Immunization and child health materials development guide pdf

IDENTIFYING PATTERNS
Researchers conducting focus groups on immunization with parents did not expect to hear that
fear of illness might dissuade parents from immunizing their children. But during a focus group session,
three participants mentioned that children got ill immediately after being immunized. When the
facilitator and note-taker reviewed their notes, they realized that fear of illness due to immunization
represented an unexpected and important question. As they organized their notes, they created a
sheet of paper labeled “Fear of Illness Due to Immunization” and, using the cut-and-paste method,
placed all their findings about those fears on this sheet. They then drafted follow-up questions to
add to the discussion guide for subsequent interviews and groups in order to check their findings.
3. Compare Data Across Interviews or Groups. After completing the IDIs and FGDs,
compare responses across all the interviews and groups. Depending on what you find, you
might need to develop different materials for different subsets of your audience—for example,
new mothers versus experienced mothers versus fathers. Gather the responses for a specific
question from all of the interviews and groups. Using the cut-and-paste method, write a summary
for each question, including participant quotes and interesting patterns.
4. Write a Final Report. Summarize data from all the discussions in a final report. The length
of the report will vary depending on the complexity of subjects researched and the number of
in-depth interviews and FGDs conducted. The report should include the following sections.
• General information about your methodology, including the number of discussions
conducted for each audience category, the location and length of each discussion,
and the number and type of participants—for example, 10 community health workers
from rural clinics, 15 doctors from urban facilities.
• Major findings, including a summary of how participants responded to the major research
questions, patterns that emerged, and an explanation of why these patterns might exist.
Indicate key differences in the way different groups responded to questions. Although it
is inappropriate to quantify the number of similar responses to a particular question, it can
be helpful to offer anecdotal examples or quotes that typify the responses given.
• Recommendations for improving communication or service delivery. Your
recommendations should include an analysis of your audience characteristics, their
informational needs, and their preference for receiving information.
DO NOT QUANTIFY
It is not appropriate to quantify qualitative data by counting or creating percentages for the number
of participants in the interviews or groups who gave similar responses. Participants represent only a
small proportion of the population, so you cannot generalize the findings to the entire population.
Also, during FGDs, participants hear one another and might respond differently than they would
one-on-one. If you need to generate percentages and other statistics, use quantitative research
methods such as surveys instead of, or in addition to, IDIs and FGDs.
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