Food and Nutrition Surveillance and

Response in Emergencies

Session 10
Qualitative and Quantitative
Approaches to Nutrition Situation
Analysis
 Introduction
• Analysis of elements of food chain and their
interactions needs to be done to understand
the whole spectrum of food and nutrition
security

• Formulation of strategies and design of

effective interventions require
comprehensive assessments and cooperation
of a variety of disciplines
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 Introduction
• Challenge is to create methodologies that
are relevant, multi-disciplinary and
comprehensive

• Rapid Assessments are the new

methodologies responsive to this challenge.

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 What is a Rapid
Assessment (RA)?
• Has origin and application in rural
development research and nutrition
research

• A systematic activity designed to draw

inferences, conclusions, hypotheses or
assessments including the acquisition of new
information during a limited period of time.

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 Characteristics of RA?
• Offers the balance and interaction between
(emic), local or indigenous perspective and
the (etic), outside or experts perspectives
from anthropological point of view

• Pays attention to the cultural, traditional

and social factors the target problems as
well as knowledge of the beneficiaries.

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 Characteristics of RA?
• Procedures are primarily direct
observations, informal conversations, key
informant interviews concerned with
knowledge, attitudes and practice

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 How is RA Used?
• To enhance the understanding of the rural
conditions in their natural context

• To tap knowledge of local inhabitants and

combining the knowledge with modern
scientific expertise BUT minimizing prior
assumptions

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 Qualitative Methods

• Focus Group Discussions

• Observations

• Key Informants

• Case Histories/Studies

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 Focus Group Discussions
What is FGD

• A structured group process used to obtain detailed

information about a particular situation

Uses
 For exploring attitudes and feelings

 To draw out precise issues that may be unknown to the

investigator

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 Focus Group Discussions (FGD)
Composition of FGD

 6-9 participants brought together to discuss a clearly

defined topic

 Composed of homogeneous people representing a

particular segment of population (e.g. gender, age social
group-pastoralists, internally displaced persons)

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Focus Group Discussions (FGD)
Timing

 A group session should last 1 to 1 and a half

hours, maximum 2 hours.

 Facilitator keeps discussion n track by asking a

series of open ended questions to stimulate
discussions

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 Focus Group Discussions (FGD)
Advantages
 Easy to undertake

 Results obtained in a short time

 Social interactions in the group produces freer and

more complex responses

 The investigator can probe for clarification and solicit

greater details

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 Focus Group Discussions (FGD)
Disadvantages

 Groups are often difficult to assemble

 Individual responses are not independent of each other

 Group is hand selected therefore the results may not be

representative of the general population

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 Observation
Observations generates questions for further
investigations
 Attendance at participation in activities, formal and
informal

 Structure counting (quantitative) observation yields

useful preliminary information on physical features

 Structures, sample (quantitative and qualitative)

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 Observation
 Transect. Offers an overview of the field site
and structured observation on natural resource
and human activity

Record who walked the transect and at what

time

Helps build rapport with the locals

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 Key Informant Interviews
Obtaining information from a community resident
who is in a position to know the community as a
whole, or a particular area of interest.

 The person can be a profession person who works with

the population you want information about, or a
member of the target population

 Key informants can be young or old

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 Key Informant Interviews
Advantages

 provides in-depth information about causes of the

problem

 Allows to clarify ideas and information on continual

basis

 Can easily combine with quantitative information

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 Key Informant Interviews
Disadvantages
 Informants may give you their own impression and
biases

 May have to be combined with other methods, because

achieving representativeness of the total community is
difficult

 May overlook the perspectives of community members

who are less visible

 The information may be difficult to quantify and

organise 18
 Qualitative vs. Qualitative
Qualitative
Lower numbers of respondents
Open-ended questions and probing
yield detailed information that
highlights diversity
Data collection techniques vary e.g.
FGD, Key informant, observations
More suitable when resources and
time are limited
Empowering and participatory
Quantitative
Higher numbers of respondents
Specific questions obtain
predetermined responses to
standardized questions
Relies on surveys as the main method
of data collection
Relies on more extensive interviewing
Not empowering
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 Qualitative vs. Qualitative
Qualitative Quantitative

Interprets Describes

Sampling depends on what needs to Sampling focuses on probability and

be learned-Purposive sampling representativeness

Explores causality Suggests causality

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 Qualitative Methods
Strengths

 Provides vital information on attitudes and

practice

Findings from qualitative research can be used

to base qualitative research

Can easily combine with quantitative

information

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 Qualitative Methods
Weaknesses

Small samples invalidates generalization

of results

Non scientific-

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 Quantitative Methods
Strengths

 Used to gather large amount of data

Features a high level of reliability

Findings can be tested using statistical means,

helping one to be sure of its reliability

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 Quantitative Methods
Weaknesses

 Rigid approach and attempts to control all the

variable factors that might influence findings

Inappropriate to measure human knowledge

attitude and practice

Insensitive to complexities of human

interactions

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 Combining Qualitative and
Quantitative Methods
• Blending of methods captures a more
complete, holistic and contextual portrayal of
the subject under study.

• Weakness and limitations of each method are

counterbalanced therefore neutralizes rather
than compounding the problems

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 Combining Qualitative and
Quantitative Methods
• Coding responses to open ended questions
generated from quantitative enquiries.

• Using statistical methods to analyse ranked

data sets arising from participatory enquiries
i.e. creating frequency tables from the coded
data

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 Combining Qualitative and
Quantitative Methods
• Using participatory techniques in exploratory
studies to set up hypotheses which can then be
tested through questionnaire based sample
surveys.

• Choosing a random sample and conducting a

questionnaire survey (quantitative) to gain
information on key variables for in-depth
qualitative survey

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