How to generate statistics and influence policy using participatory methods in research
This paper aims to show that it is possible to generate statistics which will be taken seriously by policy makers from research using participatory methods. A key requirement is to produce results from a representative sample, which can be generalised in order to reach conclusions for the population of interest. This implies working in a larger number of sites than is common for most studies which use participatory methods. However, the Malawi experience presented in this paper shows that it is possible to organise such studies at a reasonable cost.