Extra-Mural Development and Support (seeds) Initiative 2009-2013, Western Cape Province, South Africa

11.OVERVIEW OF FIELDWORK METHODOLOGY

We propose to conduct the survey fieldwork following a set of standard operating procedures. There will be a single overall Survey Manager, to whom the Fieldwork Supervisor will report. Ten fieldworkers will in turn report to the Fieldwork Supervisor. We envisage the sequencing of the fieldwork as follows:

1. 
   We will conduct a one to two-day training session for our fieldworkers, comprising thorough working through the questionnaires, role-playing and piloting.
   
2. 
   The fieldworkers will be thoroughly instructed on administering the questionnaires. They will be tested in the role playing of interviews before being given the go-ahead to commence with the fieldwork.
   
3. 
   The respondents to be sampled will be selected on a systematic basis, roughly using the probability of selection proportional to size of population (PPS) in the sampling frame.
   
4. 
   An appointment will be made with each selected respondent or group of respondents.
   
5. 
   Interviews will be conducted in-person if possible, or telephonically if this is more convenient for the respondent.
   
6. 
   Completed questionnaires will be thoroughly checked and edited by the Fieldwork Supervisor. Where necessary, incomplete or inaccurate questionnaires will be returned to the fieldworkers for follow-up visits or calls to their respondents.
   
7. 
   The project management will conduct random back-checks of respondents, either telephonically, or by personal visits, where interviews have been completed. Where inconsistencies occur, the responsible fieldworkers will be required to effect the necessary changes by means of follow-up visits to the households concerned. Any regular patterns of inaccuracy will result in the dismissal of the fieldworkers concerned.
   
8. 
   Once the Survey Manager is satisfied with the quality of returns, the completed questionnaires will be coded and captured for analysis.
   

12.DETAILS OF STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

Interviews

To ensure consistency and comprehensiveness, both senior researchers for the MTR will co-conduct and administer each of the semi-structured Management Interviews. The interview schedule will be developed on the basis of a rapid assessment of the organisational and programme profile of the Consortium member organisation, and in collaboration with the SEEDS project manager.

Interviews will be recorded and transcribed, and together with documentary materials, collated and analysed thematically in terms of the MTR outputs, and a report produced.

Fieldworkers

The fieldworkers will be recruited from the database of experienced fieldworkers kept by Outsourced Insight and its partner fieldwork companies. The total number of fieldworkers to be recruited for this project will be 10. Each one will be responsible for the administration of up to 150 questionnaires.

Training

The training will be done by the Survey Manager and Fieldwork Supervisor. It will be conducted over two days and will comprise several primary components:

• 
  Introduction of the project
  
• 
  Refresher on basic fieldwork procedures
  
• 
  Thorough briefing on each of the questionnaires
  
• 
  Role playing of interviews using the questionnaires
  
• 
  Piloting session with local accessible respondents
  
• 
  Registration of successful trainees
  
• 
  Deployment arrangements
  

Fieldwork logistics

The deployment of fieldworkers to the sampled respondents will be in accordance with the residential geography of the fieldworkers where possible. Completed questionnaires will be collected by the Fieldwork Supervisor from the fieldworkers during the course of moving between areas where fieldwork is taking place.

Quality control

Several measures will be put into place to ensure that accurate and complete data is collected in the field. The supervisor will check through each completed questionnaire to ensure that all relevant questions have been answered. In the event that responses are found to be missing, the relevant fieldworker will be asked to complete the missing items from recall of the interview or to call the respondent telephonically if this is possible, or to return to the household, to obtain the missing information. Fieldworkers will be funded to the tune of up to ten such calls. Once the editing process is completed for the questionnaires, the Fieldwork Supervisor will conduct a final check before sending each batch of questionnaires for coding and capturing. Additionally, the Fieldwork Supervisor will conduct systematic back-checks on respondents that have been visited by fieldworkers to ensure that quality is maintained. Where errors are found, the necessary corrections will be made by the fieldworkers concerned. If such errors persist or any form of fraudulence is discovered, the fieldworkers concerned will be dismissed. There is a low likelihood of this occurring, given that the fieldworkers to be recruited will be reliable and experienced. The Project Manager will also conduct random telephonic checks on completed questionnaires. The checking will entail ascertaining that the respondent was actually visited and interviewed. Additionally, the respondent will be asked whether any particular response “X” was actually given, as recorded in the questionnaire.

Processing and analysis of data

Once collected and checked, the open-ended questions in each questionnaire will be coded numerically. The data in the fully coded questionnaires will then be captured electronically into a separate dataset for each instrument.

The resultant datasets will be converted into SPSS for analysis. A comprehensive report will be compiled, involving analysis of each variable and the development of indices where appropriate or relevant.

Report writing phase

The MTR report will be developed in three phases.

In the drafting phase, a report combining top-down and bottom-up perspectives of the SEEDS initiative will be compiled based on each initial analysis of the Management Interviews and Beneficiary Surveys. The initial structure of the report will be developed in consultation with the SEEDS project manager.

The MTR first draft, including preliminary findings and recommendations, will be presented to the SEEDS management for full discussion and consideration, and a final report submitted within 5 days, following incorporating detailed comment and specific suggestions.