Surveys in Communities Divided by Ethnicity and Conflict: Challenges, Possible Solutions, and Lessons Learned from a Survey in Jos, Nigeria

Abstract

In an ethnically and religiously divided community that has experienced recent violence. The discussion is based on a summer 2016 survey experiment we conducted in Jos, Nigeria, to gather information regarding residents' perceptions of local communal violence. We discuss the challenges of such research and our approach to randomized sampling, constructing treatments that minimize the stress to respondents, debriefing to lower the possibility of spreading rumors of conflict, and utilizing computer tablets to increase access to the study for respondents with varying languages and levels of literacy. In particular, we discuss a geographic sampling method used for randomization, which we hope will prove useful to others facing similar randomization challenges.

Cervical Screening Fieldwork in Rural and Conflict-prone settings in North-eastern Nigeria: Reflections, Challenges, and Lessons Learned.

“…The State has a mixed woodland-grassland guinea-savannah vegetation with warm temperatures exceeding 40°C during the hottest months of March-May 10 . At the 2006 census, the State had a population of 2,587,159 from which 50.1% (1,296,166) is male and 49.9% (1,290,993) is female with annual population growth of 3.2% 11 . Health budget allocation remains below 5% of the total budget for the state, which is grossly inadequate for the effective delivery of health care in the state.…”

“…The main concern of research in conflictprone settings is the safety of researchers and participants 1 . Conducting and participating in research in this setting can pose potential physical and psychological harm to the researchers and participants even at time of peace 1,2 .…”

“…The main concern of research in conflictprone settings is the safety of researchers and participants 1 . Conducting and participating in research in this setting can pose potential physical and psychological harm to the researchers and participants even at time of peace 1,2 . There is limited information in the literature about the safety challenges of researchers and participants in conflict-prone settings and strategies to prevent and address these challenges [1][2][3]41 .…”

“…Conducting and participating in research in this setting can pose potential physical and psychological harm to the researchers and participants even at time of peace 1,2 . There is limited information in the literature about the safety challenges of researchers and participants in conflict-prone settings and strategies to prevent and address these challenges [1][2][3]41 . The planning stage strategies used to mitigate challenges related to the safety of researchers and participants include 1).…”

“…Conducting research among people in rural settings poses challenges that requires tailored considerations, but when the setting doubles as a conflict-prone zone, then further unique approaches are required from researchers to tackle these challenges [1][2][3][4][5] . People in these settings are among the most deprived and apparently bear the largest burden of disease due to low literacy levels, high poverty, inadequate infrastructures, and health services, long distances to services, geographic remoteness, and frequent conflicts 4,[6][7][8] .…”