Improving girls" school attendance and achievement in developing countries : a guide to research tools

Yet in the poorest areas of the world many girls do not enter school or fail to stay long enough to gain any significant benefit. This guide describes 31 methodologies for collecting data on the causes of low female access to education in the developing world. Types of data covered include: child characteristics (5 methods), parents" attitudes and behaviors toward children (15 methods), teacher and school variables (6 methods), and community characteristics (5 methods). The methodologies come in a wide variety of forms (e.g., large-scale survey research, personal interviews, inventories, and observation guides) and from a variety of disciplines (child psychology, human development, economics, demography, anthropology, education, and sociology). For each, the report describes the method"s objective and type, the principal investigator or developer, place and date used, subjects, method of administration and pretesting, description, commentary, and bibliography.