Crabtree, Benjamin. January, 1982. - Interview Schedule
Designing: Methodological Considerations of a Survey of Teenage
Pregnancy in Hartford.
Abstract: Recently, applied medical anthropologists have become
more involved with the complex bureaucracies of urban health
systems. Access to personnel and data in the various agencies
that comprise the health system often requires the researcher to
follow formal steps to gain entry. Time can be limited,
preventing more traditional methods of gaining entry and
developing rapport from being effective.
This thesis reports on an internship served in a city health
department in which the primary task was the design of an
interview schedule to analyze reasons pregnant adolescents in the
city arrive late into prenatal care. The instrument was designed
to be administered in the three city hospitals that serve most of
this population. Cooperation from the local board of education
and the three hospitals would have facilitated the development of
a survey that effectively addressed the variables influencing
adolescent prenatal care utilization. For reasons discussed in
the thesis, the ideal conditions did not materialize, despite the
fact that the health department had extensive methods of contact
with relevant persons in the three hospitals.
This thesis outlines the process of developing an interview
schedule in light of constraints placed on researchers working
with multiple agencies. Methodology is discussed, both as
originally proposed, and as revised according to field
situations. Methodological changes are placed in the context of
actual field situations by using a chronological journal.
Discussion centers around the issues of entry into agencies and
subsequent rapport development. Recommendations are given for
improving the effectiveness of researchers in similar situations.
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