Research Opportunity: Maternal & Child Health TORs

Job Description

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES WITH DMI IN ZAMBIA 

About DMI 

Development Media International (DMI) delivers media campaigns aimed at changing behaviours, promoting health, and saving lives in developing countries. We are the first organisation to scientifically demonstrate that mass media can increase life-saving behaviours. In 2018, DMI published the results of its 5-year randomised controlled trial in West Africa which showed that 56% more children were taken for treatment for malaria, 73% more for diarrhoea and 39% more for pneumonia following exposure to our campaign. Modelling indicates that over 3000 lives were saved during the campaign and that our approach is one of the most cost-effective ways of saving children’s lives.

DMI has two priorities: first, to continue to generate ground-breaking research, and second, to take our proven strategies to scale, saving as many lives as possible. We work across a range of health issues, including child survival, reproductive health, nutrition, hygiene, and early childhood development. DMI works in close partnership with leading experts in health, including WHO, UNICEF and LSHTM and has been funded by some of the world’s most prestigious organisations including the Wellcome Trust, FCDO, Comic Relief, the Global Innovation Fund, Unorthodox Philanthropy, the Mulago Foundation and Hilton Foundation.
DMI has offices in Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. DMI’s headquarters in London provides the strategic direction for the whole organisation. Find out more on our website.

Research opportunities

DMI is seeking a research partner to implement three phone-based surveys amongst a cohort of caregivers of children under 5 years. Detailed Terms of Reference are included below. Interested parties should submit a technical and financial proposal for the work to info@developmentmedia.net by 28th June 2024. For clarifications, please contact zara.goozee@developmentmedia.net.

The technical proposal should include at least the following information:

1. Experience of your organization in conducting similar research and an example report/publication.
2. Sampling strategy and data collection approach.
3. Work plan with detailed timelines for training, piloting, data collection etc.
4. Proposed team from your organization who will work on this project, their experience, and the proposed level of effort for each staff member.
5. Estimated budget, summary, and breakdown of the costs.

Objectives

1. To explore beliefs and behavioural intentions related to maternal and child health amongst caregivers of children under 5 years.
2. To examine the current levels of beliefs and behavioural intentions related to maternal and child health through a phone-based baseline survey with caregivers of children under 5 years.
3. To evaluate the impact of a radio campaign promoting maternal and child health behaviours on the outcomes of interest (knowledge, beliefs, and behavioural intentions) through an endline survey with caregivers of children under 5 years.

Target population and sample size

To meet objective 1 above:

• 100 caregivers of children under 5 years will be recruited for a phone-based elicitation survey. The elicitation survey will take place in July 2024 and will be a split sample (e.g., two samples of 50 caregivers will be asked different question sets)
• 250 caregivers of children under 5 years will be recruited for a phone-based belief prioritisation survey. The belief prioritisation survey will take place in July 2024.

To meet objective 2 above:

• 1000 caregivers of children under 3 years1 will be recruited for a phone-based baseline survey. The baseline survey will take place in November 2024, prior to the launch of the radio campaign. The survey will be a split sample (e.g., two samples of 500 caregivers will be asked different question sets).

To meet objective 3 above:

• The same cohort of 1000 caregivers from baseline will be followed up at midline. The phone-based midline survey will be conducted in June/July 2025. The survey will be a split sample (e.g., two samples of 500 caregivers will be asked different question sets).
• The same cohort of 1000 caregivers from baseline and midline will be followed up at endline. The phone-based endline survey will be conducted in February 2026. The survey will be a split sample (e.g., two samples of 500 caregivers will be asked different question sets).

Study setting & sampling approach

DMI welcomes proposals on the sample recruitment approach but expects:

• Elicitation and belief prioritisation surveys: The sample to be selected from the population of caregivers of children under 5 years, with broad representation across gender, setting (rural, urban), age, location, and socio-economic status.
• Baseline, midline, and endline surveys: The sample to be selected randomly from the broader population of caregivers of children under 5 years, with equal representation in terms of gender and setting (rural, urban). The sample should represent participants of a range of ages, locations, and socioeconomic status.

At baseline, a 10% oversampling of participants should be done in anticipation of drop-out between baseline and endline, and data collection and/or reporting errors.

The sampling strategy is conditional on approval by the ethics committee and could be modified. Any changes to the sampling strategy will be determined in joint agreement by the Service Provider and DMI.

Timelines & specifications

Elicitation & belief prioritization surveys: The preparation for these surveys (i.e., enumerator training, local permissions etc.) should take place between 8-19th July 2024 and data collection should be completed by 2nd August 2024 at the latest.

Baseline survey: The preparation for the survey (I.e., enumerator training, local permissions etc.) should take place in early November 2024 and data collection should be completed before the end of November 2024.

Midline survey: The preparation for the survey (I.e., enumerator training, local permissions etc.) should take place in June 2025 and data collection should be completed in June/July 2025.

Endline survey: The preparation for the survey (I.e., enumerator training, local permissions etc.) should take place in January 2026 and data collection should be completed in February 2026.

The following specifications must be followed:

• A final sample of 100 caregivers of children under 5 years for the elicitation survey.
• A final sample of 250 caregivers of children under 5 years for the belief prioritisation survey.
• A final sample of 1000 caregivers of children under 3 years at baseline, who will also be followed up with at midline and endline. Equal numbers of men and women, and setting (rural, urban) will be selected.
• Interviews will be conducted by phone and data will be collected using survey software on electronic devices. The outcome questions will be programmed to appear randomly at each interview to limit interviewer and interviewee bias.
• Interviewers will have the ability to speak the necessary languages to conduct the surveys and will conduct interviews by verbally translating the English questionnaire, if needed. The Service Provider must check with DMI which languages enumerators will need to be proficient in prior to selecting and training them, but this might include: Bemba, Nyanja, Kaonde, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, and Tonga.
• The Service Provider will train all the data collectors prior to baseline, midline and endline surveys in the following: the study sampling strategy, conducting the interviews in the key languages spoken by participants, seeking informed consent (baseline, midline and endline), using survey software to collect and record data accurately.
• The surveys will consist of:
  • Elicitation: Approximately 15 open response questions, lasting around 20 minutes
  • Belief prioritisation: Approximately 45 closed, scale response questions, lasting around 20 minutes
  • Baseline, midline, and endline: 45 closed, scale response questions, lasting around 20 minutes
• Prior to the baseline survey (and if any changes are made to the midline or endline questionnaire), the Service Provider will cognitively test the questionnaire separately with 10 caregivers of children under 5 years prior to the actual survey and provide DMI with data and feedback. Senior personnel from the Service Providers team will supervise this process.
• The questionnaire will be revised following cognitive testing. Subsequently, but prior to the baseline survey (and if any changes are made to the midline or endline questionnaire), the Service Provider will pilot the questionnaire separately with 10 caregivers of children under 5 years and provide DMI with data and feedback. Senior personnel from the Service Providers team will supervise this process.
• Whilst DMI is responsible for obtaining national-level ethical approval, the Service Provider’s team is responsible for promptly obtaining the necessary additional approvals to conduct the phone surveys.
• The Service Provider will be responsible for monitoring the quality of data collection and conduct back-checks on minimum 10% of randomly selected study sample to ensure validity of participants interviewed.
• The Service Provider will be responsible for monitoring, on an on-going basis, the accuracy with which data is being collected by enumerators and provide DMI feedback.
• The Service Provider agrees to allow DMI to observe the training of enumerators and request additional training if DMI deems it to be necessary.

Deliverables

Deliverables will be timebound and specific deadlines will be agreed between the parties once all approvals are in place. The key deliverables are as follows:

• Review translation of all the survey tools and share any further edits with DMI
• Produce sampling frame, sampling strategy, data collection schedule and data collector training manual (based on the final questionnaires) and share with DMI for feedback. Finalize and refine sampling frame, sampling strategy, data collection schedule, and enumerator training manual, incorporating DMI’s feedback.
• Recruit a team of data collectors to conduct the baseline, midline and endline phone surveys.  Prepare all necessary field materials for enumerators to ensure they can administer the surveys.
• Conduct training of enumerators to DMI’s satisfaction. DMI staff should be invited to attend this training and a payment is attached to this deliverable.
• Cognitively test the baseline questionnaire (and if any changes are made to the midline or endline questionnaires), among the sample outlined above and provide feedback and data files to DMI.
• Programme the questionnaires on electronic devices using survey software and test thoroughly. Send DMI the online questionnaire for testing.
• Pilot the revised baseline questionnaire (and if any changes are made to the midline or endline questionnaire) among sample outlined above and share feedback and data files with DMI.
• Finalize the questionnaires on electronic devices using survey software and provide additional training of enumerators to discuss any changes made to the questionnaires following piloting of the survey.
• Conduct an elicitation survey with 100 caregivers of children under 5 years and a belief prioritisation survey with 250 caregivers of children under 5 years.
• Conduct a baseline, midline and endline survey with a cohort of 1000 caregivers of children under 3 years.
• Conduct back-checks of minimum 10% of randomly selected study sample to ensure validity of participants interviewed and monitor the quality of data collection on an ongoing basis and send data files to DMI. Supervise on an on-going basis the accuracy with which data is being collected by enumerators and provide DMI feedback.
• Develop a protocol for data cleaning and share the protocol with DMI. Supervise timely data checking and coding and provide a clean and complete dataset along with variable code list and fieldwork report to DMI. Also send uncleaned data set and code used for data cleaning to DMI. The dataset provided must be of a quality acceptable to DMI and a payment is attached to this deliverable.
• Provide on-going support to DMI regarding any dataset queries.