1. CHALLENGES OF SURVEYING DISPLACED POPULATIONS Shannon Doocy, PhD CE-DAT Conflict Data Workshop, June 9-10 2011

2. Center for Refugee and Disaster Response

3. The Populations  Refugees  Urban population  Primarily integrated in capital cities  Highly educated and literate population  Political concerns related to host country governments  Internally displaced  Semi-nomadic herding population  Small remote settlements  Low levels of education and literacy  Political concerns driven by ongoing conflict Iraqis in Jordan and SyriaThe Beja of East Sudan

4. The Geography Amman, JordanThe Desert of East Sudan

5. Planning a Representative Sample

6.  A representative sample is essential for valid and credible survey results  To plan a representative sample, information on population size and location is necessary  Not available in most conflict settings  Ongoing conflict and population movement can be difficult to account for  Data that is accessible may be inaccurate due to poor data collection methodologies or political motivations

7. Iraqi Refugees in Jordan & Syria  Sufficient data on population location not available  Accessible data has constraints  Locating Iraqi households that are integrated among urban host country populations  Stratified sample design  Neighborhood weighting scheme developed for cluster assignment  Small clusters with random start points and with-in cluster referral The ChallengesThe Solutions

8. The Beja of Eastern Sudan  Disparate population estimates  68K-133K, differing community sizes  No maps or roads  Security: cannot safely reach some locations  Triangulation of available data  Key informants  Community size and location  Replacement sampling of nearby communities The ChallengesThe Solutions

9. Data Collection Issues

10.  Unique challenges in every context  May influence:  Methodologies that can be used  Scope of information that can be collected  Data collection approaches—interviewers, translation, survey content, recall period  Important to consider how issues faced can affect survey data and outcomes  Introduction of bias and non-random error  Implications for study findings, validity

11. Iraqi Refugees in Jordan & Syria  Involvement of a wide variety of groups in questionnaire development  Interviewer choice restricted  In Syria, interviewer oversight was limited as a result of security concerns  In Jordan, data management was shared with statistics bureau  Phrasing of some questions/response options not ideal  Differing comfort levels among respondents may influence results/responses  Poor data quality  Risk of manipulating results? The ChallengesPotential Implications

12. The Beja of Eastern Sudan  Cultural context: female interviewers needed  Female respondents don’t speak a written language  Only bridge between oral Beja language and Arabic is male comm. members  No western calendar  Local calendar difficult to establish  Use of multiple and oral translations  Data quality concerns  Time constraints = need for shortened survey  Confidentiality  Difficult to establish recall period  Accurate mortality rate? The ChallengesPotential Implications

13. Security and Political Considerations

14. Security  Police states with active surveillance  Risks to study team  Arrest  Implications for collaborating partners  Risks to participants  Survey conduct in SPLA controlled areas  Escort required  Tensions, reports of active fighting  Roads are dirt tracks, demining not complete Jordan & SyriaSudan

15. Political Considerations  Approval of host governments  Jordan: Difficult  Syria: Impossible  In Jordan, lack of independence  Methodological constraints and limitations on sharing findings  Population size  National government is unaware of survey  Possible SPLA motivations to exaggerate populations size, status  Implications of study results and foreign assistance for local population and context Jordan & SyriaSudan

16. Key Challenges of Surveying Displaced Populations: Some Concluding Thoughts  Planning and implementing a representative sample  Is it always possible and/or perceived as credible?  Data collection challenges  Bias, cultural/contextual differences, threats to validity  Security—often a concern  Considerations for both the surveyors and respondents  Political considerations—a unique challenge in every context! Thank You! Shannon Doocy sdoocy@jhsph.edu Thank You! Shannon Doocy sdoocy@jhsph.edu