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her schooling (XI1 standard) and was waiting for the results and Anandhi a 20-year old
girl who had completed nursing training and was awaiting a job They were chosen
because they were educated, and having grown up in the same village, they
understood the local culture and peoples' perception very well. They were
comrnun~cat~ve, and during initial interactions proved to be frank, open and reliable.
Being educated, they also understood the importance of carrying out a scientific study.
The key informants helped to identify members who could take part in the group
d~scuss~ons and also indlvlduals who could respond to In-depth inte~lews. Most of the
information was obtained from the key informants' during lnformal conversations held In
either of their houses or at opportune moments during field activities
(ii) Focus group discussions and indepth interviews
a Pretesting
Pretesting for focus group discussions was done to assess whether the questions used
in the guide were appropriate and sequential. It also helped to test whether the
d~scussion generated was free flowing and relevant to the issues. Further, it enabled
the investigator to gain experience on moderatton As far as In-depth lnterwews were
concerned, pretesting helped to assess the appropriateness of the questions and gain
experience on the technique Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews on
Issues pertaining to health were initially held in two villages outside the study village
before being conducted in the study village.
= Data collection in the study village
Focus group discussions were held with groups of women, men, children, teachers and
health professionals. Such diverse groups were selected for discussions because, It