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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!!
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