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

Gain access to field sites
Gaining access to field sites for a situation analysis can be
surprisingly challenging in terms of the measures needed
to obtain permission and acceptance by key community
representatives. Entering a community to talk about the
care of children, especially orphans, can easily trigger suspicion
and/or raise expectations of material support.
Several weeks before the interviewer training, the
Advisory Team, in cooperation with administrative officials
of the area, should select field sites. Advisory Team
members, or the Technical Lead, can then ask community
leaders’ permission to bring several interviewers to the
sites. This initial visit to the field site also provides an
opportunity to confer with community leaders to ensure
that expectations are not raised in terms of receiving payment,
food, or other forms of material support in
exchange for participating in the situation analysis.
After receiving permission to collect data, it is necessary
to make housing and transportation arrangements.
Accommodations for interviewers should be in a place
that community members view as neutral (e.g., church
guesthouse). Such arrangements are not easy, even when
the duration of the fieldwork is short. Often a community
leader will offer to house the interviewers in her or his
own accommodations. Although this is a generous gesture,
efforts should be made to avoid such a situation
because it is not appropriate for interviewers to live with
anyone who might be viewed as influential in the community
because such a perception can undermine the
interviewers’ need for a reputation of impartiality with
respondents. Furthermore, this type of arrangement can
lead to violations of interviewer-informant confidentiality.
Before their first visit to the field sites (or when on the
way to visit the sites), the new interviewers should introduce
themselves to important administrative officials and
inform them of their arrangements to work with community
leaders. When the interviewers arrive at the field
sites, they should settle into their accommodations and
make introductory visits to community leaders. After
these introductions, community leaders’ collaboration
with the research team will be authorized and data collection
can officially begin.
Experience in Nigeria revealed that the labor or work
schedules of people at some field sites can affect the timing
for interviewing heads of households (e.g., interviews
may need to be conducted at night). Interviewers must
also consider their own safety and social events (e.g.,
funerals and weddings) that would make interviewing
inappropriate.
Incentives
A decision must be made whether or not to give participants
an incentive (e.g., cash, food, vouchers), both to
encourage their participation and to thank them for their
participation. There are concerns that incentives amount
to bribes, so if an incentive is used, it must not be so
enticing that participants feel coerced into participating
in something they might otherwise not consider—sometimes
referred to as economic coercion. Also, providing
incentives may undermine using the situation analysis
findings as an impetus for community mobilization.
The use of incentives must take into account the usual
practices within a community. Previous situation analyses
based on the tools in this Guide did not include
incentives for participants.
Some incentives that field interview teams can use to
“give something back” to respondents include helping
with tasks and work in exchange for the participants’
time, arranging for shorter waiting times in free care
services, offering extra home-based care visits or special
training, or providing access to group counseling or education
sessions through a community-based NGO.
Community leaders may be a source of ideas for appropriate
incentives.
Ensure confidentiality and informed consent
Privacy and confidentiality of information from the
community must be maintained at all times. Winning
the trust of the community is essential for obtaining
valid results. The situation analysis respondents must
feel confident that the information they provide will be
kept confidential; if they do not, they may hesitate to
give accurate information. In some situations,
HIV/AIDS-infected or -affected households may be suspicious
of institutions and individuals they view as
threatening. It is, therefore, critical that the field interview
team build a relationship with community leaders
and key informants so that there is a basic sense of trust
between them. In some settings, this may require active
involvement by the “gatekeepers” in planning and conducting
the analysis.
Before conducting an interview, permission must be
obtained from each respondent who participates; this
permission is called “informed consent.” Interviewers
often obtain such consent by reading a statement about
the interview process to the respondent and asking for
his or her signature to indicate their agreement to participate.
The statement normally describes the nature of the
data collection, the way the results will be used, the risk
to the respondent, and the benefits. The statement
Conducting a Participatory Situation Analysis of
Orphans and Vulnerable Children Affected by HIV/AIDS
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