area.
Tracking
The tracking phase started in June 2004 and ended in August 2004. During this phase, the teams were sub-divided into smaller teams of about three people. The size of the teams changed according to the location and number of panel respondents who needed to be tracked. A team leader led each team, while a supervisor was responsible for monitoring several teams located close to each other.
During the tracking phase, field staff tracked panel respondents who migrated to areas far away from their baseline 1991-1994 dwelling. Panel respondents who had migrated to nearby villages were visited during the main fieldwork. In some cases, when the field team arrived at the location on the Individual Tracking Form, the panel respondent had re-located. In this case, a second (or third, etc..) Individual Tracking Form would be completed and entered at operation headquarters.
Community Survey
The community questionnaire was administered in all KHDS baseline communities. There are 49 unique communities; as noted above, the sample has 51 enumeration areas but 2 pairs are in the same community (areas 44 and 45; areas 46 and 47). In 2004, the community questionnaire was administered in the same manner as in 1991-1994. The respondents for this questionnaire are people who are well informed about the activities, events and infrastructure of the community being surveyed. The group of respondents consists of the following people: chairman of education committee, secretary of development committee, one person from the community leadership, someone familiar with the health problems of the community, and someone familiar with agricultural and livestock practices of the community There were two other questionnaires included in the 1991-1994 survey which were dropped in the 2004 survey. These were the health facility questionnaire (administered in all four waves of KHDS 91-94) and the traditional healer questionnaire (administered only in wave 3 of KHDS 91-94).
Primary School Survey
The school questionnaire was completed for every primary school in the enumeration area, both public and private. In 2004, the school questionnaire was administered in the same manner as in 1991-1994. The number of schools per enumeration area ranged from one to three schools per enumeration area. A total of 72 school questionnaires were administered in 49 baseline communities.
Price Survey
Price questionnaires were completed for markets and shops in every enumeration area. In 2004, the price questionnaire was administered in the same manner as in 1991-1994. Where possible two questionnaires were completed per enumeration area. In most enumeration areas one questionnaire was done in shops and one in markets, although some enumeration areas have only one questionnaire and one enumeration area has three questionnaires. A total of 90 price questionnaires were administered, 47 from markets and 43 from shops.