Background
Long-term development impact relies heavily on target populations adopting the intervention and continuing with it long after the intervention has been completed. Previous studies have shown that knowledge and behavior can spread through social networks and that certain types of social networks can enable population-level behavior change which can help prolong the impact of the intervention and have long-term benefits [1]. There are several sectors within the development arena that can benefit from the knowledge of how social networks function and precisely which individuals to target to ensure a better uptake of the intervention and its subsequent effectiveness. Specifically, in the context of Pakistan, where interventions focused on polio, latrine use, etc. are also shaped heavily by other cultural and religious contexts [2], information about how social networks can improve flow of information and encourage certain behaviors have the potential to be very useful for targeted interventions that can yield maximum benefit.
Hypothesis
I expect that there are certain individuals within a social network that yield influence within their community that encourages better uptake of some development interventions. In some cases it might be individuals who are good broadcasters as opposed to conventionally influential individuals such as village elders or tribal leaders. For instance, a village elder may be considered influential but the son of a village elder who knows people of the same age, has similar concerns related to health, nutrition etc may be able to yield more influence among peers and be a better broadcaster. Or it could be a government official trusted by the tribal leader who also brings with him/her the influence that comes with being associated with the government (or not). These angles of analysis can provide important information that can be used by aid agencies to carry out targeted interventions for sustainable impact in Pakistan.
Methodology
This SNA will explore if interventions targeted towards certain individuals within a community lead to behavior change among the population? Does uptake of the intervention by certain social contacts influence individuals to follow?
I propose that this sort of analysis is done as part of a baseline survey of the area of intervention. This SNA will rely on primary data collected through a survey that seeks to answer the following questions:
1. Which individuals do you go to for health/sanitation related advice? Name up to 5 people.
2. Why do you trust these people for advice? [Similar circumstances, they are more experienced, their advice is supported by their own actions (such as using the same sanitation techniques or getting their children vaccinated)]
3. What other mediums do you rely on to get information on health/sanitation related matters?
Apart from these questions, the survey will also collect information on age, gender, religion, occupation, education, number of children, levels of friendship (whether people visit the 5 named individuals or invite them to their homes, etc.). To see who the most influential individuals are, centrality measures including eigenvectors can be used as well as in-degree measures to see who people turn to the most for advice and who is close enough to the influential nodes to be a good broadcaster. The information collected in the survey can also help check for homophily (whether people turn to those for advice who have similar traits) and betweenness.
Limitations
This SNA can benefit from other forms of qualitative analysis with more data collected over time, such as before, during and after the intervention. Additional qualitative analysis can include running regressions to check for the impact of certain characteristics while holding other variables constant and that will provide a more thorough analysis of how much influential individuals matter, given other factors.
I am not taking the second module.
Long-term development impact relies heavily on target populations adopting the intervention and continuing with it long after the intervention has been completed. Previous studies have shown that knowledge and behavior can spread through social networks and that certain types of social networks can enable population-level behavior change which can help prolong the impact of the intervention and have long-term benefits [1]. There are several sectors within the development arena that can benefit from the knowledge of how social networks function and precisely which individuals to target to ensure a better uptake of the intervention and its subsequent effectiveness. Specifically, in the context of Pakistan, where interventions focused on polio, latrine use, etc. are also shaped heavily by other cultural and religious contexts [2], information about how social networks can improve flow of information and encourage certain behaviors have the potential to be very useful for targeted interventions that can yield maximum benefit.
Hypothesis
I expect that there are certain individuals within a social network that yield influence within their community that encourages better uptake of some development interventions. In some cases it might be individuals who are good broadcasters as opposed to conventionally influential individuals such as village elders or tribal leaders. For instance, a village elder may be considered influential but the son of a village elder who knows people of the same age, has similar concerns related to health, nutrition etc may be able to yield more influence among peers and be a better broadcaster. Or it could be a government official trusted by the tribal leader who also brings with him/her the influence that comes with being associated with the government (or not). These angles of analysis can provide important information that can be used by aid agencies to carry out targeted interventions for sustainable impact in Pakistan.
Methodology
This SNA will explore if interventions targeted towards certain individuals within a community lead to behavior change among the population? Does uptake of the intervention by certain social contacts influence individuals to follow?
I propose that this sort of analysis is done as part of a baseline survey of the area of intervention. This SNA will rely on primary data collected through a survey that seeks to answer the following questions:
1. Which individuals do you go to for health/sanitation related advice? Name up to 5 people.
2. Why do you trust these people for advice? [Similar circumstances, they are more experienced, their advice is supported by their own actions (such as using the same sanitation techniques or getting their children vaccinated)]
3. What other mediums do you rely on to get information on health/sanitation related matters?
Apart from these questions, the survey will also collect information on age, gender, religion, occupation, education, number of children, levels of friendship (whether people visit the 5 named individuals or invite them to their homes, etc.). To see who the most influential individuals are, centrality measures including eigenvectors can be used as well as in-degree measures to see who people turn to the most for advice and who is close enough to the influential nodes to be a good broadcaster. The information collected in the survey can also help check for homophily (whether people turn to those for advice who have similar traits) and betweenness.
Limitations
This SNA can benefit from other forms of qualitative analysis with more data collected over time, such as before, during and after the intervention. Additional qualitative analysis can include running regressions to check for the impact of certain characteristics while holding other variables constant and that will provide a more thorough analysis of how much influential individuals matter, given other factors.
I am not taking the second module.
[1] Fowler, James H., and Nicholas A. Christakis. "Cooperative behavior cascades in human social networks." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2010): 200913149.
[2] Murakami, Hitoshi, Makoto Kobayashi, Masahiko Hachiya, Zahir S. Khan, Syed Q. Hassan, and Shinsaku Sakurada. "Refusal of oral polio vaccine in northwestern Pakistan: a qualitative and quantitative study." Vaccine 32, no. 12 (2014): 1382-1387.
1 comment:
Thoughtful application of SNA, which is fast growing in use within M&E. Though take care that your methodology matches your question - a baseline will not answer whether the intervention has led to uptake in a behavior/attitude change without something to compare it to. Also think carefully about your survey - would it be useful to know who people go to for information that might not be WASH specific?
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