Description of Pretest Survey

The pretest survey was conducted in Dai Xuyen Commune in early July 1995.

Dai Xuyen Commune

Dai Xuyen is a rural commune in Ha Tay province, approximately 40 km south of Hanoi. Dai Xuyen is located along the left side of Highway One connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The majority of people living in Dai Xuyen are farmers. However, being near Highway One, many households also engage in non-agricultural income-generating activities. There is a cluster of households located along the highway, and most of these households engage in small-scale trading.  As such, their lifestyle approximates that of urban dwellers.  Given that the Vietnam Longitudinal Survey was designed to interview rural and urban people living variable distances from Highway One, in order to provide a comparison of populations living varying distances from the Highway, Dai Xuyen is a suitable place for the pretest.

Charles Hirschman and Tuong Lai met with Dai Xuyen leaders, June 1995

The pre-test survey was conducted in July, 1995. The interviewer team consisted of Vu Manh Loi and Nguyen Huu Minh (CSDE, UW), three fourth-year undergraduate sociology students from Hanoi University (all females), and one male researcher from the Institute of Sociology.  All interviewers had previous experience conducting field work. Interviewers' training was conducted at the Institute of Sociology in Hanoi from July 1st to July 4th, and the field study was carried out from July 5th to July 9th in Dai Xuyen commune.

Interviewer Training at the Institute of Sociology, July 1st, 1995
From left to right: Charles Hirschman, Mr. Truong, Mr. Loi, Ms. Thuy, Ms. Lan, and Ms. Ha

In the pretest survey, 39 individuals were interviewed; including 20 women of reproductive age. All women were interviewed by the three female interviewers, with the exception that Mr. Loi interviewed one woman and Mr. Minh interviewed two other women. Our intention was to see how women react to sensitive and private questions and to see whether the sex of an interviewer matters when asking interview questions about abortion and contraception use. All interviews of women respondents were conducted privately in their houses. Five of these interviews were recorded using tape recorders so that we can have an idea about how the interviews were conducted by the female interviewers.

Ms. Ha, interviewing a woman making tofu for sale

In addition to household and individual interviews, we collected statistical data from a local statistician, and Mr. Loi conducted a group interviews with staff of the commune health center, women' union leaders, and local school teachers.

After the group interview at Dai Xuyen Commune Health Center

Results of the pretest survey have been utilized to refine the structure and content of questions in the original versions of individual and household questionnaires.