Conducting a Participatory Situation Analysis of.pdf - Global HIV ...

Literature review: Account of what has been published
on a topic by accredited scholars and
researchers.
Mapping: Structured activity in which individuals or
groups make a graphic representation of either a
part or the whole of their residential, work, or social
environment. Normally a mapping activity focuses
on identifying the locations of services or target
groups and placing those locations on a map of the
area of interest.
Maternal orphan: Child under age 18 whose natural
mother has died.
Matrices: Rectangular array of mathematical elements
(as the coefficients of simultaneous linear equations)
that can be combined to form sums and products
with similar arrays having an appropriate number of
rows and columns.
Maximum: Highest value or number in a set.
Mean: Mathematical average of a series of numbers
(the sum of all scores divided by the total number of
cases).
Measure: To examine the extent or quantity of something
by comparing it with a fixed unit or object of
known size.
Measurement bias: Bias that arises when survey
forms are not clear (e.g., when the meaning of a
question in the local language is open to different
interpretations).
Median: Middle of a distribution (i.e., half of the
scores are above the median and half are below the
median). For example, in the set {3, 4, 5, 9, 10}, 5
is the median. When there is an even number of
items in a set, the median is the mean of the two
middle numbers. Thus, the median of the numbers
2, 4, 7, 12 is (4+7)/2 = 5.5.
Method: Scientific design or approach used in an
analysis.
Methodology: Particular procedure or set of procedures.
Minimum: Lowest value or number in a set.
Mitigation: To change the factors influencing problems
to make it easier for those affected to cope.
Mobilization: Act of putting into movement or
circulation.
Mode: Most frequently occurring number in a set.
Monitoring: Systematic and continuous following, or
keeping track, of activities to ensure that they are proceeding
according to plan. Also the routine process of
collecting data and measuring progress toward program
objectives.
Multisectoral support: Support from many different
sectors of the community (e.g., government officials
and community leaders).
Multivariate: Containing more than two variables.
Nominal group technique: Process for gaining consensus
about issues among a group of people. It
moves between individual and group decision-making,
allowing each participant to voice his or her opinion
before the group discussion begins.
Nominal variable: Type of categorical variable whose
order is arbitrary (e.g., orphans and other vulnerable
children status: 1 = maternal orphans, 2 = paternal
orphans, 3 = double orphans).
Non-authorized access: Access to material or data
without permission from the appropriate authorities.
Non-probability method: Process of choosing samples
by convenience sampling, quota sampling, and snowball
sampling rather than by random chance.
Observation techniques: Systematic evaluation
methods for observing people, events, and/or their
contexts.
Obvious observation: Type of direct observation
where the person being observed is aware that someone
is purposely watching him or her to take note of
his or her behavior.
Open-ended interviewing: Style of interviewing that
uses open-ended questions and allows participants to
express their underlying thoughts, issues, and concerns.
These kinds of questions often help to answer
the question “why did something occur.”
Ordinal variable: Type of categorical variable whose
order is not arbitrary (e.g., level of education: 0 = no
education, 1 = primary, 3 = secondary).
Open-ended question: Query that allows respondents
to answer in whatever way they wish, without determined
response categories. This kind of question
often helps to answer the question “why did something
occur.”
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