Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Survey Techniques

An “educational diagnosis,” which targetted the health behaviors of mothers with regards to malaria and diarrhea in their young children, was carried out over a three-week period in November 1985 in Rwanda, East Africa. The study used the methodological technique of triangulation, in which both quantitative and qualititative data collection efforts are used to find answers to the same or similar sets of questions. Findings include estimates of health care utilization and medication usage and illustrate how multiple methods of data collection can maximize both the amount of usable data and the degree of confidence in the validity of data obtained, even with relatively small samples. In particular, the qualitative technique of focus group interviewing, which provided information on the sociocultural, economic, and historical contexts of the Rwandese health care system, provided an explanation of why there is relatively little self-care or home treatment for these diseases in Rwandese society.

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