Anti-Poverty Community Organizing and Learning Project (APCOL) Questionnaire INTERVIEWER GUIDE

Transcription

1 Anti-Poverty Community Organizing and Learning Project (APCOL) Questionnaire INTERVIEWER GUIDE This guide is aimed at helping the interviewer ask questions of respondents and record their responses accurately, clearly, and with as much detail as possible. Respondents must be eighteen years or older. As the interviewer, it is recommended that you start by reading the questionnaire to understand what it is about. The main purpose of this questionnaire is to gather information regarding issues related to anti-poverty organizing, community activities or campaigns which are aimed at addressing poverty issues. As well information on, how and what people learn from participating in such activities or campaigns will be gathered. There are four main parts of the APCOL questionnaire: 1. Information on community involvement and anti-poverty organizing 2. Social movement and organizing 3. Formal and informal learning in anti-poverty community organizing 4. Demographics In the next few pages, specific details of each part and section of the questionnaire will be introduced to you. It is important to follow the instructions according to parts, sections and each question within them. At the end of this guide, you will be provided some guidelines and tips for before, during and after the interviews. 1

2 General Information The following are general information regarding questions and terms used in the questionnaire. Questions This questionnaire contains different types of questions: close-ended, open-ended questions with pre-codes, and questions with scales and ratings (Likert-scale questions). The following are examples of each kind of question taken from the questionnaire. Close-ended questions: Close-ended questions are ones where the answer is yes or no. Example: Question C: Do you know any community activity in your neighbourhood (or community) related to any of the above-mentioned problems? Yes, I do (Go to Question C_1) No, I don t (Go to Question D) Open-ended questions: Open-ended questions allow respondents to answer in her or his own words. The questionnaire has pre-codes with each open-ended question, which is a list of possible answers for the interviewer to select or categorize. Example: Question M [all respondents] What is the most important problem related to housing and safe shelter in your community/neighbourhood? [Record response and recode using following list]: Access to affordable housing Landlord-tenant relationships Maintenance and living conditions in the building Effective management toward housing/building The safety of all persons (including children) in neighbourhood Gangs/Drugs in my neighbourhood Eviction rates in my neighbourhood Cleanliness of the streets The cost of renting apartments in the neighbourhood Access to and conditions of shelters in the surrounding area Overcrowded apartments/buildings Number of homeless persons Other (Specify) 2

3 (Likert) scale questions: Scale questions (or Likert scale questions) are questions that allow the respondent to choose a response that represents her or his point of view among several other options. Example: Question Y. I would like you to choose among: Never, Sometimes or Often. How frequently have you used the following resources to support your own informal learning since joining the current anti-poverty campaign? Never Sometimes Often Reading materials (e.g. pamphlet, newspaper) Watching television (e.g. news, films) Internet Arts (e.g. visual arts, writing, performance) Government documents Attending public events or lectures Someone you consider a mentor within the campaign Speaking to leaders within the campaign Discussions with a group of campaign members or residents Speaking with politicians (e.g. city councilors) Listening to the stories of neighbourhood residents Listening to the stories of people from other campaigns Speaking with people from local associations Any other resource you want to mention? (Specify) 3

4 Interviewer Techniques Probing questions During the interview, ask questions as they are written in the questionnaire. Allow the respondent time to provide an answer. If the respondent provides short or incomplete responses for open-ended questions, you are required to ask the respondent to elaborate on their answers. This is important because more complete answers allow for a better analysis and a greater understanding of people's thoughts and activities. This can be done through probing question such as: "Can you tell more about that?" "What do you mean by? " You are responsible for managing the time and the flow of the interview. If a respondent provides responses that seem long and irrelevant, you are required to bring back the respondent to the question. This can be done by repeating the same question again, or, cutting off the respondent politely by saying something like: Very interesting. Let s move to the next question. Recording of responses We would like you to audio-record the interviews. However, you must ask the respondent whether she/he gives their consent to do so. Explain that recording will be helpful for you to capture the respondent s words and ideas as accurately as possible to avoid misquoting. Inform the respondent that the audio recording will be kept by you and the project leader and will not be used for any other purpose outside this project. Even if you are audio recording, always write down as much detail of the responses as possible in the way the respondent expresses herself/himself. When you come to an open-ended question which instructs you to, Record the response and recode using the following, you need to write the response. After the interview, you will code the response according to the list provided. However, you should record as detailed as possible. e.g. Question_N: [all respondents]: What is the most important problem related to health and nutrition in your community/neighbourhood? [Record the response first and recode after the interviewing using following list] 4

5 Prices of food have gone up, things are so expensive now. Vegetables which give you nutrition are so expensive. You want to buy local farmers stuff but they sell their produce with high price than the stores. FoodBanks are drying out, as many people are becoming dependent on them. The amount of pollution in the neighbourhood Access to affordable, nutritious food Access to mental health services Affordable healthcare coverage or insurance Access to fair healthcare services in the neighbourhood Drug/alcohol addiction in my neighbourhood Alcohol abuse in my neighbourhood Lack of education on nutritious/healthy food Overall health of children in my neighbourhood Other (Specify) Inaccessibility of local farmer produce Not enough neighbourhood spaces for physical activity Affordability/accessibility of neighbourhood sport or activity programs Too many fast-food restaurants/lack of ethnic food restaurants Reliance on FoodBanks/temporary services - 5

6 APCOL Questionnaire and Instructions to Parts and Sections Instructions on Introduction Greet the respondent and introduce yourself and your affiliation with the APCOL project. Have two copies of the consent form ready with a pen and have the respondent read the consent form for participation carefully. Have both copies signed. Return one copy to the respondent and keep the other copy with you for the project ethics file. If the respondent has any questions regarding the consent form explain briefly: This consent form outlines information about this project, your rights and the responsibilities of APCOL project members in this process. Your signature means you were made aware of the purpose of the project, of your rights as a participant and given information about the institution responsible for the information collected from you. You are also required to offer to read the consent form as it is written to meet diverse needs of the respondents. Audio-record, your reading of the form and verbal consent of the respondent to participate in the study. Instructions to Part 1 Information on Community Involvement and Anti- Poverty Organizing This section asks questions about key issues in the community or neighbourhood, past and current participation and motivating factors, and reasons for not being involved in the community activities or campaigns. The first section is intended to identify the respondent s knowledge of community and neighbourhood problems in a general way. Note that there are several questions, which are specifically targeted to different types of respondents. Current Participant (CP), Past Participant (PP), Non- Participant (NP). Question E on page 3 is a sorting/filtering question of respondents. Current Participants (CP) continue to answer questions from F to J and then onto Part 2, Past Participants (PP) go to section K, and then onto Part 2 (Questions M, N, O, P and U) Non Participants (NP) go to section L, and then onto Part 2 (Questions M, N, O and P). 6

7 Instructions to Part 2: Social Movement/Organizing This part has two sections, which aim to explore major problems and concerns with specific issues such as safe shelter, health and nutrition, fair education and access to jobs and how community members articulate their concerns, structures and situations. Section 5 is for all three types of participants (CP, PP and NP). Section 6 is only for current participants, except for Question U which is also asked of past participants. Instructions to Part 3: Learning This part is about how participants learn formally and informally about organizing. There are two sections; Section 7: Formal Learning and Section 8: Informal Learning. Read out the definition of informal learning on page 18 before asking Question X. We are interested to finding out the specific ways and aspects in which the respondents learns informally, as we believe that much of the learning that happens is outside formal courses or trainings. This learning may be complimentary to formal learning and contribute enormously to organizing efforts and to the success of campaigns or community activities. Instructions to Part 4: Demographics Demographics questions are asked of all types of participants (CP, PP and NP). This part of the questionnaire is mainly interested in the background of the respondent. The sections are - Neighbourhood - Gender - Age - Country of birth - Immigration and citizenship status - Linguistic status - Race, minority and citizen participation - Religious affiliation and citizen participation - Marital status and household information - Education - Employment status - Health status - Subjective poverty If respondent is hesitant to answer any of the questions in the demographics section, provide the option to choose I don t know or Refused and go on to the next question. Closing the interview Show your genuine gratitude to the respondent for the time she or he spent to share feelings, ideas, information and concerns. 7

8 Guidelines for Administering APCOL Questionnaire This questionnaire is designed for the Anti Poverty Community Organizing and Learning Project. Data from this questionnaire provides information and experiences on anti-poverty community organizing and learning among different groups of respondents. The questionnaire includes instructions for interviewers who will ask questions from different groups of respondents. Recruitment of questionnaire respondents - There are two ways to identify respondents to the questionnaire: 1) Through community organizations, e.g. Social Planning Toronto, ACORN, FoodShare, ANC. This is primarily for identifying and contacting current and past participants of anti-poverty community organizing; 2) Through community events and canvassing neighbourhoods. This is mostly to identify and contact past and non-participants of anti-poverty community organizing. - Canvassing neighbourhoods can include going door-to-door in buildings that you know or have an established contact. For your own safety, it is required that you work in pairs. - You may also ask the respondents to help you identify other current, past or nonparticipants so you can follow up to interview them. This respondent recruitment technique is called "snowballing". - While recruiting, be prepared to give a brief explanation of the APCOL project. Prior to the scheduled day of the interview - You will have been provided with the APCOL questionnaire. - You are required to read and familiarize yourself with the content of the questionnaire. It is a good idea to read it aloud to yourself. - You are highly advised to practice interviewing people using this questionnaire. - Learn some of the standard explanations provided in case the respondent requires you to clarify any terms or questions. On the day of the interview - Make sure you have two copies of the consent form for each interview - Ensure that you have an audio recorder with a charged battery and ask permission from the respondent to record the interview. Explain to them that the recording will remain confidential and anonymous as detailed in the consent form. - Be polite and respectful in approaching a potential respondent and introduce yourself. - Introduce yourself as a researcher of APCOL and provide the consent form to the respondent to read and learn about her/his rights as a research participant. - Have the respondent read the consent form and sign both copies, one to keep with herself/himself and one to be returned to you for files. 8

9 - Explain that the duration of interviews depends on the respondent and their participation and involvement in anti-poverty community organizing. - Explain to the respondent that they have the right to stop you and clarify the questions if they want to. You are required to provide clarification or explanation for asked questions. - Try to speak in a clear and easy to understand so that the respondent will not have to ask you to repeat your questions. - Document responses in as much detail as possible despite the fact that you are recording as well. - Thank the respondent for the time she/he provided for the interview. After the interview - Listen to the recording and compare it with your notes. In case the notes are incomplete, add to your notes from the recording. - Questionnaires with the recorded responses should be returned to the APCOL office. 9

10 Glossary The following are the key terms and explanations, which you need to provide when asked by the respondent for clarifications. Anti-poverty activity is any form of activity happening in the neighbourhood or community which is believed to experience poverty. We define this activity as widely as possible. Such activities can include local FoodBanks, Community Gardens, Resident Rising, etc. Anti poverty community organizing refers to organized activities aimed at the eradication of or solving problems related to poverty in a particular location (community). 'Campaign' refers to organized activities around collective goals. For instance, antipoverty campaign means organized group activities around poverty issues. Community activity is a term used with the past and non-participant groups to capture their involvement or participation. Campaign is a term used with the current participant group. Community and neighbourhood are used interchangeably in the questionnaire. You may refer to one or both of them depending on the respondent s reaction to them in her/his response after the first mention of these terms. 'Involvement' refers to participation in community activities around different issues. It can have different ranges and kinds. 'Participation' is used synonymously. Fair education is access to the kind of education that is just and equitable (including schools, childcare, colleges, and/or universities), in relation to cost, process, structure, input and outcomes. Informal learning A lot of learning goes on outside organized formal courses. This is called informal learning. Informal learning includes anything you learn either by yourself or with other people to gain knowledge, skill or understanding. It is usually unstructured. 10