Q: I’m curious to hear more about how youth/adolescents themselves were involved in the evaluation data collection? Stefanie mentioned role playing as part of the prep and sense-making workshops - would love if you could expand further on the process and lessons learned from the data collection process itself! How did you train, equip, and support these AGYW? Any key lessons or recommendations for others engaging AGYW in evaluation data collection?
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Stefanie: I shared a bit of information on using the peer method that ethnographic participatory ethnographic research that we did in the presentation, and from from what the the team has shared with me, I understand that one of the biggest challenges of that was really the time and intensity of engagement with the communities where the research is taking place. And I think it really does require a lot of resources and time for the whoever the peer group is — in this case, it was it was adolescent girls — to be a bit more immersed in the community and in the intervention.
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Izzy: More on Participation in the evaluation: In each country we did a round of participatory ethnographic research, which involved training a group of girls who had been exposed to A360 as peer interviewers. They then held conversations with their peers, to ask them about their experiences of the programme and how they felt about it.
In later years we conducted small participatory workshops at the end of community-level data collection, where we brought together a group of girls who had taken part in interviews and focus groups. We presented what we felt some of the main findings were back to them, and got their reactions and feedback, which helped deepen our findings. We also asked them to draw pictures along some of our key themes (e.g. ‘what is life like for a girl who attended an A360 event vs a girl who did not’), and explain their pictures - we got lots of rich and interesting insights from this.
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From the A360 Process Evaluation – Final Report Methodology section, page 8
"Participatory research
Participatory ethnographic research was conducted in Ethiopia and Tanzania in 2017 and 2018, drawing on principles of Participatory Ethnographic Evaluation and Research (PEER).6 Girls were trained as peer researchers and engaged in cocreating interview questions, before interviewing their peers about their experiences of A360. Group reflection, roleplays and visual storytelling were used to help girls discuss and reflect on their findings.
While these exercises generated rich insights into girls’ perspectives and experiences, the nature of girls’ interactions with A360 (often one-off) meant the ethnographic approach was challenging to apply. In 2019, it was replaced with lighter-touch sensemaking workshops with girls who took part in interviews and focus groups, using participatory drawing and group reflection to encourage girls to reflect on emerging findings and help research teams deepen understanding of the issues raised."
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From the A360 Process Evaluation – Final Report Spotlight 1 section
"Meaningful Youth Engagement - Defined
PSI drew on the WHO Global Consensus Statement on MYE12 to guide its engagement with young people:
Meaningful youth engagement (MYE) is an inclusive, intentional, mutually-respectful partnership
between youth and adults whereby power is shared, respective contributions are valued, and young people’s ideas, perspectives, skills and strengths are integrated into the design and delivery of programs, strategies, policies, funding mechanisms and organizations that affect their lives and their communities, countries and globally.
MYE recognizes and seeks to change the power structures that prevent young people from being
considered experts in regard to their own needs and priorities, while also building their leadership
capacities. Youth includes a full spectrum of the population aged 10-29 regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnic identity, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, political affiliation, or physical location."
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