Table 10: When to use various qualitative data collection techniques

Data collection technique	Situation
Observation	When the unit of analysis is individual or a group. When verification is needed. Anytime and in any situation where researchers want to understand first-hand phenomena under study.
In depth Interviews/ Key informant interviews	At the beginning of the research as a stepping stone to FGDs. When preliminary knowledge on a particular issue is needed. When research interests are being defined. When individuals or social settings are difficult to access. To understand subjective experiences. Where subject matter may be sensitive and people will not speak in FGD settings.
Focus Group Discussions	When a single subject is being explored in depth. When enough is known about the subject to develop a topic guide for discussion. When the subject matter is not sensitive so that people will not mind talking in a group. Quick results are needed but the research project has limited funding. Acceptable number of people can be assembled to participate in a discussion group.

Case study 3: Data collection tools: Case of the NIGRAAN project

Background: Data collection tools enable a systematic collection of data about participants in any given study. The exact tool employed depends on the objective of the study. Due to the potentially complex nature of implementation research (IR), mixed methods – and hence different data collection tools – are often used as in the NIGRAAN project in rural Pakistan. The project was conducted by the department of community health sciences of the Aga Khan University (AKU) (Karachi) in collaboration with the Sindh Provincial Department of Health. Nigraan is an Urdu word meaning ‘supervisor’. The two-year IR project sought to identify ways the structured and supportive supervision of lady health workers (LHWs) by lady health supervisors (LHSs) could be strengthened, and to improve community case management of pneumonia and diarrhoea in children under five years of age in Badin district, in Sindh. The study was conducted in three sequential phases. The study participants included LHWs, LHSs, community caregivers of children under the age of five and policy-makers. Quantitative data was collected using structured questionnaires, a knowledge assessment questionnaire and a skill assessment questionnaire (Table 1), while qualitative data was collected using in-depth interviews (IDs), focus group discussions (FGDs) and narrative interviews (Table 2).

Table 1. Quantitative data collection tools
Tool	Study participants	Purpose of the tool
Household survey questionnaires	Primary caregivers	To record socio-demographic information, caregiver practices regarding diarrhoea and pneumonia of the population under study, as well as to document the morbidity due to diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Knowledge assessment questionnaires	LHSs and LHWs	To assess the theoretical understanding and knowledge of LHSs and LHWs regarding community case management of diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Skills assessment scorecard ‘A’	LHSs and LHWs	To assess the practical/clinical skills of LHSs and LHWs regarding community case management of diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Skills assessment scorecard ‘B’	LHSs and LHWs

Table 2. Qualitative data collection tools
Tool	Study participants	Purpose of the tool
Narrative interviews	Community caregivers	Explore caregiving practices and decision making for childhood diarrhoea and pneumonia.
FGDs and IDs	LHSs, LHWs	To record HWs’ perspectives, knowledge and skills regarding community case management of childhood diarrhoea and pneumonia in rural Pakistan.
IDs	Policy-makers	Establish their opinions on the causes of the observed structural gaps.

Lessons: Data collection should be designed specifically, in accordance with the study population and objective.