http://www.who.int/school_youth_health/as sessment/raapp/how/en/index.html How to conduct the RAAPP?

Methods and skills:

Members of the Nigerian team analyzing data

The methods used in the RAAPP draw on the fields of evaluation research, strategic planning, and management. An in-country core team (selected by the country itself) will learn these participatory research methods through cooperative learning models that result in professional development and sustainable, transferable skills. Methods used for data collection during RAAPP typically include: Key informant interviews Group discussions Secondary data collection Observations While preparing for and conducting the RAAPP, the in-country core team will learn qualitative data gathering and analysis techniques such as: Interviewing Facilitating Recording Coding, managing and analyzing data Strategic action planning Core Team: A Core Team is an inter-ministerial group responsible for conducting all phases of RAAPP. The team is required to coordinate the logistics, build support for the process, manage the data collection, and develop an action plan based on the findings. During the RAAPP the team will be trained in qualitative and evaluative data gathering techniques such as interviewing, facilitating, coding and analysis techniques. Some members of the team will also be responsible for recording and managing data.

Informants: The RAAPP is divided into three phases: 1 planning 2 training and data collection 3 analysis and action planning Every country may require a different amount of time to conduct the RAAPP, depending on the mechanisms and networks it already has in place. Below we provide broad time estimates for each phase, which will vary depending on local conditions:
Phase I: Planning (2-3 months)

In the planning phase, the Core Team must secure both the human and physical resources to conduct the RAAPP. These resources include: interviewers interviewees trainers administrative support staff senior advisor training space office equipment The sample of interviews needs to reflect the nation's diversity, in terms of geographic, economic, cultural, religious, and linguistic richness. Finally, the Core Team must develop a promotion and dissemination plan to enroll participants and to garner support for the action plan.
Phase II: Training and Data Collection (5-10 days):

Before data collection can begin, the Core Team needs to become well versed in the methods. Such familiarity is best achieved through extensive practice. The Core Team must learn techniques such as neutral interviewing, probing questions, and data recording. While the RAAPP instruments measure core elements of national capacity, the Core Teams may find it necessary to revise and customize the language and tone of the instruments to meet their needs.This will be known to the Core Team after practicing and field-testing. There are two types of instruments: 1 Key informant interviews for government officials

2 Group-discussion protocols for those outside of government. Two team members will conduct each interview: an interviewer and recorder. The total number of pairs that will conduct the RAAPP depends on how many interviews the Core Team decides to conduct and the span of time allotted for the data collection task. A data manager will also be needed to check and clean the records.
Phase III: Analysis and Action Planning (2-4 days):

Once all the interviews have been collected all team members will reconvene to merge data from all instruments and tabulate scores to facilitate investigation. The Core Team will organize all responses into broad thematic categories relating to each of the five capacity areas: knowledge base, policies, leadership and management, collaboration, monitoring and evaluation. In order to analyze the data, it will be necessary for the Core Team to omit duplicate entries and synthesize concepts. The aim of this work is to create a single-source overview for the entire data set. With this data set, the Core Team can efficiently list its key findings and create an action plan. Implementations of RAAPP action plans can begin immediately and tends to have a time frame of 12 -24 months following the assessment.