This section is where you will be presenting the actual results of the analysis
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By the time you finish using the methods and tools you have selected for your study, you will have several sets of information organized and stored in notebooks, files, and index cards according to chronological order or by method/tool used, or both. This chapter deals with the processes of conducting overall analysis of all the information gathered and reviewed; checking its trustworthiness by triangulation; interpreting or making sense of findings; presentation and use of findings. As documentation is one of the most important outputs of a hygiene evaluation study, we shall demonstrate how investigation and analysis link up to report writing in practical terms. Stages of analysis and interpretation of findings
Descriptive Analysis Description and analysis of qualitative information are closely linked, hence the phrase descriptive analysis. This includes some description of the purpose of the study, the study site, and people involved which is normally presented in the introductory sections of a report. However, descriptive analysis focuses on the information gathered in relation to how it was gathered, where, and by whom. This involves reviewing the information, identifying links, patterns, and common themes, arranging the facts in order, and presenting them as they are, without adding any comments on their significance. This is usually presented in the Results section of a study report. The order in which the results are presented may be chronological, following the order in which the facts were obtained; or hierarchical, in order of their relative importance to the heart of the investigation. The introductory description and the descriptive analysis (results) sections of a study report should enable you to answer basic questions. For example: Introductory Sections
Results Section What does the information gathered consist of:
Answers to these questions require rigorous analysis and description, but not interpretation (see Box 24 for an example of how results are distinguished from discussion of findings or interpretation).
Sufficient detail should be included in the descriptive analysis to enable the reader to see the investigative steps you have followed, how you made methodological decisions, or changes of direction. and why. Remember that the facts have to be presented clearly, coherently, and fully before they can be interpreted. A very important feature of the descriptive analysis is the checking and crosschecking of information in order to establish the quality or trustworthiness of the findings. We shall deal with this separately in detail in "Establishing the Trustworthiness of Information.'' Interpretation The second stage is to determine what the results mean and how significant they are in the specific context to which they belong. The reasons behind certain hygiene practices and to what extent they are influenced by sociocultural factors can be teased out when the study team's multiple perspectives are brought to bear on the results. Wider issues concerning our understanding of the links between hygiene practices and health can also be explored in the light of the findings. The following are some of the questions for the study team to answer when interpreting the study results:
The interpretation of findings should ideally reflect the comments and suggestions made by members of the study population(s) during the feedback sessions that are built into the use of investigative and analytical methods/tools, such as those described in Chapters 5 and G. This will help minimize the biases that can creep into the interpretation of results, making sure that they are not separated from the context in which information was gathered (see Box 24). Judgement Descriptive analysis and interpretation of results ultimately lead to judging the findings as positive or negative or both, and stating the reasons why. The values of the study team and other stakeholders are brought to bear on the study findings. For example, the findings may show what is good, bad, desirable, or undesirable in the way the project has promoted improved water supply, sanitation, and hygiene/health, in the way people have responded to external interventions. and why. The question to be answered here is:
The interpretation and judgment of results are usually presented in the Discussion section of a report. It is important to strike a fair balance between the positive and negative aspects of the findings. For example, positive findings should be emphasized without brushing over negative ones. Similarly, negative findings should not only be listed, but discussed in a way that explores possible practical solutions or feasible remedies. The discussion section should be followed by the conclusions which may be presented in the same section or separately under Conclusions. Recommendations The fourth stage is to draw some recommendations for action to be taken on the basis of the analysis, interpretation, and judgement of study findings. The Recommendations section of a report normally follows the discussion and conclusions and should address the following questions.
The more the different concerned parties or stakeholders are involved in the interpretation and judgement of the study results, the easier it will be for you to reflect their interests in the recommendations. Practical and feasible suggestions should be clearly included in the recommendations. Establishing the trustworthiness of information
You should be able to judge the trustworthiness of the information you have gathered by applying all the criteria you put in place when designing the study while conducting it. The number of criteria applied may vary from one study to another, depending on the resources (human, material, time). and other constraints on the study design and execution. However, the following key criteria constitute the minimum requirements that should be met in order to establish the trustworthiness or the quality of qualitative information.
Presentation of findings
Writing a Complete Study Report At the end of the investigation and analysis processes, you will find yourself with considerable amounts of fieldnotes, charts, and other written records of what you have done. These will all need to be systematically organized, kept in notebooks, and files compiled by hand or on a computer, if available. You can then start putting them together following a report outline, as shown in "Stages of Analysis and Interpretation of Findings" in this chapter. Box 25 provides an example of a report outline. Writing Separate Summaries for Specific Readers or Interest Groups You may need to send short summaries such as an executive summary to your project funders, the study population, local community groups, governmental, and/or non-governmental counterparts. It is important to balance well the positive and negative findings when reporting in short, executive summary format. By definition, an executive summary does not allow the reader the benefit of seeing the findings in the context. Evaluation study results are seldom entirely positive or entirely negative, but a combination of the two. Whether they are interpreted as positive or negative depends on who is interpreting and using them. You may also want to prepare short articles summarizing your findings for dissemination in local and/or regional networks of practitioners working in the fields of health/hygiene education, water supply, and sanitation; research network such as the global applied research net work (GARNET) ) which has a topic network on Hygiene Behaviour, the working group on Promotion of Sanitation, and so on. You will need to bear in mind the interests of each of these groups when deciding what to include, and what language and style to use. Making Verbal Presentations to Selected Groups and Inviting Their Comments and Suggestions You may find it beneficial to present partial or full results of your investigation to some of the most important stakeholders in the study in order to elicit their responses to the analysis and interpretation of your findings. For example, in Chapters 5 and 6, we looked at a number of participatory tools for information gathering (mapping, historyline, seasonal calendars, pocket chart) which included the presentation of information gathered to the study participants there and then. Charts, graphs, and other visual displays can be used to present the findings in ways that will interest and stimulate participants. However, only overall results should be given and not details of individual interviews or households.
Your project may already have trained personnel (e.g., trainer or project spokesperson) who can present the study findings at workshops, meetings and conferences where various audiences may be interested in hearing about your findings. The type of visual and other materials you can use to present your results will depend on the resources available. Often, summaries of findings written on flip-charts using thick marker pens and big letters (including diagrams, charts, and graphs where appropriate) are the most effective ways to present findings to large groups in both rural and urban areas. These require less financial resources to prepare and can be more creative and fun to do. Organizing a Discussion or Debate the Findings in Which Opposing Points of View Can Be Aired This is a particularly good idea if the level of participation of the different stakeholders is high and if your findings are likely to be interpreted significantly different by groups according to their opposing interests. In the final analysis, comparisons must be made carefully and appropriately to avoid the drawing of wrong conclusions. Implementation of findings
Whether or not participatory approaches are given importance in the evaluation, the end result of the study will be the identification of high risk hygiene practices which currently exist, embedded in a context of local physical conditions, beliefs, and ideas. You will almost inevitably advocate that follow up action should include hygiene promotion activities. The goal of any hygiene promotion project must be to influence people to abandon the high risk practices identified in favour of low risk, safe practices. But, what influences people's decisions to change their normal practice? Many studies have shown that the answer to this question is "not received knowledge alone." Commonly, four factors influencing behavioural change are identified:
Below are some examples of how information gathered using this handbook may be fed into an implementation process that takes these four factors into account: Facilitation. In order to get people to use safe water for drinking purposes, it may be necessary to ensure that there are sufficient protected water sources throughout the community to make it easier and more convenient to use as opposed to traditional, unprotected ones. In planning terms, this may mean continuing a mapping exercise that identified existing sources instead of using the map, with the community, to plan the location of new water points. Understanding. Hygiene promotion messages and activities are not received by people in a vacuum. Rather they are assessed, accepted, modified, or rejected by people within the context of their existing health concerns and beliefs about illness. A number of similar evaluations have, for example, elicited the local concepts of hot and cold illnesses that need to be treated by controlling diet and reducing intake of some foods. In a number of cases, the promotion of ORS has run into difficulties because diarrhoea is classified as a hot illness requiring treatment with cooling substances, while sugar, a major constituent of ORS, is categorized as hot, therefore rendering ORS an unsuitable treatment. Project implementers have found various ways to overcome such problems including substituting honey (considered a cooling substance) for sugar in one case, and in another, encouraging people to use ORS in conjunction with herbal teas made from guava leaves - a traditional remedy considered cooling and seen to overcome the perceived heating effect of the sugar in ORS. Approval. In order to enhance the desirability of change, it may be necessary to target hygiene promotion at certain groups of trend setters, such as traditional healers, local leaders, or young mothers who are likely to be copied by their peers. Often this would best be done through a continued use of the group discussion techniques used earlier in the evaluation. Ability. If behavioural change requires resources, it may be beyond some people's abilities to make the change. Promotion of latrines, for example, may need careful planning with communities, using many of the techniques discussed earlier to enable targeted assistance/subsidies to be allocated to those who would otherwise be unable to make the change. In projects where the promotion of low risk hygiene practices has been achieved, the follow-up action to evaluations may involve tackling other issues that are next in the list of priorities. Whatever the outcomes of your study are, we shall be interested to learn about your experiences of using this handbook (see Evaluation Sheet at the back of the book). Contents - What is the analysis section of a research paper?The analysis section is where the writer describes what was done with the data found. In order to write the analysis section it is important to know what the analysis consisted of, but does not mean data is needed. The analysis should already be performed to write the results section.
What section is used to analyze and interpret the information presented in the results section?Definition. The purpose of the discussion section is to interpret and describe the significance of your findings in relation to what was already known about the research problem being investigated and to explain any new understanding or insights that emerged as a result of your research.
What chapter will you find the analysis and presentation of data of your research paper?The reporting and discussion chapters are where you tell your unique research story. These chapters form the bulk of your thesis where you describe, analyse and interpret your data and answer your research question(s).
What section presents the reader with the researchers data and results of statistical analysis?The results section of a quantitative research paper is where you summarize your data and report the findings of any relevant statistical analyses.
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