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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


Benefits Costs Risks Time Value of Money

Non Monetary Factors


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

Small School

Big 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 Oct12
A: TC
Proposal Writing Questionnaires Design Defense IRB B: Field Related Contact Related Authorities Field Visit Scheduling Recruiting RAs Codebook

Fieldwork
Nov12 Jan13
- Pilot
- IRB ( well yeah once again !!) - Reconfirming schedule - RAs training

Post-Fieldwork
Feb13 - April14
- Data Transfer - Transcribe - Data Cleaning

- Data Collection (obviously !!)


- Data Transfer

- 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 : Dont 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 ( Conts)
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

Dont 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

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