The “Time-bottlenecks” in Research Integrity and Validity

Focus Group Discussion exercise

According to USAID research standards, quality data must exhibit five key attributes, V-TRIP; i.e. Validity, Timeliness, Reliability, Integrity and Precision.

Valid data is data that shows a true representation of the measure of interest (indicator), and its changes can credibly be associated with the interventions in question. It should be free of sampling and non-sampling errors. The validity of data is achieved by developing proper data collection tools and their subsequent effective use during the data collection exercise. Soon after the exercise, the integrity of the data in question must be protected, and this is often linked to the capabilities of the management system in place to reduce the possibility of introducing bias either by transcription error or deliberate manipulation during data entry and cleaning.

In reality though, isn’t this just idealism? During a data collection exercise, there are usually many factors in play that may hinder the collection of valid data. Therefore, what follows data collection is often putting in hard work on preserving the integrity of invalid data.

The challenge does not start at the field but from the planning of a research exercise, and most of it has to do with time. There are key areas that are associated with the issue of time that must be dealt with precisely to avoid these “time-bottlenecks”. I conducted a mini-research for purposes of getting opinions and experiences (basically qualitative in nature) from fellow researchers and here are some of the concerns raised:-

1.    Training period. Proper planning ultimately determines the level of success of any given project. Therefore, it is advisable to spend as much time as needed to prepare, so that on execution every possible angle of challenges and risks will have been mitigated or prepared for. Training of enumerators is part of planning. Spending only a day on training enumerators who are going to carry out a seven day survey only to end up getting 50% of the responses wrong doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t it be wiser to spend two days on training and increase the precision and validity of collected data to 90%? Release enumerators to the field only when you are sure they will bring you, not good but excellent data.

2.    Data collection period. A questionnaire that takes an hour during a mock survey in the training venue will not take the same amount of time in the field. It will take probably a half an hour more. Therefore it is not logical to expect an enumerator to bring back eight questionnaires at the end of the day. The plan must consider sampling method used and time of travel to access target participants. All these are about TIME. If you give unreasonable targets the enumerator will use unethical means (compromised integrity) to reach the target and the result will most likely affect the validity of the data.

3.    Sample size versus daily target. Often, the aspect of bias and assumption among enumerators comes in when they have had to ask the same questions over and over and keep getting the same answers. By the time they are administering the one-hour-long, fifth questionnaire of the day they have basically switched to ‘auto-drive-mode’. What they do is to assume responses to some questions will be similar to what they got before and therefore they do not pose these questions to the respondent but fill in the assumed response. This is also reported to happen whenever respondents look unsettled, seem to be in a rush or when the enumerator is tired, feels like they are far from reaching set daily target or are running out of time as the day concludes.

Is it possible to deal with these “time bottlenecks” to beat the issue of validity and integrity at the level of data collection?

Several suggestions were put across but there was no single standing solution. The suggested approaches must be combined to move from 90% that can be achieved with proper planning, to 98%. First of all sufficient time must be allocated and used in the planning phase. Train, carry out mock-survey, re-train, pre-test with a sample of targeted respondents then re-train. Ask questions and engage trainees.  It helps in gauging their level of understanding of the tool, their confidence on the tool and their level of preparation to undertake the exercise. Do not depend on getting phone calls to clarify issues for enumerators after deployment to field. Network reception may be terrible or something else may render it impossible to communicate, then enumerators will make-do with guesswork.  Attain an excellent mark before deployment. 

Secondly, allocate sufficient time for the survey. Don’t give unreasonable targets because enumerators will hit the target but will deliver invalid data. It was also suggested that sound recording would be a great tool for confirming validity.

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THE GREEN STORE CHALLENGE FELLOWSHIP

WHAT’S THE CHALLENGE ABOUT?

The goal of this DO School Challenge is for the selected Fellows to create a Green Store prototype in ten weeks.
This prototype must be sustainable in terms of materials, construction, energy, operation and other aspects and will be realized in Germany
. It should be scalable to H&M stores worldwide, be economically beneficial and make the idea of sustainability tangible for customers and employees.

 

By answering to the Challenge, you will have learned hands-on how to turn an idea into action during the ten-week Incubation Phase. This process is supported by participation in Challenge Lab, a course which offers the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to successfully solve the Challenge.

Successful candidates may come from, but are not restricted to the fields of engineering, architecture, fashion and design, as well as environmental activism, retail and human resource management.

 

While solving the Challenge, you work on turning your own venture idea into a viable social venture plan which will be ready for implementation during the following ten-month Implementation Phase.

WHAT’S THE PROGRAM ABOUT?

The DO School offers offers a unique one-year fellowship program for emerging social entrepreneurs who look for training, mentoring and empowerment to start their own ventures. Selected Fellows receive a full scholarship covering the tuition fee for the year.

From September 2013 to January 2014 the DO School invites applications from motivated individuals aged 18 to 28 from around the world to participate in the DO School Green Store Challenge. Successful applicants will show exceptional motivation to contribute to solving the Challenge and developing and starting their own social venture.

Selected Fellows will spend the first ten weeks of their one-year program on the DO School campus in Hamburg from April to June 2014, and the following ten months in their home countries implementing their own ventures.

THE DO SCHOOL

The DO School is an innovative educational institution. We offer a unique one-year program enabling talented emerging social entrepreneurs to launch their own innovative and sustainable ventures. The program allows its participants – our Fellows – to learn from passionate peers, engage with current leaders and experts, and create change by implementing their social start-ups in their home countries.

Learn more about the DO School here.

WEBSITE

Please click here to find out more about the Green Store Challenge  on our website and to apply!

Power for the Poor – Affordable Solar Power

10 January 2012

Men setting up solar panels in rural villageSolar power can be distributed to poor households by 2020

Poor parts of the world can be supplied with affordable solar power by 2020 through a combination of cheap technology and services provided by cell phone companies, argues Carl Pope, chairman of the US grassroots organisation Sierra Club.

Progress in technology, finance and business models is overcoming traditional barriers to getting renewable power to poor villages, he says. “The combination of dirt-cheap solar, the cell-phone revolution, and mobile phone banking has changed everything”.

Conventional grid power and fossil fuels will not reach those who need it by 2030, according to Pope, and they are becoming more expensive. But cheaper and more sophisticated new technologies create an opportunity to pull together the resources needed to finance solar power for the poor.

Cell-phone towers around the world are being converted to hybrid renewable power sources, offering phone companies a “powerful motivation to get renewable power into rural areas, to get electricity to their customers, and to charge for electricity through their mobile phone payment systems.”

Examples of innovative business models include Zimbabwe’s Econet Power, which provides its cell-phone customers with solar power at US$1 a week with bills tied to a user’s cell phone account.

Providing the poor with off-grid renewable energy requires capital to buy solar power; business models that allow households to pay for what they use, making electricity less expensive than kerosene; and supply chains and distribution networks. “The money is on the table. It’s just on the wrong plates,” says Pope.

He calls for Rio+20 negotiations to embrace distributed solar power and replace kerosene, an expensive and dirty fuel. This would save 1.5 million lives every year (kerosene emits almost as much greenhouse gas pollution as the UK economy), raise income for the world’s poorest fifth by 25–30 per cent, and create demand for expanding solar systems. And it could result in half of the world relying on renewable power, says Pope.

Link to full article in Yale Environment 360

Link to SciDev.Net’s Spotlight on Solar power for the poor

The Rio+20 Nairobi Declaration

These are the main concerns of the Kenyan youths as per the  Kenyan Youth Strategy Meeting for Rio+20 Summit held in nairobi on the 13th and 14th October, 2011 at the UN complex, Gigiri.

Preamble

We, the delegates to the Kenyan Youth Strategy Meeting for Rio +20 at the United Nations Complex at Gigiri, Nairobi:

Acknowledge the African indigenous knowledge of the sacred value of the environment to biodiversity well-being.

Commit to promote innovations that will develop a green economy and promote the eradication of poverty.

Take note of the past declarations towards environmental sustainability both at the African and Global level, there is an urgent need for structural and infrastructural interventions in policy formulation, implementation and evaluation.

Recognize the current global environmental challenges, particularly climate change, which impact our common future and wellbeing, we commit ourselves to support of the following mechanisms:

  1. Good governance and transformative leadership.
  2. Promote Education, information exchange, communication and awareness
  3. Achieve sustainable agricultural practices to reduce hunger, starvation and enhance food security.
  4. Advocate for the development and implementation of sustainable development policies towards a Green Economy.
  5. Invest in and promote eco-friendly entrepreneurship and job creation.
  6. Attain sustainable green cities and villages.
  7. Promote public engagement and participation through culture and volunteerism.
  8. Promote Youth Development and capacity building

Download the Full Version of the Nairobi Declaration here: Nairobi Declaration 2