Recommended practices

A standard consent form and some background information is read in its entirety to the in-charge and their signature of consent is requested. The team leader then provides the response in section 1 of the questionnaire to confirm that consent has been received. The survey cannot proceed without the consent of the facility in-charge.

A basic way of showing respect for a health worker at work is to be considerate of what they need to accomplish during their workday and to let them know that there will be no interference with their client-related tasks. To accomplish this: 

• if the health worker is busy with a client, the data collector should wait until that visit is completed before approaching them;
• the data collector should wait until there are no clients around or until there is a qualified person available to complete the questionnaire. 

Most questions in the questionnaire require the data collector to:

• listen to what the respondent says; and
• record it by selecting an already-coded response.

If the response does not fit into any of the listed categories, the data collector must record exactly the answer given by the respondent.

In either case, the data collector should listen carefully and avoid rushing into selecting or recording a response before they have really listened to the respondent. This may be taken as a sign of disrespect or not paying attention.

More importantly, people who rush into coding a response are often in danger of attributing their own biases and preferred response categories to their respondents.

The data collector should speak slowly and clearly so that respondents will not have difficulty hearing or understanding the question.

At times, the data collector may need to repeat a question in order to be sure the respondent understands it. In these cases, the data collector should not paraphrase the question but repeat it exactly as it is written.

If the respondent’s answer is not relevant to a question, the data collector should not prompt them by saying something like:

“I suppose you mean that… Is that right?”

In many cases, the respondents will agree with the data collector’s interpretation of their answer, even when that is not what they meant. The data collector should probe in such a manner that the respondents themselves come up with the relevant answer, for example:

• “Can you explain a little more?”
• “There is no hurry. Take a moment to think about it.”

Important: Except when specifically instructed, the data collector should never read out the list of coded answers to the respondents, even if they have trouble answering the question.

There is not a uniform understanding, even between health service providers within the same health facility, on:

• some of the issues data collectors are collecting data on; or
• the terms used to describe items or practices.

If it appears that the respondent does not understand what the data collector is asking – even after repeating the question as written a second time – or the responses do not seem consistent with other information collected, the data collector may rephrase or describe in more detail the item or practice being asked about, using examples to ensure that the respondent completely understands the question.

Data collectors should not express surprise, pleasure, or disapproval at any response or comment made by respondents.

If a respondent asks specific questions that require the data collector’s medical opinion or advice, they should politely respond by saying that they are here to collect information to provide an overview of the services, and that they are interested in the systems and practices at this facility.

Explaining this and then simply stating, “I am not in a position to provide any advice or opinions” may be sufficient.

Important: Remember that the job of the data collector is not to educate respondents, but only to collect information from them.

In most cases, the data collector will ask questions in the sequence in which they appear in the questionnaire. However, because the organization of facilities often differs, data collectors may find that in order to complete one questionnaire section they need to talk to more than one respondent, or go to different areas of the facility.

It is up to the data collector to ensure that, when sections of the questionnaire are skipped because the information must be collected from a different respondent or location, those sections are completed before departure from the facility.

At the end of every interview, data collectors should thank respondents for taking time out of their busy schedule, telling them it was very much appreciated.