When research participants are empowered to shape conversations, studies targeted to one specific purpose can shine light on other, less explored areas of inquiry. In this paper presentation, we will share the participatory and appreciative approaches to qualitative data collection that enabled the 2018 USAID/Ethiopia Transform: Primary Health Care Project Gender Analysis to be grounded in participants’ voices and experiences, thereby capturing a rich set of data that extended beyond the original research mandate. Using these approaches, as well as incorporating principles of grounded theory, the project shed light upon a largely underexplored topic in rural Ethiopia: barriers that men face in supporting family planning services, such as unequal gender dynamics, childbearing social norms and desires, religious beliefs, and health concerns about family planning methods. By addressing this knowledge gap, the gender analysis deepened the project’s understanding of men’s experiences and informed transformative male engagement activities in the project regions.
Statement of Relevance
In this paper presentation, the authors will share participatory and appreciative approaches to qualitative data collection that were applied in the USAID/Ethiopia Transform: Primary Health Care Project Gender Analysis. These participatory and appreciative approaches enabled the gender analysis to be fully grounded in participants’ voices and experiences, thereby capturing a rich set of data that extended beyond the original research mandate. By using these approaches, as well as incorporating principles of grounded theory, the project was incidentally able to shed light upon a largely underexplored topic in rural Ethiopia: barriers that men face in supporting family planning, such as unequal gender dynamics, childbearing social norms and desires, religious beliefs, and health concerns about family planning methods. Thus, this participatory, appreciative gender analysis addressed a key knowledge gap, deepening the project’s understanding of men’s experiences and informing transformative male engagement activities in the project regions.
From their inception, the project’s gender analysis data collection tools, for both participatory group discussions and key informant interviews, incorporated principles of appreciative inquiry (Preskill and Castambas 2006). While the data collection tools incorporated specific questions that would gather information in response to key research sub-questions for the gender analysis, the use of appreciative questions allowed for open-ended exploration for participants to discuss sensitive topics without judgement, and to move conversations into areas that were of greatest relevance to them.
In addition to incorporating appreciative questions, participatory group discussions, divided into same-sex age cohorts, utilized a unique “Paving Stones” activity, which drew upon visual aids to help participants collaboratively identify and map community health resources. These visual aids fostered in-depth discussions among the participants, enabling them to share their health-seeking experiences and challenges. These discussions provided a deeper understanding of the gender gaps and opportunities that shape access to and quality of healthcare services within their communities. This interactive activity, in particular, embodied participatory design by creating an environment in which participants, rather than facilitators or the researchers themselves, could discuss matters of utmost relevance, effectively shifting the paradigm of whom is likely to benefit from the research (IDS 1998).
Further, the full data collection and analysis process was premised on the use of grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss 1967). Implementing fundamental principles of grounded theory, the research effort employed open-ended research questions, immediate comparative data analysis, and the development of overarching theories and findings based on the analyzed data. Grounding the gender analysis in participants’ voices and experiences provided rich information on barriers to men’s support for family planning, used to strengthen the project’s male engagement efforts.
References
EnCompass LLC. 2018. Transform: Primary Health Care Project Gender Analysis: Final Report. Watertown, MA: Transform: Primary Health Care Project.
Glaser, Barney G. and Anselm L. Strauss. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Aldine: Chicago, IL.
Institute for Development Studies. 1998. “Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation: Learning from Change.” IDS Policy Briefing. Issue 12, November 1998.
Preskill, Hallie S. and Tessie Tzavaras Catsambas. 2006. Reframing Evaluation through Appreciative Inquiry. SAGE Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.