Data Collection in the Field Thailand Experience

Parita Suaphan EPSA Skills Development Workshop No.3

April 17, 2013

Why do I choose a vocational high school ?

• What factors really affect students’ vocational/general high school decision ?

Expected Net Monetary Future Benefit Non Monetary Factors

Benefits

Costs

Risks

Time Value of Money

Social Environment

Cognitive Ability

Non-Cognitive Ability

Sample

• Sample frame :– Every grade 9 students in all 38 government schools in Mueng

District, Udon Thani Province 4656 Students • Udon Thani :

– Gross provincial product rank is 19 out of the 77 provinces in Thailand – 1.5 millions population – Agriculture ( Sugar Cane, Rice Farm), Travel, Service – Has 9 vocational high schools, 7 of which are in Muang.

• Schools– The numbers of grade 9 students range from 14 to 865 students– Under 2 school districts – 3860 students collected

Big School

Small School

Methodology

• Mixed Method ( though heavily quantitative) – Using qualitative to confirm the result of quantitative

part and attempt to answer the why questions• Instruments– Questionnaires

• 2 Parts , 2 Hours

– Interview • 10 – 15 min with 30 students

– Costs information from randomly selected local high schools and tutoring centers

Timeline

Pre-Fieldwork

Nov ‘11 – Oct’12A: TC• Proposal Writing • Questionnaires Design• Defense • IRB

B: Field Related • Contact Related

Authorities • Field Visit • Scheduling• Recruiting RAs• Codebook

Fieldwork

Nov’12 – Jan’13- Pilot- IRB ( well yeah once again !!)- Reconfirming schedule - RAs training- Data Collection (obviously !!) - Data Transfer

Post-Fieldwork

Feb’13 - April’14- Data Transfer - Transcribe - Data Cleaning - Imputation

-

Pre-Fieldwork

Proposal Writing • Check schedules of your committee

Questionnaires Design • It is an Art!!

• Order of Questions• Questions that need a lot of thinking should be put first • Will Q.1 influences Q. 2 ?

• Categories, scale, or blank • Consult Experts

• Teachers and/or School Principals • Survey Experts

Pre-Fieldwork

Defense • Leave time for revision

IRB• Are you working with minor ? If so Expedited• Do you need consent form ? • Avoid submitting it during summer • RAs?• Need 1 copy in local language and 1 copy in English

Pre-Fieldwork

Defense

• Leave time for revision

IRB

• Are you working with minor ? If so Expedited• Do you need consent form ? • Avoid submitting it during summer • RAs?• Need 1 copy in local language and 1 copy in English• Need an approval letter from the local authority

Pre-Fieldwork

Recruiting RAs

• Contact local university professor • Criteria : GPA more than 3 , have computer at home, and Junior or Master

level • First Screening : Meet and Interview • I used 8 RAs. 7 Juniors and 1 Master Candidate.

Codebook

Pre-Fieldwork

Contact Local Authority

• It is helpful if you know someone • Try to did this very early in the process

Field Visit

• Visit schools Talk to principle, explain the study, schedule the date, identify a contact person, obtain a usable phone number • Be polite. Bring gifts ?• Referral is much helpful.• Accommodation scouting• Car. You need a car.• Locate schools• In Thailand : Don’t use email. Use phone. If no one pick up the phone, visit.

Fieldwork

Pilot• At least 1 month in advance • Test the validity of the questionnaires, identify potential problem and try to

find solutions. • Hard-to-understand questions• Sensitive questions• Student Focus

• Do everything by yourself, so you can effectively train your RAs. • If you made changes, you need IRB approval.

Confirmation

• Confirm the schedule 3-4 weeks, 1 week, and 1-2 days • Give out the letters /consent form to schools

Fieldwork

RAs Training • 10 days in advance at least • If any of them are not competent, it is time to cut her/him out of the project• 3 hours session 4-5 people per session• A test at the end of the session• Homework • Give them a small amount of work at the beginning, so they have time to familiar

themselves with the tasks and you have time to cross-check them . Minimize future errors.

• $300 a month. 2-months work. 152 variables. 550 students

Data Transfer

• No need for the data collection to be finish before the transfer to start• Cross-check . Look at every survey yourselves. Not only that you correct the

transfer mistakes, you learn from it too.

Meet My RAs

Fieldwork

Data collection

• The number of students in each survey session matters.

• Students lost focus easy Snacks and light jokes helps

• It is important to establish connection with students.

• It is helpful to have teachers in the room.• Give them pens• Figure out how to logistically distribute

the surveys if the number of students is large.

• Get to schools at least 1 hour in advance.

Fieldwork

Data collection ( Cont)

• Boys are more difficult to manage. Be firm but kind and funny.

• Walking around helps students focus. • Treat them with respect !! • Numbers of students at school might not

be the same as what they reported to the district. Ask about it to get the correct sample frame.

• Keep field note. Polaroid is amazing.• I wrote a blog and found that it was

helpful http://www.thaifieldwork.com

Don’t Get Too Stressed – Keep Calm And Carry On

Post-Fieldwork

Data Cleaning and Transcribing

• Continue to cross-check• Get to know your data • Shall I delete some observations?

Imputation

• If you can still take a class, please do.• If not, consult Yilin!!

Questions ? Comments ?

Thank You

Contact : ps2537@columbia.edu