Data Collection in Nepal

The Nepal project is a pilot study that combines in-depth interviews, focus groups, and survey interviews, with primary emphasis on the surveys. A total of 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with individuals representing different ethnic groups, genders and ages. Similarly, 10 different focus group interviews, 5 groups consisting of women only, 4 groups consisting of men only, and 1 group consisting of both women and men, were conducted. The information from these interviews was then incorporated in the design of the survey questionnaire.

The survey was conducted with 537 people aged 17 and above living in the Western Chitwan Valley. These people were chosen using the following strategy. The study area was divided into five distinct strata, based on distance from the Valley’s urban center. Second, a sample of 2-4 neighborhoods was selected, with from 4- 25 households residing in each neighborhood. Once a neighborhood was selected, all the individuals age 17 and above residing in those neighborhoods were interviewed. This sampling procedure resulted in slightly more than 100 individuals from each of the stratum being selected. These people were interviewed in face-to-face interviews in the Nepali language. Two respondents who could not be interviewed in Nepali were excluded from our analysis. The field period lasted for six weeks and resulted in a 97 percent response rate.