Resources

It concerns a variation in wealth ranking exercise that was used in the context of a mid-term field survey. It involved socioeconomic analysis and differentiation of the target population of a rural development project in Zaire and was funded by GTZ. The paper lays out the procedure, and briefly reports on its findings; giving a justification for the use of its methodology.

Effective health planning requires good quality data, but many health facilities lack the ability to provide this. Health questions often have to be answered within specific research studies. Microcomputers are now generally recommended and used by researchers for data analysis at the end of projects. The article reviews the use of microcomputer based management of data collection during a study. A selection of pojects are described, all of which have used microcomputers in a decentralised fachio, closer to the point of data collection. The main advantages of this approach are a significant reduction in error rates, and the ability to produce data quickly.

A review of recent developments in health interview procedures within decentralised health planning emphasising the importance of beneficiaries' perceptions of their health problems in the success or failure of primary health care. The methodology used is that of 'indirect' health interviews channelled through existing administrative systems and self-administered by recipients. The article describes ongoing research designed to test this approach in seven African countries and discusses methodological problems and limitations.

Verbal autopsies are widely used to describe the causes of death in individuals who die outside of hospital or clinic settings, but are seldom validated. The technique assumes that disease which cause death can be easily distinguished from one another by distinct syndromes and that these are reported accurately by lay respondents. The article describes the potential problems of syndrome definition and the likely biases from poor recognition and recall by bereaved relatives; how these might be tested and what can be done when verbal autopsy cannot identify the cause of death.

Contains the proceedings of a workshop held to discuss farmer participatory research in Ethiopia. The purpose of the workshop was to review the extent of peasant farmers' participation in agricultural research in Ethiopia and to discuss how best it could be enhanced. A number of short presentations were made by various organisations on their experiences and various aspects of farmer participatory research, including on-farm trials, participation in technology development and transfer, evaluation of technologies and indigenous technology.

This paper concerns PRA capacity building in the implementation and monitoring of the Village Development Programme of Kalam Integrated Development Project (KIDP) in northern Pakistan. It discusses the adoption and institutionalisation of PRA in village planning activities of the programme, which has involved the training of village extensionists to participate in PRA teams. The selection of these persons is discussed. Among the many comments on this innovative approach, the author notes that the pace of adoption has been appropriately slow given the experimental nature of this approach. Developing an understanding of PRA before any field work begins is important, particularly since it differs from conventional prescriptive interventions. Identification of initial activities, and the involvement of women are discussed. The need for caution in developing village action plans is noted, as is the importance of follow -up to PRA activities, particularly as expectations may have been raised. The need for monitoring structures and the possibility of future training are explored.