Gender dynamics in data collection on reproductive health: field experiences in Kerala, India
Gender dynamics in data collection on reproductive health: field experiences in Kerala, India
Reproductive health researchers tend to choose interviewers of the same sex as those interviewed. In many societies, it is considered unacceptable for men to interview women on topics of an intensely personal nature like sexuality or contraceptive use. In this paper, the author analyzes 21 interviews and 16 focus group discussions (FGDs) undertaken during a field study on the Quality of Services in the Indian Family Welfare Programs conducted in Kerala. The analysis was based on the model which identifies the principal participants in the interview as the respondent and the interviewer. In all these cases the contradiction between the gendered roles of the interviewer and interviewee are visible. However, if viewed in the context of the model provided by Briggs, it is clear that these contradictions are due to the differences in the social roles that the interviewers assumed and that the respondents ascribed to them and in the interactional goals of the interviewers and the respondents. Contradictions were also experienced during the FGDs. Educational sessions on contraception are a good tool for gathering sensitive information instead of the conventional interview, where the gendered roles are so crucial to the information gathering exercise itself.
76-84
Ramanathan, M.
d18deab5-272d-4455-b6ef-f621083be46b
Dilip, T.R.
9028bdbf-0bd0-4b5a-b9fd-a482a7dd65df
Padmadas, S.S.
64b6ab89-152b-48a3-838b-e9167964b508
1998
Ramanathan, M.
d18deab5-272d-4455-b6ef-f621083be46b
Dilip, T.R.
9028bdbf-0bd0-4b5a-b9fd-a482a7dd65df
Padmadas, S.S.
64b6ab89-152b-48a3-838b-e9167964b508
Ramanathan, M., Dilip, T.R. and Padmadas, S.S.
(1998)
Gender dynamics in data collection on reproductive health: field experiences in Kerala, India.
Medische Antropologie, 10 (1), .
Abstract
Reproductive health researchers tend to choose interviewers of the same sex as those interviewed. In many societies, it is considered unacceptable for men to interview women on topics of an intensely personal nature like sexuality or contraceptive use. In this paper, the author analyzes 21 interviews and 16 focus group discussions (FGDs) undertaken during a field study on the Quality of Services in the Indian Family Welfare Programs conducted in Kerala. The analysis was based on the model which identifies the principal participants in the interview as the respondent and the interviewer. In all these cases the contradiction between the gendered roles of the interviewer and interviewee are visible. However, if viewed in the context of the model provided by Briggs, it is clear that these contradictions are due to the differences in the social roles that the interviewers assumed and that the respondents ascribed to them and in the interactional goals of the interviewers and the respondents. Contradictions were also experienced during the FGDs. Educational sessions on contraception are a good tool for gathering sensitive information instead of the conventional interview, where the gendered roles are so crucial to the information gathering exercise itself.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: 1998
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 34355
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/34355
ISSN: 0925-4374
PURE UUID: 11f6fbc1-119a-4759-8b91-a3b0670015cf
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 16 Jan 2008
Last modified: 12 Dec 2021 03:23
Export record
Contributors
Author:
M. Ramanathan
Author:
T.R. Dilip
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
