AFGHANISTANA view from the ground

Presentation at the Conference of International Broadcast Audience Researchers, November 2003, by Independent Media Consultant Mark Eggerman on behalf of InterMedia Survey Institute

KABUL

SURVEY FIELDWORKIssues impacting research quality

• No census since 1979• Poor communications infrastructure• Roads, maps, access & time-frames• Security & uncertainty• UN / NGO “research” presence

POPULATION DATAHow many Afghans?

District CSO Projection Satellite data - AIMS

ISTILAF 39,600 9,725

DEH SABZ 43,200 416,117

PAGHMAN 117,900 208,779

KABUL CITY 2,677,600 1,434,392

REFUGEES & IDPs

SURVEY FIELDWORKIssues impacting research quality

• Cultural factors – women & “deference to authority”

• Low educational attainment• Shortage of qualified staff• Lack of research agencies

FIELDWORK IN KABUL

FIELDWORK IN KABULAvailable data

• Maps• Site visits• Local knowledge• Data on rent• Housing types• Access to electricity & water

Chilsetoon

No electricity

Local water supply

KABUL HILLSIDES

NEW HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT

OLDER URBAN STRUCTURES

SOVIET-ERA HOUSING

WAR DAMAGE

SUBURBAN KABUL

Typical road

Typical settlement

Shomali farmland

DOWNTOWN KABUL

AFGHAN FAMILIES

SOME RECOMMENDATIONS

• Random sampling – throw the net as wide as possible

• Field control materials & procedures

• Small-scale surveys of specific target groups – students, shop-owners, housewives, government workers, drivers

• Questionnaires – keep it short & simple

• Use male / female interviewer pairs

AFGHANISTAN

A view from the ground