Training and Procedural Manuals

1. Training and Procedural Manuals Section A

2. Staff Training and Quality Assurance • Staff training that is relevant, and given at the appropriate time for the activity that is being planned will help maintain quality in any process • Training equips staff with information, and helps ensure that staff complete their work objectives correctly

3. Staff Training and Quality Assurance The most accurate datais obtained directlyfrom the source.

4. Types of Enumerator Errors Coverage Error • Locating the Unit • Contacting the Respondent • Obtaining Participation Content Error • Deliberately Giving Incorrect Information • Misunderstanding on Part of Respondent

5. Start with Good Enumerators • Know the characteristics you need in your enumerators • Have complete and honest job descriptions when recruiting • Ensure your enumerators meet the basic skill level required during selection process and training.

6. Develop Good Training Materials • Train the instructors: • Provide good training materials • Develop standardized tools to evaluate enumerators • Develop procedural and training guides: • Provide necessary information in simple terminology • Include a system for updating procedures • Evaluate the overall training program:

7. Continuous Improvement Based on Experience • Training should include lessons learned by successful, experienced interviewers • Cover common problems encountered in the field • Provide solutions for problems according to topic or area • Enumerators need to internalize solutions so that they can be applied quickly and naturally in their own words

8. Training of Field Personnel Verbatim Training Guides • Provides review of training topics • Training consistency • Training quality independent of trainer Field Supervisors to Train Enumerators • Establishes lines of authority • Reduces class size • Identify future training needs • Promotes job comprehension

9. Use of Job Aids • Job aids are summary procedural instructions or references that helps a person perform their job better. • Job aids contain the minimum amount of information necessary to complete a task successfully • Training should use job aids so that enumerators become familiar with them and how to use them in the field

10. Performance Based Training • Performance based training requires that the enumerator demonstrate performance of a set of priority skills • Trainer doesn’t just lecture in front of the classroom but demonstrates proper performance, organizes exercises and provides feedback • Straight lecture training doesn’t verify that enumerators can perform the tasks required to collect agricultural information

11. Despite attempting to administer the same questionnaire, with the same procedures, given the same training, interviewers vary in what types of people they succeed in attracting to participate.

12. Contacting the Respondent 1. Visit units with access impediments (barriers) first as it may take longer to reach the unit. 2. Single person households tend to be at home less frequently. 3. Know the area – for example, Sunday through Thursday evenings often have higher at-home rates.

13. Respondent Selection Person Householder Any Adult Household Member Proxy Respondent

14. Obtaining Participation Refusals Inability to respond (language, health, access) Typically respondents are different than non-respondents Highlight areas of higher nonparticipation

15. Interviewing Techniques 1. Know the Survey 2. Have a Good Introduction 3. Ask Questions Exactly as Worded 4. Protect Confidentiality 5. Enter Responses Correctly

16. Have a Good Introduction Introduction Basics: Name Organization Survey and Purpose Legal Authorization Confidentiality

17. Know the Survey • Interviewer can answer questions that may be asked by respondents • Interviewer can explain questions and terms used in the survey • Information given to respondents must be accurate so that respondents can answer the questions correctly

18. Ask Questions Exactlyas Worded • Interviewers must ask questions exactly as they are written to ensure the survey data is valid and unbiased. • Every respondent receives the same question. • AVOID BIASING A RESPONDENT’S ANSWER

19. Reasons for Entering the Wrong Responses 1. Conducting the interview too fast 2. Inexperience 3. Nervousness 4. Not recognizing an inaccurate response

20. Probe to Obtain More Complete and Accurate Data Probing is used to: • Elicit more information • Help respondents remember information • Clarify a question that the respondent does not understand. Probing can also be done wrong, introducing bias

21. Completing the Questionnaire • Make sure interviewers thoroughly understand skip instructions to ensure responses are not put in the wrong space. • Train on the standard method for recording responses and for correcting wrong entries.

22. Evaluation of Performance Enumerator performance should be evaluated not only to assess data quality during data collection but also as a means to improve training and performance in future work. Evaluations should be conducted: • During training: • At the end of training. • After training:

23. Section A Quiz • When should training be evaluated and updated? • What are job aids? • When should enumerator performance be evaluated? • What basics should be covered in enumerator training?