Manual - Participatory rapid diagnosis and action ... - FAO.org

38 Chapter 5. Using PRDA tools effectivelyWas the interview relaxed and open?Did any individuals dominate it?Was the interviewer impartial with respondents?Try to discover similarity patterns or categories of respondents.Crosscheck by comparing different responses or against other sources ofinformation.Ensuring good informationIn addition to assessing individual interviews you also have to ensurethe overall quality of your information. Due to the qualitative nature andrelatively small sample size, PRDA generated data is seldom conducive tostatistical analysis. Therefore, alternative ways need to be used to ensure thevalidity and reliability of findings:Careful samplingStrategic sampling (selection) of respondents will ensure that you hear allsides to an issue.• Stratified random sampling: Select a number of farmers from certainsub-groups according to well reasoned criteria, i.e. males and females;farmers close to the end of the scheme and close to the intake; youngand old farmers, land owners and share croppers. Stratified randomsampling should give priority to differences and diversity of situations(Box 7).Box 7. Example of categories of farmerson the Mwea Rice Irrigation SchemeOn the Mwea Rice Irrigation Scheme in Kenya, there are three broad categoriesof farmers:1) tenants who cultivate a plot in the initial command area and are members of theWUA;2) “legal out-growers”, members of the WUA in extensions of the initial commandarea authorized by the WUA;3) “illegal out-growers” who extended the command area without asking thepermission of the WUA and who are in open conflict with it.