THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

THE DEPARTMENT OF POPULATION STUDIES.

NAME: MWAMBA MWAMBA

COMPUTER NUMBER: 13004026
COURSE: DEMO 2110
ASSIGNMENT: TAKE HOME TEST TWO
LECTURER: MS. KALINDI.
TUTOR: MS. SIWALE.
TUTORIAL DAY: THURSDAY, 15-16 HOURS.
DUE DATE: MONDAY, 19TH JANUARY 2015.

QUESTION: CAN YOU AS THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR FOR A HOUSEHOLD

SURVEY ON SEXUAL ABUSE IN ZAMBIAN HOMES IN RURAL AREAS PROVIDE
GUIDANCE ON THE ETHICS THAT WILL FOLLOWED IN THIS SURVEY AS WELL AS
HOW THE RESEARCH TEAMS WILL BE ENTERING THE COMMUNITIES AND HOW
ELIGIBLE RESPONDENTS WILL BE SAMPLED?

This paper has been prepared on how a technical coordinator can provide ethics on a sample
survey on sexual abuse in rural areas, which will constitute the first part, how the research
teams will be entering the communities and lastly outline how eligible respondents will be
sampled.
Survey technical coordinators by definition are responsible for quality control of survey
computations and plan preparation, as well as interpretation and analysis of field notes and
provide supervision. In short, he acts as the project manager for the entire survey (Kalton,
2013).
Among other jobs a technical coordinator must do, he is also responsible for providing ethics
that will be followed through the survey. In Zambia, the National Health Research Ethics
Committee provides researchers with these ethics when conducting household surveys.
As a technical coordinator, it is imperative to adhere to the ethical issues provided by the
Ethics Committee, such as not attempting to persuade respondents into agreeing to something
to which they may not have otherwise agreed. Participation should always be on the basis of
respondents being adequately informed about the intended research. In addition, often the
people from rural areas whom data are elicited may not be familiar with formal language
contained in standard consent forms. As such, the use of use of simple local language for
better understanding among potential participants and to help them make an informed
decision about whether or not to participate is promoted (Adetunji, 2011).
Furthermore, it is important that most surveys be completed anonymously thus ensuring
confidentiality. This is done by transforming and coding data to protect anonymity and
privacy of respondents. No names and addresses are retained in the data files. Besides this,
the Ethics Committee emphasizes that access to confidential data be limited to project staff
members who have pledged to maintain confidentiality and have been trained on appropriate
use of study data (Ibid).
However, it is still not an easy task for household surveys to be carried out in rural areas of
Zambia. For a survey that is particularly sensitive, such as this on sexual abuse, it is best to
send potential participants an invitation letter securing their consent to receive the survey
instrument. In most cases, it is not normal to seek formal written consent, as it will have the
paradoxical effect of compromising anonymity of the respondent (Alcser, 2011).

Besides getting consent from potential respondents, researchers should identify ethnic or
religious power structures in the areas in which data collection will occur and approach study
participants in accordance with the cultural traditions and norms of the ethnic or religious
groups. This can be through the head of the family or a local leader. In addition, being more
flexible when implementing consent procedures such as accepting oral consent in place of a
written form, as literacy is usually an issue in these rural areas where education systems are
stunted (Lee, 1993).
Furthermore, it is important for the technical coordinator to observe cultural and social norms
when assigning interviewers to respondents such as matching female interviewers with
female respondents, if matching is culturally appropriate, so as to increase comfort ability and
ease of information. In light of this, social etiquette must be followed: giving advance notice
before arriving, dressing in a culturally appropriate manner, removing ones shoes inside the
house, partaking of refreshment and sending a thank-you note after the interview. All these
can help facilitate the researchers sample the eligible respondents (Ibid).
In a country like Zambia, surveys such as this on sexual abuse in rural areas, most researchers
tend to be more flexible on the use of questionnaires with potential respondents as issues of
illiteracy are there. This is done by tailoring questionnaires with simple and brief questions,
in their native language so as to increase the response rate of the target population.
Furthermore, the intention of the whole survey is to get close to accurate data, so the use of
the respondents native language is a means to how they can achieve that and be sampled
(Presser, 1986).
The personal interview method is the most common in collecting data through large scale
sample surveys in developing countries. Apart from the high response rate, the method is
appropriate because of the prevailing high illiteracy rates in the rural parts of Zambia. The
method entails interviewers going to selected respondents and collecting information by
asking questions. The main advantage of this is that the interviewers, through motivation, can
persuade respondents to answer questions and can explain the objectives of the survey. This is
a more suitable method for sampling sensitive topics (United Nations, 2005).
In conclusion, as the technical coordinator of the household survey, I would provide guidance
on the ethics laid out from my findings by the Zambia Research Ethics Committee, which
further augments the proper entering of communities and use that data to formulate sampling
techniques such as tailored questionnaires and interviews specific to the rural population.

REFERENCES.
Adetunji, J (2011). Ethical Issues in the Collection, Analysis and Dissemination of DHS in
sub-saharan Africa. Washington DC 20523.
Alcser, K et al (2011). Ethical Considerations in Surveys. 2nd Revised Edition, Boston Press.
Kalton, G (2013). Survey Technical Coordinator/Project Manager. Retrieved from
www.geometricscanada/testsite/jobs_view.cfm?jobid=298&cid=402 on 18th January, 2015.
Lee, R. M. (1993). Doing Research on Sensitive Topics. London, UK: Sage Publications.
Presser, S (1986). Survey Question: Handcrafting the Standardized Questionnaire.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
United Nations (2005). Designing Household Survey Samples: Practical Guidelines.

Department of Economic and Social Affairs: Statistics Division. Series F No.98