1. Pilot Testing of the VAW Survey Module in Georgia: Preliminary Results
Geneva,
November 18-19, 2010

2. Pilot Objectives Testing of : Methodological and training materials
Sensitivity of topic (openness of respondents)
Questions (which worked and which did not)
by means of conducting 200 interviews of the VAW pilot survey in urban and rural areas, 100 interviews in each area

3. Stages of Pilot Process
1. Preparatory Activities
Translation and streamlining of survey materials
Sampling of i) urban and rural areas and ii) households
Training of interviewers
2. Fieldwork
3. Debriefing of Interviewers
4. Data entry and database cleaning
5. Formation of the database

4. 1. Preparatory Activities
Translation and Streamlining of materials :
Survey questionnaire and instructions for interviewers (including the PowerPoint training presentation) were translated
Working group worked on all translated survey materials

5. Preparatory Activities
B. Sampling
200 households were selected
100 households in Tbilisi (urban) and 100 households in Kakheti region (rural)
In Kakheti 6 villages were selected from 2 municipalities
Due to expected non-response the interviewers were given additional 140 households to contact.

6. Preparatory Activities
B. Sampling (continued)
Selected households have already participated in the Integrated Household Survey (IHS)
Each of the sampled households included at least one women aged 15 and above

7. Preparatory Activities
C. Training of Field Staff
8 interviewers and 2 supervisors were selected for 2 regions
1-day training by working group members
PowerPoint Presentation was used for training
After going through the questionnaire and interviewers’ manual, interviewers were asked to fill in questionnaires themselves
The practical work was monitored by the working group members

10. Preparatory Activities
Conclusions and Findings
Statistical sampling methods were not used for the pilot testing
2-day training is considered to be optimal
It would be useful to translate and use the Question-by-question description of Violence against Women Module during training

11. 2. Field work Field work was conducted in 8 days
After 2 days of field work the regional supervisors met interviewers reviewing 2-day work
In order to conduct 200 interviews, the total of 250 households were contacted
Average length of an interview was minutes

12. 2. Field work Main Reasons of Non-response:
Household members were not at home, or
Dwellings were closed and no one lived there
Just a few refusals – the largest part of which not related to the specific topic
Only 2 women (both above 60) refused to participate after finding out about the nature of the survey

13. 3. Debriefing of Interviewers
Sensitivity
No significant problems in terms of establishing communication – unexpected not only for interviewers, but also for working group members
The title of the pilot survey presented to women – “Survey of women’s conditions” – worked well to establish initial contact with the respondents
In general interviewers feel that women spoke openly, but there were some opposite cases

14. 3. Debriefing of Interviewers
Sensitivity (continued)
Divorced women and widows were more open in discussing their ex-partners
The survey topic unexpected for women
Women positively surprised that someone/some organization would be interested in such questions

15. 3. Debriefing of Interviewers
Privacy/Confidentiality
A number of cases where other household members tried to attend the interview
Interviewers mainly coped with the pressure
In one case, information spread by a respondent among other village members was to a certain extent positive

16. 3. Debriefing of Interviewers
Questionnaire
In general, the interviewers and respondents found the questionnaire relevant
Some questions were too general for respondents (e.g. V04 a) or unimaginable to them (V08)
Recall difficulties – e.g. number of violence acts on the part of ex-partners

17. 3. Debriefing of Interviewers
Questionnaire (continued)
Non-physical violence was present quite often in respondents’ answer
A significant number of cases where respondents named psychological violence from other non-partner members of the household – issue that was not on the questionnaire
Mother-in-laws – specific example of such non-partner violence

20. Domestic Violence in Georgia
Pilot Testing of the VAW Survey Module in Georgia
Thank You For Attention