Situation analysis approach to assessing family planning and reproductive health services : a handbook

This handbook is a tool to help implement Situation Analysis (SA) studies. Each chapter of the handbook, some sections of which may be more useful and interesting for policymakers and program planners, others for researchers, and still others for field interviewers, is briefly described below. Chapter 1 gives an overview of SA study objectives, research design, interviewers training, field data collection procedures, data uses, and methodological issues. This chapter is intended to help decisionmakers understand the value and limitations of the type of data collected, and to assist them in making an informed decision about whether to carry out such as study. Chapter 2 supplies practical guidance for implementing the study in the field. This chapter focuses on the training of field workers, and will be of particular interest to staff concerned with study implementation. Chapter 3 provides the core interview schedules, inventory, and observation guide, which can be adjusted by planners to suit particular national or regional interests. This section also supplies instructions and background information on each question, geared toward the data collectors. It should serve as the main aid during training of the field researchers and an important reference document for them. Chapter 4 provides advice on entering and cleaning data, and instructions for producing an initial SA report for discussion by researchers, program managers, clinic personnel, donors, and others. It provides a complete list of primary results that can be computed from the SA instruments, with reference to the questions that are needed for each result. It also includes several sample graphs and sample indicator lists from two countries. This chapter assumes at least a minimum proficiency with data processing programs. (Author abstract, modified)