1. Qualitative Methods Course:
Phyllis Dako-Gyeke, PhD
School of Public Health, University of
Ghana
Pilar Torres, MA
National Institute of Public Health,
Mexico
Jessica Fehringer, PhD, MHS
Carolina Mejia, PhD, MPH
MEASURE Evaluation
University of North Carolina, USA
February 22, 2018
Moving from Afterthought
to Forethought

2. Acknowledgments
 Liz Archer
 Sunil George
 Hemali Kulatilaka
 Liz Millar
 Emily Bobrow
Special thanks go to Jen Curran, who
assisted in initial course development,
and to Daijah Charnelle Street and
Daniel Gluck for assisting with this
webinar.
Coauthors

3. Session Objectives
1. Provide an overview of a short course
on qualitative evaluations and share
innovative content examples
2. Describe the key challenges in
addressing the development of the
course and provide examples from
the case studies and group activities
3. Generate a discussion with the
audience on how evaluators can
improve teaching qualitative courses

4. Innovative Content
Qualitative Methods Course
for Rigorous Evaluation

5. Rigorous Evaluations
 Follow a clearly specified protocol
 Adhere to recognized scientific
standards
 Include formative evaluations, process
evaluations, outcome evaluations,
and impact evaluations
Definition

6. Qualitative Evaluations
 Fulfill an important role in rigorous
evaluation of programs
 May be used to complement quantitative
data or answer a question not accessible
quantitatively—the “why” behind
program successes or challenges
 Illuminate the uniquely human side of
health programming and bring to light
important contextual factors

7. Rationale
 A need for a course emerged from:
• MEASURE Evaluation’s impact evaluation
course feedback
• MEASURE Evaluation’s field experience
and literature familiarity
o Limited focus on quality of qualitative
methods: “afterthought” or “add-on”
 Global Evaluation and Monitoring
Network for Health (GEMNet)
demand analysis

8. About the Course
 Enhance participants’
capacity to conceptualize,
design, develop, govern,
and manage qualitative
methods in evaluation
and use the information
generated for improved
public health practice
and service delivery
 The course contextualizes
qualitative methods within
rigorous evaluation, rather
than offering the basics of
a qualitative approach.

9. Audience and Prerequisites
 Designed for participants who have
basic knowledge of program evaluation
and qualitative methods
 Intended audience: professionals from
monitoring and evaluation in health
and development fields
 Prior experience with qualitative
methods and public health program
evaluation is strongly encouraged.

10. Course Competencies
Categories
1. Concepts, approaches, and purposes of qualitative
methods in evaluation
2. Creating and conceptualizing evaluation questions
3. Troubleshooting selected qualitative methods
for evaluation
4. Choosing an appropriate qualitative method
5. Developing data collection tools
6. Qualitative data analysis techniques
7. Fieldwork considerations
8. Presentation and dissemination of data
9. Quality standards for qualitative inquiry/trustworthiness
10. Ethical principles for qualitative evaluation

11. Course Content
 Eleven sessions covering the key aspects
of rigorous qualitative evaluation
 Original course is 40 hours: seven days of
in-person instruction, including time for
practical application
• One day to be added based on
pilot feedback; about 56 hours now
 Content tailored to address issues
faced by evaluators in low- and
middle-income countries

12. Sessions (1)
1. Introduction to Qualitative Methods in
Evaluation: Discussion and Use of
Paradigms in Study Design and the
Emergent Nature of Qualitative Evaluation
2. Creating and Conceptualizing Qualitative
Evaluation Questions
3. Troubleshooting in Select Qualitative
Methods
4. Developing Data Collection Tools
5. Sampling Strategies and Saturation
6. Qualitative Data Analysis: Techniques
and Planning

13. Sessions (2)
7. Qualitative Data Analysis: Hands-on
8. Quality Evaluation Standards for
Qualitative Inquiry
9. Developing a Fieldwork Plan for
Qualitative Evaluation
10. Data Presentation and Dissemination
11. Key Ethical Principles and gender
integration in Qualitative Evaluation
Note: Gender is also integrated throughout
the course.

14. Teaching Methods
 Course delivery is based on adult
learning principles.
 Each session includes varied teaching
approaches for its activities.
 Teaching methods include facilitated
discussion, presentations, storytelling,
groupwork, debates, thematic
analysis, and case study from the
relevant region of the world (based
on workshop location).

15. Course Activities
 Debates (paradigm debate)
 Case study used across all sessions
 Trustworthiness
 Audience matters (role play as
presenter for different audiences)
 Groupwork on preselected projects
(development of short protocol)

16. Activity Examples (1)
The Third Wave
Positivist
Constructivist/
Interpretivist
Critical/Emancipatory
Pragmatists

17. Group Activity
 Split into four groups
representing each of
the four major paradigms
 Design an evaluation project around the topic
• Develop a particular evaluation question
and expand on the context
• Develop your group’s
evaluation concept
• 20 minutes
 Present your plan to the class
• 5 minutes each
 Class discussion
• Combined 20 minutes after all groups present
Activity Examples (2)

18. Activity Examples (3)
Putting Quality First
 Split into three groups
 Use the template provided and indicate
(30 minutes):
• How you would address the different
components of trustworthiness
• Practical implementation
o E.g., how would you conduct
member checks?
 Present your plan to the class
• 10 minutes each

19. Activity Examples (4)
Component of
Trustworthiness
Aspects Addressed Application
(Real world operationalization)
Dependability
and
Confirmability
• Evaluation process
• Methodology
• Analysis
o Audit trail: storing and cataloging raw data to be useful in the future
o Careful documentation of the analytic and interpretation process,
code/theme definitions
o Keep “field diaries” to note and theoretical or philosophical
approach of evaluators which may impact the evaluation
o Piloting and refining for data collection tools to be appropriate to
study population
Credibility • Study design
• Analysis
• Confidence in the
study outcomes
• Value of the findings
o Appropriate selection of person interviewing – female interviewers for
women’s FGD, etc.
o Field notes – was anyone else present during interviews/FGDs?
o Consistency between data presented and findings
o Work to establish inter-coder reliability during analysis
o Consistency between data and findings of study
o Participants provide feedback on preliminary findings – bring findings
to women’s/men’s community group meetings to receive feedback
Transferability • Sampling
• Context
• Methodology
o Using maximum variation sampling to capture different tribal and
religious backgrounds in communities
o Culturally appropriate approach to recruiting participants
o Data analysis which captures varying perspectives among sample
population
o Using illustrative quotes in reports/presentation to capture participant
voices and illustrate themes

20. Activity Examples (5)
Audience Matters
The local community
Cambridge University
World Health Organization

21. Evaluation Methods (1)
Measuring Success
Student evaluation
 Pretest and posttest covering
all 11 sessions
 Assessment of final group project
Course evaluation
 Daily participants’ evaluation form for
facilitators to review covering the following:
• Was content clear?
• Were the facilitators prepared and organized
in conducting the session?
• Overall impression of the day (use a scale)

22. Evaluation Methods (2)
Measuring Success
 Final course evaluation, stressing
the following:
• Overall impressions
• Comments on specific module
presentation
• Group comments and ranking
• What worked best; what did not work
• Suggestions for improvement
(general and specific suggestions)

23. Learning as Evaluators and Trainers:
The Development of a Short Course
in Intermediate Qualitative Methods
in Evaluation

24. Curriculum Development
 Formed curriculum advisory committee (CAC)
• Comprising experts in qualitative evaluation of
health nominated by GEMNet-Health
institutions
 CAC member institutions:
• Public Health Foundation, India
• University of Pretoria, South Africa
• University of Ghana, Ghana
• National Institute for Public Health, Mexico
• MEASURE Evaluation, a USAID-funded project,
at the University of North Carolina in the United
States

25. Curriculum Development
Competencies Example
Discuss major concepts, approaches, and types of
qualitative methods in evaluation, including the
purpose of using qualitative methods in evaluation,
as well as discussing the use of mixed methods.
LO1: Understand and compare the four major
paradigms of evaluation
LO2: Compare and contrast the use of qualitative
methods for evaluation with other approaches
LO3: Establish the appropriateness of the use
of mixed methods of evaluation

26. Curriculum Development
 Training of trainers and curriculum review
meeting in February 2017
• GEMNet-Health faculty
 First full pilot workshop in October 2017
in Ghana
• 28 participants from 10 countries
Review and Piloting

27. Participant Selection
 Mix of locations to offer
opportunities broadly
 Prioritizing academic applicants
who can pass knowledge on to
others
 Funding

28. Practical Component
 Specific program evaluation proposals
were submitted—5 selected.
 Each group works on one real
evaluation.
 Work in group across the next 6 days
to develop a protocol.
• Last session of the day
• Each day, answer questions relevant
to topics presented that day
 Protocols will be presented on Day 7 for
feedback.

29. Practical Component

30. Case Study
 Originally used multiple
case studies for session
activities, for topic and
contextual variety
 TOT*/review meeting
feedback asked for one
case study throughout
 Developed gender-
based violence
evaluation case study
set in Tanzania
*TOT—training of trainers

31. Challenges (1)
 Making it affordable for
participants in developing
countries, while also
providing high-quality
teaching and
accommodation
• Limit length vs. what you
can cover and in what
depth in 7 days
• Limit hotel costs vs. comfort
 Balancing theory and
practical instruction
Balance

32. Challenges (2)
 Teaching participants with
a variety of qualitative skills
and experiences
 Groupwork with participants
of different skill levels, cultures,
and varying personal investment
(e.g., if program under evaluation
was submitted by you)

33. Challenges (3)
Software! Software! Software!

34. Challenges (4)
 Integrating gender throughout
and having it “stick”
• Rather than having a stand-
alone session, we tried to
integrate it throughout
• At end, minimal retention
• Adding a
stand-alone
session for
revision

35. Pilot Evaluation Results (1)
++ Content
++ Facilitation
• Appreciated single
case study throughout
• All levels left with something

36. Pilot Evaluation Results (2)
Needs improvement:
 Timeline (too rushed)
 Hotel/food
Want more:
 Data analysis (software!)
 Ongoing mentorship

37. Next Steps
 Small revisions based on participant
feedback
 Complete facilitator’s notes to ensure that
external trainers who want to teach the
course can do it
 Post course content online in coming
months to make available to wide
audience
 For use in teaching; not designed as a self-
taught course
 Another workshop later this year in Africa

38. Any Questions/Input?
For additional information,
contact:
Jessica Fehringer, PhD, MPH
fehringe@email.unc.edu
Carolina Mejia, PhD, MPH
cmejia@unc.edu
Hemali Kulatilaka
hkulatil@email.unc.edu

39. This presentation was produced with the support of the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) under
the terms of MEASURE Evaluation cooperative agreement
AID-OAA-L-14-00004. MEASURE Evaluation is implemented by
the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in partnership with ICF International; John Snow,
Inc.; Management Sciences for Health; Palladium; and Tulane
University. Views expressed are not necessarily those of USAID
or the United States government.
www.measureevaluation.org