Behavioural Surveillance Surveys - The Wisdom of Whores

Q804, Q805 : These two questions ask
about discharge (804) and ulcers/sores (805)
during the past 12 months. If the answers to
both these questions are NO, then you skip
the rest of this section (after filling in the filter
question in 806) and go on to section 9.
Both of these questions are simple YES/NO
questions, but note that they are limited to the
previous 12 months (not the last calendar year).
Section 9 : Knowledge, opinions, and attitudes
towards HIV/AIDS
In many questionnaires of this type,
knowledge, attitude, and opinion questions
are placed first in the instrument because
they are considered to be less threatening
than behavioral questions, and because they
provide an opportunity to develop rapport
between interviewer and respondent. However,
some researchers feel that by exploring these
kinds of knowledge issues first in the interview,
the respondent is reminded of all the correct
answers for behavioral questions. He/she
may be less likely to provide honest responses
to behavioral questions, instead telling you
what he/she now knows or suspects to be
the “correct” answer. For these reasons,
the “knowledge” section appears here near
the end of the interview.
Q902a and b : Past research has shown
that knowing someone well who is infected
or who has died of AIDS correlates with safer
sexual behavior. This question goes into
somewhat more detail than a simple yes/no
question. We want to know not only if the
respondent knows someone with HIV or
AIDS but also if that person is a close friend
or relative. Listen carefully to what the
respondent says and mark the appropriate
category. Note the skip patterns.
Q903 - Q908 : These question identifies
the level of awareness of the different ways
in which one can protect themselves from the
HIV virus as well as the different ways in
which individuals can get the virus.
Q909 : This question about knowledge of
asymptomatic infection is very important and
for many target groups, will turn out to be a
key indicator of knowledge change over time.
Being aware that a person might be infected
even though they look healthy can result in
very different behavior. This is a simple YES/
NO question.
Q901 : This question simply asks if the
respondent had ever heard of the disease
called AIDS. If the answer is NO, then skip
the remainder of these questions and go to
section 10, the last section.
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A PPEN DI X 2 B EHAV I OR A L SURV EI L L A NC E S U R V EY S