Resources

This report summarizes the result of the 2nd Internal evaluation of the ongoing 4th phase implementation of the 'Rural Family and Welfare Project'. The evaluation objective was not only to assess the current progress of the project and the willingness of the actors at the village level to sustain the program but also to 'test relatively new methodological approaches, mainly PRA, in order to further strengthen grassroot participation'. In doing so the report devotes a great deal of attention to exploring the ideology and rational behind the 'PRA approach' to M&E and provides an extremely useful summary of the key issues involved (in Chapters 1 and 2). There were six main methods applied in this evaluation: 'Rapport building with participants', 'Transect walks', 'Matrix scoring and ranking', 'Trend and situation analysis', 'Dramatized case study/role play' and 'Balloon opinion analysis'. Each of these methods are well introduced in the first two introductory chapters, while the results generated from their application are provided in the remainder of the report. An extensive bibliography is also provided in Chapter 7. This report presents a powerful, and well argued, case for the use of both PRA methods and a 'PRA orientation' in M&E activities (as the reported highly positive impact of these evaluation activities illustrates) while, in addition, it provides a well structured basic reference source for those interested in implementing such activities.

This report is of an RRA training workshop which was carried out in one of the pilot sites of the Bhutan-German Integrated Forest Management Project in Wangdi District, Bhutan, in 1995. The first part of the report outlines the purpose and approach of the different methods, and how they were used in the field. They included mapping, transects, semi-structured interviewing and focus group interviews, seasonal calendars, tree ranking, institutional diagramming, wealth/well-being ranking, 'vision-drawing' by children, and problem ranking. The results were then presented at a feedback meeting with municipality representatives. The second part of the report presents the findings of the RRA.

PRRA stands for Participatory Rural Research on AIDS, a participatory methodology being developed by CDC/KEMRI to assist villages in mobilising against HIV infection through their own research and analysis. The handbook presents a summary of the process and activities carried out, which include standard PRA techniques such as mapping, transects, semi-structured interviews, seasonal migration calendars and ranking, as well as a range of other activities. An outline of the week-long PRRA process is given, and suggestions of how each activity can be facilitated.

This manual is intended for social science and medical researchers who require information quickly on a particular topic of study, to learn about social and cultural issues relating to disease control prevention and treatment. Listed applications include exploratory studies, testing ideas about new programmes, solving specific programme problems, evaluating programmes, and solving staff/management problems. Focus group discussions (FGD) can be "an effective way to get this information and to reveal the range of opinion in a community". FGDs "are formally constituted, structured groups of people brought together to address a specific issue within a fixed time frame and in accordance with clearly spelled out rules of procedure". This manual explains how to organise and conduct these groups. Part I describes the purposes, structure and conduct of FGDs, and some techniques for keeping discussion going. Part I is aimed at researchers or others responsible for a project and who may be training others to use FGDs. Part II is a series of training sessions for others involved in the project. Special attention is given to FGDs which use interpreters, and Pt. II section 5 discusses the importance of listening skills, being non-judgmental, and other appropriate behaviour. Examples used relate to tropical disease research.

This paper reviews the development of various methods designed to quickly and accurately generate relevant social information pertaining to health and disease control. It examines the use of knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) surveys, community diagnosis, RRA, rapid epidemiological assessments (REA), and rapid assessment procedures (RAP) using anthropological methods. It is cautioned that KAP surveys may be inadequate to document behaviours or to explain social opinions, and that data require validation through triangulation. Often it has been used as a simple questionnaire without pretesting. Community diagnosis emphasises the participatory nature of research, using local researchers, flexible design and a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Community diagnosis is contrasted with other techniques (PRA, PALM, RRA). Both RRA and REA are characterised by "quick forays into the field". RAP using anthropological methods receives particular attention, given the lack of trained social scientists to work with disease control programmes and ministries of health and in light of the need for social science input into the development of health policies and programmes. The various techniques are assessed in terms of scope and methods. The discussion of RAP focuses on issues relating to professional competence (e.g. use of RAP by biomedical researchers), representativeness, reliability and validity of data (e.g. short time period of study). Ways in which to maximise the benefit of valid data are presented (e.g. triangulation). The paper also refers to many limitations (e.g. brief training, use of manuals, personal ability and dangers of rushing) of RAP applications and transfer.

This paper addresses the apparent failure of most water and sanitation projects to bring about sustained behavioural change. Possible reasons examined are the focus on engineering interventions at the expense of hygiene education aspects, suggesting a need to improve hygiene education components and to re-examine the assumptions behind past hygiene interventions. This paper critically examines the assumptions behind previous hygiene and water and sanitation projects. What is omitted by these assumptions "is the effort to get at the root of people's problems to assist them in making decisions to change their own behaviour. This is a process of empowerment..." The paper therefore argues for the integration of hygiene education with participatory methods. To achieve this, three approaches are suggested: decentralisation of planning to the community; use of rapid appraisal methods; and use of participatory techniques.

The manual provides details of a training workshop which could be run in a community. It describes the carefully studied sequence of ideas which community members can be encouraged to consider and discuss. Issues of perceptions, prejudice, love, sexuality, condoms, and HIV/AIDS are treated in a series of different sessions encouraging people's self-assertion and empowerement. Appropriate exercises and session timetables are also provided for the trainer. It is important to follow the preordained sequencing of exercise and ideas in order to take people through a gradual training process leading to greater knowledge and consciousness related to AIDS. The accompanying video provides illustrative material, from Uganda, showing members of a rural community discussing and re-enacting their own problems and developing their own solutions. Again, the video is divided into fifteen brief clips, provoking discussion in a participatory way to accompany the sessions described in the manual. Both the manual and the video have been designed specifically for users in Sub-Saharan Africa. A final warning: this training package is for use only where there is an on-going AIDS prevention and support programme, or a programme where AIDS is included.