Study design and research methodology
2.4 Research methods phase I qualitative data collection
2.4.1 The study site
For the qualitative phase the sample was drawn from one small taluk (sub-district or county) - Yelandur, which was where the local NGO operated. Yelandur taluk is a part of Chamrajnagar district, and is 200 kilometres south o f Bangalore. From the town of Yelandur, BR Hills (Biligiri Ranganna Betta) is at a distance of 24 km. BR Hills is a wildlife sanctuary. Government forest officials closely guard this sector to protect the wildlife and the forest. The total population in Yelandur taluk is 75,000 (appendix 1). It consists of one town, 38 villages and one tribal area in the hills. The tribal area has a total population of 2000, and consists of 8 hamlets. The population in the villages ranged from less than 500 to less than 7000. The NGO served primarily the tribal population in the hills; a tribal hospital was set up there when the project began in 1980. In the past five years they have begun providing health services to some of the villages in the taluk. O f the 38 villages, six received health care services from the NGO. At this time it seemed reasonable to divide the study area into three cells.
Table 2.1 Timeline of research study
1998 1999 2000
J F M A M J J A
s
0 N D J F M A M J J A S 0 N D J F M A M J J APreliminary field visit & negotiating a c c e ss to research site (India)
Proposal writing and study design (London) V/ Developing conceptual ' framework (London) V/ Key informant interviews and hiring field assistant (India) s / s / Qualitative data collection (India) V/ V/ s / Transcribing (India) Qualitative data collection (India) Transcribing and questionnaire design (London) Questionnaire critique, interviewer training, piloting (India) s / V/ Quantitative data collection round 1 (India) Vf Data entry (India)
s / Follow-up data
collection (India) s / s /
Field project completion (India)
Figure 2.2. Flowchart of research process
22. Focus group analysis 1. Reviewed literature
18. Data double-entry 7. Reworked framework
13. Designed questionnaire
19. Cleaned and verified data
20. Quantitative data analysis 11. Preliminary qualitative
data analysis
6. Troubleshot with key informants
21. Second round qualitative data analysis
4. Reviewed relevant literature and developed research proposal
5. Developed conceptual framework
12. Literature and other questionnaires
1 . Developed focus group and interview guides
16. Data collection - first measurement 3. Defined research hypothesis and
study aims
9. Field tested and trained research assistant
14. Returned to key informants for comments and edits 10. Data collection using focus groups,
semi-structured interviews, group interviews
17. Data collection - second measurement and six focus groups using participatory methods 15. Translated questionnaire, pre-tested questionnaire, trained team, piloted and finalised final version of questionnaire
2. Discussed possible areas of research with staff of local NGO's and research Institutions in India, some members of international NGO’s and academia
• The first was the tribal group which had access to health care provided by the NGO and where status of women is high relative to the other two groups (tribal-PHC). This consisted of eight hamlets.
• The second was the rural group that also had access to health care from the same NGO but where the status of women is low (non-tribe PHC). This consisted o f six villages.
• The third was also a rural group that had limited access to health care and where status of women is also low (non-tribe non-PHC). This consisted o f 32 villages. The perimeter for this phase of the study was around 60 kilometres. Figure 2.3 shows a detailed map of where the data were collected for both the qualitative and quantitative phases of this study (188,190). The area defined in red represents the qualitative research site. The area defined in blue represents the quantitative research site. The areas circled in green represent the tribal settlements where data were collected during the quantitative phase.
2.4.2 The key-informants
In all fifteen informants were identified in Bangalore. The first few informants were identified by contacting a women’s studies research unit that was affiliated to the University of Bangalore. They in turn identified other candidates whom they believed would be suitable to interview. All had some expertise in the area o f gender and development. All of the informants identified agreed to be interviewed. A few of the informants had themselves participated in conducting a survey on the status of women in Karnataka. The remainder had authored several papers on gender and development in South Asia. Of the informants identified, six became valuable key informants.
2.4.3 The field assistant
To begin data collection, a full-time field assistant was needed to conduct interviews and focus groups while this researcher could record, observe and take notes. A doctor in the NGO identified a young tribal woman. She was married and in her early
Karnataka
MAHARASHTRA
Figure 2.3 Detailed map of research site
Areas circled in green represent tribal settlements where data were collected
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