Qualitative Approaches for Food Security Assessment

5.2. Team Debriefing Meeting

5.2. Team Debriefing Meeting

Session-at-a-glance

Content / Approximate Time / Instructional Activity
Introduction / 10 minutes / Plenary Presentation
Team Debriefing Exercise / 110 minutes / Plenary Group Work
Total Time / 120 minutes / 2 hours

Session Objectives

After this session, participants will be able to:

Organize and facilitate a debriefing meeting of a qualitative assessment team;

Understand the strengths and weaknesses of their data collection and analysis process, and identify how bothcan be improved

Session Supplies

  • Power-point: 5.2. - Team Debriefing Meeting.ppt
  • Index Cards
  • Flipchart and markers

Key Messages

  • The assessment team shouldorganize a daily evaluation and planning meeting (or a debriefing meeting) to discuss the day’s results, Compare the results of the different groups/members, check the consistency of the data collection process, and identify areas for improvement for the next day.
  • During the meeting, the team leader should ensure that all members are aware of each other’s work progress and findings, and are given the opportunity to discuss their results openly. The team should clearly identify what went well and what did not go well, and identify ways to improve the data collection process.

Guidance

TGS#9 (particularly pages 24-28).

Facilitator Guidance and session preparation

Building on the results of the groups’ work in the previous session, you will show participants how to conducta team debriefing meeting by facilitating this meeting yourself. The meeting will focus on evaluating the data collection process (and tools), and comparing the three groups’ analyses with the view of:1) identifying differences in analysis and reasons for this (data collection tools, analysis, reporting, etc.), 2) integrating qualitative and quantitative data, and 3) identifying information gaps.

Room Setup

Plenary discussion setup.

Session Activities

Introduction

10 minutes

Introduce the session objectives (Slide 2).Explain that you will show how a team debriefing meeting should be facilitated by facilitating the discussion yourself. Ask participants why it is important for a qualitative assessment team to meet regularly during the data collection. Write a summary of the relevant responses on the flipchart. Then explain the objectives of a team debriefing meeting (slide 3). Remind participants that the meeting helps the team identify and correct its biases (iterative bias correction) and respond more effectively to emerging knowledge (flexibility). Highlightthatas the assessment progresses, the team meeting will gradually shift from improving the data collection processes (and tools) to analysingthedata.

Team Debriefing Meeting

110 minutes

Ask participants to reflect on their field work experience (slide 4). Give each participant two index cards and ask them to noteonething that went well during the field exercise on each card. It can be related to data collection process, team dynamics or even tools. Collect the cards and organize them on the wall by emerging categories.Discuss them with participants.

Repeat the same process for things that did not go well. During the discussion, focus on identifying how things could have been improved and refer to assessment planning, sampling, interviewing and moderation techniques, and triangulation.

After about 30 minutes, summarize the discussion.

The next hour will be spent discussing the initial analysis, but first each group will take five minutes to present its analysis of thefive categories of information related to food availability and access (or other categories, as appropriate). The “team leader” of the first group should make the presentation. Write down the key conclusions presented on a flip chart. Ask the members of the other groups to compare their analysis of the same categories with the analysis presented. Challenge the groups by asking the following questions during the discussion:

  1. Are some results of the different groups contradictory? Why (is it because of the source of information, questions on the guide not asked, the types of questions asked, the tool, differences of opinion, because the situation in the three communities is different, or because the results contradict information from secondary sources)? What has still to be clarified and/or how can we deal with this contradiction?
  2. What initial conclusions can we draw regarding the food security situation in the three communities together? Is the information reliable and valid enough for making such conclusions, or are there other questions that we still have to answer?
  3. On the basis of the secondary data, what quantitative data can we use to support our conclusions (enriching or better explaining quantitative results related to the category)? Does our analysis/data contradict any of the secondary data we have? Do we have an explanation?

Ask your colleague facilitatorto take over the documentation of the discussion either ona flip chart or index cards. The notes should be organized under the following headings:

  • Reasons for contradictory conclusions (here, clear reference should be made to category headings or numbers).
  • General conclusions regarding categories (conclusions applicable to the three sites vis-à-vis the category and any explanation of why difference exist between communities).
  • Integration with quantitative data available (to be bulleted here are the secondary quantitative data that can prop up the conclusions and those that contradict the conclusions).
  • Unanswered questions and improvements needed (all unanswered questions related to the category –whether on the question guides or not- should be included and any improvements that could be introduced to methods and tools).

Repeat the process for different categories after asking the second and third groups to present their analysis of these categories. By the time you finish discussing the third group’s analysis you should have identified a number of important conclusions and areas for improvements, and demonstrated how a team debriefing is done. Summarize the conclusions and areas for improvement on the flipcharts/index, making sure to highlight any important conclusions and opportunities for integrating qualitative and quantitative data that may have been missed during the discussion (or documentation).

Ask participants if they found the discussion helpful to improve their analysis.Explain that you have spent the past hour facilitating a team debriefing meeting. Highlight that regular team meetings enable the team to streamline its data collection process, making the assessment process more effective and efficient.

Provide comments on the analysis reports submitted by the groups before lunch (slide 5). Tell participants that you will provide them with more detailed comments electronically after the training.

Invite all to a short 15 minute break.

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