Fieldwork for the main survey has started!
The first step has been to carry out a comprehensive census of the villages where the survey will be conducted. The team in Ethiopia, led by Eshetu, have spent the past three weeks out in the field completing the household listing for the three kebeles (villages) identified from our sampling exercise. There are just over 2,000 households within these three kebeles.
The household listing provides a complete list of all the people who usually live in the household who are over the age of 15 years. Additional data concerning their education, sex and relationship to the household head, as well as any specific role they may have in the community, is also collected. All individuals are assigned a household ID and a unique individual ID which will be used to match individuals named in the social network survey.
In addition to collecting data about the people who live in the household, the GPS location for each household was also recorded. This provides spatial data which can be used in the social network analysis, as proximity may impact on social networks.
The census data is being entered and once the team have a complete listing of all individuals then the next stage of the fieldwork can begin. We are finalising a few practical and budgetary details in the meanwhile, and anticipate that the main survey will start to be conducted in July.
Feels like we’re off to a great start!