Ghana - Ghana Demographic and Health Survey 2003, Round four

Start	End	Cycle
2003-07	2003-10	3 months

Start	End	Cycle
2003		5 years

Face-to-face [f2f]
A pretest of the Household, Women's, and Men's questionnaires used in the GDHS was conducted in May 2003 in English and five major local languages. The pretest training was conducted by GSS staff for two weeks from 5-17 May 2003. In addition, nurses recruited from the Ghana Health Service were trained in testing for haemoglobin and collecting blood samples for HIV/AIDS. Five teams were formed to conduct the pretest. Each team consisted of a supervisor, four interviewers, and a nurse. Urban and rural areas were chosen for the pretest to get a better overall sense of the response level and acceptance of HIV/AIDS testing.
The lessons learned from the pretest were used to finalize the survey instruments and logistical arrangements.

Training and Fieldwork
A total of 102 interviewers, 23 nurses, and 12 data entry operators participated in the main survey training that took place from 6-27 July 2003. All participants were trained in interviewing techniques and the contents of the GDHS questionnaires. The training was conducted following the standard DHS training procedures, including class presentations, mock interviews, and tests using the Household, Women's, and Men's Questionnaires. All interviewers were trained in taking height and weight measurements. In addition to interviewer training, 23 persons (most of whom were nurses from the Ghana Health Service) were trained for a period of 10 days in anaemia testing, collection of blood samples for the HIV testing, and in informed consent procedures. An additional 20 interviewers were also trained in blood collecting techniques. In addition to in-class practice, the nurses were taken to the local health clinic to practice blood-collecting techniques on women, men, and children.

Interviewers and nurses were selected based on their in-class participation, performance in the field practices, fluency in the Ghanaian languages, and assessment tests. The most experienced trainees, those who took part in the pretest, and those who did extremely well, were selected to be supervisors and editors. Trainees selected as supervisors and field editors were given an additional two-days training on how to supervise fieldwork and edit questionnaires. In addition, there was one standby supervisor and nine interviewers ready for relief assignment whenever necessary. Ten regional statisticians acted as regional coordinators, and GSS staff coordinated and supervised fieldwork activities.

Fifteen teams were constituted for data collection. Each team was made up of a supervisor, an editor, a nurse, four interviewers, and a driver. Fieldwork lasted for three months from late July to late October.

ORC Macro provided technical assistance on all aspects of the survey; staff from ORC Macro
participated in field supervision of interviews, height and weight measurements, and blood sample collection.

On average, 20 minutes was used to administer household questionnaire, about 50 minutes for women's questionnaire and about 30 minutes for men's questionnaire. Supervisors were provided with control forms to track the work done on the field. Members of the project implementing team also paid regular visits to the teams to ensure that they adhered to good data collection practices.

Women questionnaire collected information on the respondent's educational background, birth history, pregnancy and breasteeding, marriage, use of contraception and knowledge about HIV/AIDS.

The men questionnaire also collected information on the respondent educational background, marriage, fertility, use of contraception and knowledge of HIV/AIDS.

Three questionnaires were used for the 2003 GDHS: the Household Questionnaire, the Women's Questionnaire, and the Men's Questionnaire. The contents of these questionnaires were based on the model questionnaires developed by the MEASURE DHS+ programme and were designed to provide information needed by health and family planning programme managers and policymakers. The questionnaires were adapted to the Ghanaian situation and a number of questions pertaining to ongoing health, HIV, and family planning programmes were added. These questionnaires were translated from English into the five major languages (Akan, Nzema, Ewe, Ga, and Dagbani). The questionnaires are attached to the main report which is in the External Resources (Appendix E).

The Household Questionnaire was used to list all the usual members and visitors in the selected households. Information was collected on the characteristics of each person listed, including the age, sex, education, and relationship to the head of household. The main purpose of the Household Questionnaire was to identify eligible women and men for the individual interview. The Household Questionnaire collected information on characteristics of the household's dwelling unit, such as the source of drinking water, type of toilet facilities, flooring materials, ownership of various consumer goods, and ownership and use of mosquito nets. It was also used to record height and weight measurements of women 15-49 and children under the age of 5, and to record the respondents' consent to the haemoglobin and HIV testing.

The Women's Questionnaire was used to collect information from all women age 15-49. These women were asked questions on the following topics: respondent's background characteristics, such as education, residential history, media exposure, knowledge and use of family planning methods, fertility
preferences, antenatal and delivery care, breastfeeding and infant and child feeding practices, vaccinations and childhood illnesses, childhood mortality, marriage and sexual activity, woman's work and husband's background characteristics, and awareness and behaviour regarding AIDS and other STIs.

The Men's Questionnaire was administered to all men age 15-59 in every household in the GDHS sample. The Men's Questionnaire collected much of the same information found in the Women's Questionnaire, but was shorter because it did not contain a reproductive history or questions on maternal and child health and nutrition.

Note:
The three questionnaires were merged together named GHS Questionnaires and attached to External Resources

Name	Abbreviation	Affiliation
Ghana Statistical Service	GSS	Government of Ghana

Fifteen teams were constituted for data collection. Each team was composed of a supervisor, an editor, four interviewer (two male & two females) a nurse and a driver. The supervisor was the team leader who had to oversea that team members follow and apply instructions. Interviewers had to edit their own work immediately after interview even before he/she leaves the household for onwards submission to the editor.
The editor then has to do thorough editing of the questionnaires before passing them on to the supervisor sample editing before questionnaires are sent to the project secretariat.

Ten Regional Statisticians, undertake regional monitoring exercise whereas zonal coordinators also embark on field monitoring to ensure data quality.