Special Collection 1 - Article 5 | Pages 143–174  

Comparing, Contextualizing, and Conceptualizing: Enhancing Quantitative Data on Women's Situation in Rural Africa

By Enid Schatz

This article is part of the Special Collection 1 "Social Interactions and HIV/AIDS in Rural Africa"

Abstract

Demographic research mainly focuses on objective variables found in census and survey data. As demographers' interests expand to socially constructed phenomena, the discipline needs to incorporate new tools appropriate for understanding more subjective phenomena. The integration of quantitative and qualitative methods provides the opportunity to analyze data both rich in local meaning and generalizable beyond a small "N."
This type of triangulation is particularly necessary in the study of women's situation, an area where quantitative results have generally confounded demographers. Using survey and ethnographic data, this paper demonstrates ways in which qualitative data complements quantitative data on women's situation. I argue that such an iterative methodological process can enrich future investigations in this area by comparing findings, contextualizing quantitative results, and improving the conceptualization of future quantitative measures.

Author's Affiliation

• Enid Schatz - University of Missouri, United States of America EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Intergenerational care for and by children: Examining reciprocity through focus group interviews with older adults in rural Uganda
Volume 38 - Article 63

Working with teams of "insiders": Qualitative approaches to data collection in the Global South
Volume 32 - Article 12

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Interrogating the quality and completion of mortality mobile phone interviews conducted in Malawi during COVID-19: An examination of interviewer–respondent interactions
Volume 51 - Article 46    | Keywords: audio-recording, LMICs, Malawi, mobile phone survey, mortality, RaMMPS

The transition to adulthood in Europe at the intersection of gender and parental socioeconomic status
Volume 51 - Article 23    | Keywords: Europe, Europe, event history, event history, gender, multilevel analysis, parental socio-economic status, stratification, transition to adulthood

Transitions to adulthood in men and women in rural Malawi in the 21st century using sequence analysis: Some evidence of delay
Volume 51 - Article 14    | Keywords: Africa, Health and Demographic Surveillance System, longitudinal analysis, Malawi, sequence analysis, transition to adulthood

Trajectories of US parents’ divisions of domestic labor throughout the COVID-19 pandemic
Volume 51 - Article 12    | Keywords: childcare, COVID-19, division of labor, fathers, gender, housework, mothers

Are highly educated partners really more gender egalitarian? A couple-level analysis of social class differentials in attitudes and behaviors
Volume 50 - Article 34    | Keywords: attitudes, couple analysis, education, educational level, gender, gender roles, housework, social class differentials