Survey Snags

Well, we’ve run into some snags with Phase 2 of the surveys, so it’s going to take us a little longer than hoped. We’ve had to revise the survey now several times. We took it out for a test run on Wednesday and it just didn’t work. It wasn’t quite focused enough, it didn’t flow as naturally as we thought, the phrasing in parts was either too direct or too unclear, and we didn’t get the kind of responses we were hoping for. So, it took the rest of Wednesday afternoon and all of today, working with Charu, reviewing other surveys, and some advising from Randall, but it seems to work a lot better now. We tested it again yesterday on some women at the GRC, and things went much smoother. But, here's where the other snag comes in: finding the women we want to survey again. It’s been a concern of mine all along, but we mapped all of these places on the GPS, took notes on the location, recorded house numbers and family names, so you wouldn’t think it would be that hard. But somehow on Wednesday it still turned out to be a muddled mess. Perhaps (hopefully) it was just the area we were in…in other areas, it shouldn’t be quite so hard.

Today, it actually wasn't too bad. We found five of them okay, so I'd say it went well! There was one girl who very clearly did not want to talk with us. She answered the questions, but begrudgingly. At one point she told Charu, “You know, people come through here all the time, asking us questions for their surveys, but they never do anything for us.” We pretty much felt like a**holes after that. And she’s right. I’m sure it happens all the time, and nothing ever changes for them. They never see the benefits of these studies, the improvements or services they promise. We’re just another group of nosy people coming through asking them very personal questions about their lives and all they get from us is a packet of biscuits. We’ll write our reports, make spreadsheets and charts, and present it all to the Delhi government, but who knows if anything will actually come of it.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what we find out, though. Just from the tests and surveys so far, I think there’s going to be quite a variance in experiences, knowledge, and behavior. It's been surprising already. Some women just don't think it's necessary to see the doctor while they're pregnant -- they've had 3 or 4 kids already, they deliver at home, and besides hospitals are expensive. But then the next woman will have gone to the doctor every month during pregnancy, delivered at the hospital, and even has an up-to-date child vaccination card. It's very typical of India, I suppose -- huge contrasts, side by side.