Fillable Printable Research Proposal (Example)
Fillable Printable Research Proposal (Example)
Research Proposal (Example)
Research Proposal
To:
From: Gabriel Ziyambi, Director, African Fathers Initiative
Date: 18 April 2011
Subject: Research proposal
Proposed Research Topic: Fathers’ efforts to secure the future of their children in the
context of multiple stresses involving HIV and AIDS
Research question
What are some of the present barriers to and successful determinants of fathers
involvement and support for women and children living with and exposed to HIV & AIDS
in Zimbabwe?
Purpose:
Global research around the value of involved fathers care for their children and supporting
mothers against the background of HIV and AIDS is growing. Studies in other parts of Africa
are gradually being carried out on male engagement themes including fatherhood yet in
Zimbabwe there has been no available research done so far.
Our proposal will make a start on this and may be strategic in provoking other research into this
area of mainstreaming gendered analysis and approaches.
Apart from anecdotal information and reports we don’t know if and how fathers support can
positively affect the family care environment in dealing with HIV and AIDS, in particular for
supporting women and children in Zimbabwe, for the better. We need to build up a local
evidence base, including widely accepted indicators and MOVs that gives us the ability to make
informed decisions about, proceed with and garner support for male engagement actions and
interventions to be mainstreamed that may positively determine programming that can make a
key difference in reducing the negative impact of HIV and AIDS on women and children in
families and communities.
We hope to enrich the research on fatherhood efforts and impacts in one community , Chiredzi
District and bring forward some of the factors that are involved in positive father support for
women and children within families and communities for further examination and analysis.
We have chosen Chiredzi District because of our previous involvement with communities there,
our institutional linkages with organisations such as Families Aids Counselling Trust (FACT),
African Network for the Prevention and Protection of Children Against Abuse and Neglect
(ANPPCAN) and not least the District Management Administrator and his Team who have
participated in our District Management Team briefing programme on Fatherhood and Families.
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The outcomes of this will be better knowledge about the determinants for sustaining and
increasing father involvement in families as a gendered driver of the efforts to reduce infections
and better care for those in communities who are experiencing the burdens of living with HIV
and AIDS with dignity and a better life. Knowledge of these determinants can help to
conceptualise, design and implement targeted better gendered interventions that we know can
work and can be scaled-up.
Background: In Zimbabwe at least 150,000 children below the age of 15 are living with HIV
according to government figures. In 2009 an estimated 13,300 children under the age of 15 died
from AIDS-related illnesses because they did not receive HIV treatment in good time.
Zimbabwe has the highest rates of orphaned children in the world according to some studies.
The Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Henry Madzorera, recently warned that about
14,000 of the anticipated 47,000 children born to HIV-positive couples in 2011 were likely to be
infected with HIV if the government and its partners failed to extend the availability of high-
quality PMTCT programmes.
Children are of course the most vulnerable sector of the population in the HIV and AIDS era.
They depend heavily on the quality of the highly gendered ‘environment of care’ that surrounds
them for their well-being. Many are orphans or are vulnerable and many who are described as
orphans may in fact have relatives who however are not involved in their care. Some of these
relatives will be fathers (and mothers) who for various reasons including cultural, gendered,
economic and social drop out of their children’s lives. We need to appreciate factors that are
involved in this separation of fathers from their children.
Many fathers do manage to overcome challenges and remain in the care domain of their
children. Sometimes their involvement is mainly financial, sometimes it is more than that and
they manage the daily care of their children – often after the death of a spouse or partner. More
and more men are involved in various Home Based Care Programmes and take in roles as
‘social fathers’ looking after children who they are not the biological parent of but are important
father figures for orphaned and vulnerable children.
Scope:
1. The research task is to identify the barriers to and the best of “what is” within fatherhood
involvement amongst the families, organisations and community of Chiredzi.
The scope of our research is therefore:
1. Set up a small steering committee to guide the research through for example: Dialogue
about research gaps and needs with institutions such as Donors and it’s partners,
University of Zimbabwe, Africa University, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare,
Zimbabwe Aids Network, National Aids Council, Community support groups such as
FACT Chiredzi and Padare at national and Chapter level.
2. Concise and short literature review on father involvement in HIV and AIDS – globally,
in Africa and in Zimbabwe.
3. Training our Researchers in the Most Significant Change (MSC) methodology we
propose to use.
4. Field research with fathers and organisations interacting with families in Chiredzi.
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5. Gendered analysis and compilation of report findings.
6. Present findings.
7. Internally evaluate, compile narrative and financial report to Donors.
Theoretical framework:
We will use a widely accepted and validated tool ‘Stories of Most Significant Change (MSC) to
carry out the field research.
MSC is a form of participatory enquiry widely used in M&E and baseline enquiry that seeks to
involve stakeholders in collecting stories of Significant Change (SC) and then through analysis
of these selecting the most important of these for impact in situations.
Once changes have been captured a trained team discuss the value of these reported changes and
compile an impact analysis. Members of the organisations and its stakeholders need to be seen
and treated as co-researchers. Every step in the research should be done as jointly and
consensually as possible.
This resonates strongly with our highly gendered vision and mission in African Fathers Initiative
for co-operative parenting and supporting the work of mothers and fathers in raising their
children. Therefore the chosen methodology has a strong affinity with our desire for positive
change towards male involvement in key organisations and stakeholders concerned with
maternal and child health.
The process of MSC we will use can be simply stated in three basic steps for the purposes of our
enquiry:
1. What is the existing situation with its negative and positive factors that are affecting father
involvement in reducing the impact of HIV &AIDS in families and communities?
2. From an analysis of people’s lived experiences what are the significant changes taking
place that are affecting this situation?
3. From this analysis can we extract and identify the ‘Most Significant Changes’ in this
situation analysis that we would like to concentrate on for further research and action and
that we believe can positively affect our policies and actions for the better. These may
form the basis of small pilot schemes that can themselves be monitored and evaluated for
efficacy and scaling up.
Method:
An Action Research approach will be taken that will seek to engage partners in ‘buying into’ the
need for the research and seeing that it can add value to the work they are currently undertaking.
Phase 1
a) Steering Committee
We will form a Steering Committee comprised of a representative from Donors, one or two
partners such as FACT, Padare and a University academic researcher who can validate and
endorse our methods and practice. The Steering Committee can help us to examine with
competent research institutions in Zimbabwe agreed gaps in research and literature through
comparative analysis with us, and discuss who may be interested in collaborating with us, by for
example providing interns to carry out field research with us, supervisors of the process etc.
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b) Literature Review
We will carry out a comprehensive literature review on gender mainstreaming, male engagement
and father involvement in HIV and AIDS work. The literature review will help to inform us
about what has been found out so far globally, in the rest of Africa and in Zimbabwe. We will be
able to gain valuable clues about what the trends and latest findings are from others in the field
we want to interrogate. This will require four weeks of research time and will include on-line
searches and follow up by email, phone and personal discussions with organisations who have
undertaken research that may help to inform us.
c) Training in Field Methodologies
We will identify facilitators who can assist with training our enquirers in MSC technique and
help to draw up our questionnaires, decide on the most appropriate means of eliciting
information such as individual interviews, family interviews, focus groups, gender balance of
participants etc. They will then help us in a District level training and awarenness event lasting
two days in Chiredzi District prior to the field research taking place.
Phase 2
d) Field Work
Using the MSC framework described above we will then engage in field research in Chiredzi
District, over an eight-week period, from May to June 2011. We will commence with a
consultation exercise with local stakeholders identified from a scoping exercise with active
community support groups and the DMT in the District. This will be followed by interviews
amongst organisations (such as FACT and Padare) to gain ideas about who can be our
fatherhood informants (men and women) and the professionals and community volunteers who
can help us gain insight into the value of father involvement,for women and children (such as
Clinics, Schools, Home Based Care Programmes etc). This will be compiled into a detailed
interview list and schedule. Manpower, including interns from for example University of
Zimbabwe, Africa University in Mutare to support our own staff will be assigned.
We will interview and observe a minimum of 100 fathers and 20 professionals and volunteers
who interact with fathers who are themselves HIV+ and/or or have partners and /or children
around Chiredzi who are HIV+.. We will also canvas the views of approximately fifty women
who are partners of our interviewees or have been identified by local organisations about
fatherhood roles that they find supportive and caring for them and their children. The methods of
choosing these interviewees, whether they will be done with wives and girlfriends present or
singly etc. will be defined after our consultations with our Steering Committee and organisations
in the field. Quantitative and qualitative information gathering will be designed with the
Steering Committee and with our facilitators.
As an example of the timeline of fatherhood impacts we would as a first step focus our research
with how ante-natal services, clinics and maternity units in Chiredzi engage with male partners
of pregnant women on issues of HIV and AIDS through in-depth interviews with counsellors,
midwives and other professionals in the organisations that are 'on the front line' of getting
fathers involved.
We would then ask mothers and fathers themselves who are engaged what are the positive and
negative factors in their interactions with their partners and the health services that they think
have contributed negatively and positively to their involvement and support for their partners
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pregnancy and their subsequent children. This will obviously include aspects of VCT for
couples and PMTCT of HIV and AIDS.
Our second step would then be to look at continuing care for young children and ask what
negative and positive factors that we've identified in father involvement in children's wellbeing
and protection from HIV and AIDS can be found and what positive factors could be built upon,
expanded and replicated through the actions of individual fathers and organisations?
Interviews will written up and analysed into categories of determinant components. These pilot
results can be analysed for further research and action needs. These may include (but are not
exclusive) factors such as:
Personal– Age, health, knows status, adheres personally to safe sex practices, on ARV regime
and is compliant or non-compliant, married, unmarried, divorced or separated, living in
household with child or apart, proximity to mother and child;
Economic factors – such as employment or non-employment, access to land, migrant work or
locally employed, lives with partner or on own, provides financial or other support to children
living apart;
Family networks availability or scarcity - such as relatives living locally, help from female
and male relatives in childcare etc.
Community support and social networks – Home Based Care Programmes, involvement with
Fact and other support networks such as Faith Based Organisations, local government service
availability etc., occupies strong moral or other leadership position such as lay preacher,
councillor or school board member etc.
Skills and Knowledge – about parenting, HIV and AIDS, hygiene, nutrition, education
milestones etc., availability of services and how to access them; influence of media messaging
such as TV, radio and informative newspaper articles, posters etc. from NGOs, Church groups
and others.
Experience of organisations – positive or negative of counselling, ante-natal and maternity,
other health service or local government service, schools, employers, feelings of stigma or
discrimination, costs of User fees for HIV & AIDS services such as testing, CD4 counts,
PMTCT services and ARV therapies, distances to travel etc.
Phase 3
e) Analysis
MSC places a strong emphasis on qualitative reporting of change, using stories rather than
numbers to communicate what is happening. However there is also a place for quantification
of changes. This can be done by noting the instances of factors mentioned by interviewees
and indicating how many people are involved, how often a factor has been seen as significant
and to quantify effects of different kinds. For example if peer group support or family
member support is identified to a significant degree then we can highlight these factors as a
quantifiable proportion of respondent reports.
Themes from the questionnaires and stories will be grouped together i.e. income levels,
employment factors, communication between partners etc.
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All stories will be entered into a text database
f) Compilation of findings
A detailed written report will be compiled concentrating on the factors identified as ‘Most
Significant Change’.
g) Presentation of findings
This will be discussed at a workshop with participation to be decided by the steering
committee but which should include Donors and its partners, the Chiredzi DMT and
others such as FACT and Padare.
h) Reporting
There will be a concise narrative and financial report provided to Donors at the end of the
activity.
Timetable:
Phase 1
Present proposal by 1 May
Have agreement and funding by 1 June
1
st
Steering Committee meeting convened 14
th
June
Complete literature review by 14 July
Phase 2
Train researchers in MSC methodology
Complete fieldwork by 15 August
Phase 3
Complete analysis by 17 September
Give presentation by 12 October
Complete final report by 25 November
Limitations: Funding constraints may require less time and numbers of respondents than may
be ideal for a nationally authoritative scoping study. By being with fatherhood informants and
in the local organisations for only eight weeks, there are bound to be aspects of gendered
leadership practice, organisational culture and communication with fathers that will not be
revealed during our interviews and observations.
Provisional Budget:
Set up Steering Committee, management
and financial systems for the research,
agree team tasks and resources to be
disposed, agree timelines and workloads
US$200
Brief and train interviewers and observers
including interns on the approach,
techniques and documentation needs and
US$500
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practices for the study – one or two day
structured sessions.
Initiate and complete literature review –
staff time, online costs, travel to meetings
with organisations, printing and
distributing copies to stakeholders in the
research stages to come etc.
US$1,000
District Level Consultation with, identify
and invite, involve organisations and
individual fathers to be part of the study in
Chiredzi – pre-study briefings,
consultations and agreements - travel,
accommodation, material production etc.
US$1,000
Design questionnaires for field work – in
consultation with involved organisations
US$200
Review achievements, successes and
outstanding issues into a detailed work plan
and interview/observer schedules etc. with
stakeholders before commencement of
research. Further Meeting in Chiredzi
US$500
Carry out fieldwork, travel, accommodation
etc. over eight weeks with travel,
accommodation over Rusape District for
team
US$5,000
Analyse data and compile findings into
report – staff time, equipment etc. duplicate
copies of findings for distribution to a wide
variety of stakeholders
US$1,000
Present findings to selected audience at an
event and with attendance to be decided.
US$500
Compile narrative and financial report to
Donors and present with findings.
US$100
TOTAL BUDGET US$10,000
Anticipated outcomes
Further research questions
Can improving the skills, knowledge and support of fathers help to have a positive impact on the
numbers of fathers staying involved in their children’s lives when they themselves are diagnosed
HIV+ and/or their partners and children also infected?
Pilot fatherhood training and awareness and curricula development
Is structured organisational work to encourage such active, informed and involved fatherhood
one element in work around HIV and AIDS that can have impact in reducing infections and
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enhance the lives of women and children in families and communities living with HIV and
AIDS?
Can we pilot an intervention at community level arising out of the research that can in itself be
researched, monitored and evaluatied for impact and scaling up possibilities?
Our ethos
Our work at the African Fathers Initiative proceeds from an explicit commitment to gender
equity. It supports the importance of mothering or mothers’ rights to children, and it highlights
the importance of parents working co-operatively for the interests of children.
Our stance is summed up in this statement to the General Assembly of the Rio Symposium on
Engaging Men and Boys in Gender Equity – 2009 by Trevor Davies, Director of the African
Fathers Initiative and adopted unanimously in it’s post symposium global declaration.
“Responsible, committed and involved fatherhood is an essential component of any attempt to
transform families and societies into new norms that better reflect gender equity, child rights and
shared parenting responsibilities and enjoyment. It is in the home that gender inequality is at its
most powerful and sometimes most hidden. Positive fatherhood therefore plays an important
part in challenging the intergenerational transmission of damaging stereotypes and power
relations. More commitment must be demonstrated to strengthening father roles and supporting
men to realize their potential to facilitate their children’s attitudes and practices and, as men heal
themselves from damaging and restrictive negative gender roles."
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