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MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
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Crabtree, Benjamin. January, 1982. - Interview Schedule Designing: Methodological Considerations of a Survey of Teenage Pregnancy in Hartford.
Abstract: Recently, applied medical anthropologists have become more involved with the complex bureaucracies of urban health systems. Access to personnel and data in the various agencies that comprise the health system often requires the researcher to follow formal steps to gain entry. Time can be limited, preventing more traditional methods of gaining entry and developing rapport from being effective. This thesis reports on an internship served in a city health department in which the primary task was the design of an interview schedule to analyze reasons pregnant adolescents in the city arrive late into prenatal care. The instrument was designed to be administered in the three city hospitals that serve most of this population. Cooperation from the local board of education and the three hospitals would have facilitated the development of a survey that effectively addressed the variables influencing adolescent prenatal care utilization. For reasons discussed in the thesis, the ideal conditions did not materialize, despite the fact that the health department had extensive methods of contact with relevant persons in the three hospitals. This thesis outlines the process of developing an interview schedule in light of constraints placed on researchers working with multiple agencies. Methodology is discussed, both as originally proposed, and as revised according to field situations. Methodological changes are placed in the context of actual field situations by using a chronological journal. Discussion centers around the issues of entry into agencies and subsequent rapport development. Recommendations are given for improving the effectiveness of researchers in similar situations.
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