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Chapter 2

Research Methodology and Profile of Respondents

2.01 PROFILE OF THE AREA OF STUDY:

The study has been undertaken in district Almora, located in Kumaon division

of Uttarakhand. "Almora, middle Himalayan District, comes under Kumaon division

of Uttarakhand. In the east, it is bordered by Champawat and Pithoragarh, in the north

by Bageshwar, Chamoli and Rudraprayag, in the west by Pauri and in south by

District Nainital. The total area of the district is 3689.4 sq km. The administrative set

up comprises of 9 Tehsils, 11 Development Blocks, 3 Nagar Panchayat, 1146 Gram

Panchayats and 2249 Revenue Villages."1"Ramganga,Kosi and Suyal are important

perennial rivers flowing in the district. Almora was founded in 1568.It is considered

the cultural heart of the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. Nearest railway station is

Kathgodam which is 85 km from district head quarter.The latitude and longitude of

the geographical location of its head quarter is 29°37′N 79°40′E29.62°N 79.67°E .

Almora city has an average elevation of 1,651 meters (5,417 feet). In the shape of a

horse saddle shaped hillock, it is surrounded by thick forests of pine with sporadic

presence of devdar trees. The snow capped Himalayas can be seen in the background.

As per wikipedia, Almora got its name from "Kilmora" a short plant found nearby

region, which was used for washing the utensils of KatarmalTemple. The people

bringing Kilmora were called Kilmori and later "Almori"and the place came to be

known as "Almora". Almora has many noted temples, including Kasar Devi, Nanda

Devi, Doli Daana, Shyayi Devi, Khakmara, Asht Bhairav, Jakhandevi, Katarmal (Sun

Temple), Pataal Devi, Raghunath Mandir, Badreshwar, Banari Devi, Chitai,

Jageshwar, Binsar Mahadev, Garhnath and Baijnath. Kasar Devi temple was visited

by Swami Vivekananda . Rudreshwar Mahadev Temple, near Sanara Ganiya, is

dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is situated beside the river Ram Ganga. A sun temple (only

the second in the world) is located at Katarmal within a short distance from the

district head quarter.

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The famous temple of Manila Devi, Devi Maa, the family goddess of the

Katyuri clan, lies around 85 km from Ranikhet. Udaipur a famous temple of Golu

devta is situated 5 km. from Binta near Dwarahat. Dunagiri has the highly revered

temple of Shakti or Mother Goddess. Dunagiri is also known as the birthplace of

modern day Kriya Yoga."2

2.02 Socio-demographic profile of the district:-

The district has 11 development blocks. "As per census 2011, the total

population of district Almora was 622506 consisting of 291081 males and 331425

females, with nearly 90 percent population residing in rural areas. The district has

5.76 percent of the state‘s geographical area and 6.15 percent of its population. The

sex ratio in the district is 1139 females per 1000 males as compared to the State

average of 963.Only 10 percentof the population lives in urban areas. The overall

literacy level of Almora stood at 81.06 percent, which is higher than the state literacy

rate of 79.63 percent. As per the 2011 census, Almora district comes second just to

Mahe district in Highest Sex Ratio among all the Districts in India.i.e. 1142 females

per 1000 males, whereas that of Mahe being 1147."3The social profile of the district

is given below:

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Table 2.1: Demographic profile of district Almora

Background

Characteristics

ALMORA

UTTARAKHAND

Number Percent to

total Number

Percent

to total

1 Geographic Area

(in sq.kms) 3083 5.76 53483 100

2 Number of blocks 11 -- 95 100

3 Total Population

(2011) 622506 6.15 101,16752 100

Male 291081 5.66 513,7773 100

Female 331425 6.69 4948519 100

Urban 62314

Rural 560192

4

Sex Ratio

(F/M*1000)

Over all Sex Ratio

1139

--

963

--

Child Sex Ratio 922 -- 890 --

5 Child population 0-

6 years (Total) 80082 1355814

A)Male 41672 717199

B)Female 38410 638615

5 Population Growth (-)1.28% - 19.17% -

6 Average Literacy % 81.06 -- 79.63 -

Male % 93.57 -- 88.33 -

Female 70.44 -- 70.70 -

7 Percent of SC/ST

population

SC- 24.26

ST- 0.21 -- 17.6

8 Population density

per sq. km 198 189

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The population of the blocks in Almora varies considerably. For the 11 blocks

of the district the demographic profile is given below:

Table 2.2: Blockwise demographic details of district

Blocks Name of Tehsil Total Population 2001 % of

Population

Hawalbagh Almora 67258 10.67

Lamghara Jainti 47347 7.51

Takula Almora 45325 7.19

Bhasiyachana Almora 26410 4.19

Tarikhet Ranikhet 69092 10.96

Dholadevi Bhanoli 62842 9.97

Chakhutiya Chakhutiya 49020 7.77

Bhikiyasen Bhikiyasen 37893 6.01

Dwarahat Dwarahat 61556 9.76

Syaldey

(Deghat)

Syaldey 49262 7.81

Salt Salt 61540 9.76

Almora Urban Almora 53022 8.40

Total 630567 100.00

Source: Census 2001

"The profile of health facilities as shown in the map of the district is given below"4:

Fig: Map of district Almora showing location of public health institutions.

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2.03 Administrative Setup in the district

"The District has 9 tehsils with 11 development Blocks. There is 1 Nagar

Palika Parishads, and 1 Municipality. Three-tier Panchayat system consisting of Zilla

Panchayat (District Panchayat),Kshetra Panchayat (Block Panchayat) and Gram

Panchayat (Village Panchayat) is in place. Elections for 1 Zilla Panchayats, 11

Kshetra Panchayats and all Gram Panchayats, were held in 2009"5 and next panchayat

elections are expected to be conducted in June 2014.

2.04 Research Design :

For the purpose of study Exploratory cum Descriptive Research Design has

been used to achieve the objectives of the study. The study aims to develop an

understanding of the subject and the manner in which the selected parameters and

health schemes affect the women‘s empowerment in the rural areas of district Almora.

Empowerment as such a very broad concept, encompasses host of factors such as

social, cultural, economic and political. Health of a women is one of the most

important social indicator of women‘s empowerment. If a women is healthy she will

be more productive and will be in better position to contribute towards the

development and welfare of her family, society and nation at large. Empowerment is

also the ability of an individual to make decisions and exercise choices on different

social, economic and political aspects affecting her life. Keeping in mind the

relevance of intrinsic relationship between health and empowerment of women,

during the present study, efforts have been made, to evaluate impact of some

important rural health schemes (under NRHM ) and thereby assessing the women

empowerment affected by them.

In the present study woman has been viewed in three very important roles in

the family as mother, as wife and as daughter. Health of women is very important

and crucial issue at all stages of her life as she passes through the transition from

daughter to wife to mother. The health requirements at different phases of life varies

from each other and therefore need to be addressed accordingly. Different

schemes/programmes evaluated in the present study for women in different roles are

given below:

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Table 2.3Different schemes/programmes evaluated in the present study for women in

different roles

Role of Woman in family Schemes/programmes studied

As a mother Janai Suraksha Yojna(JSY),Village

Health and Nutrition

Day(VHND),Reproductive and Child

Health (RCH), Janani Shishu Shuraksha

karyakram(JSSK).

As a Wife Health related awareness and Family

Planning Programme.

As a Daughter School Health Programme, Adolscent

Reproductive and sexual Health

(ARSH),Weekly Iron and folic acid

supplement (WIFS)programme, Rastriya

Bal Swasthya Karyakram(RBSK).

Universe for the purpose of study is District rlmora.

2.05 Sampling and sample size:

The following steps have been followed for unbiased sampling for the study.

Step-I: Health facilities sanctioned in terms of CHCs, PHCs, APHCs, Sub-centres and

AaganWadi Centres for each development block was assessed on the basis of

secondary data taken from the medical departments.The data for health facilities

available in different development blocks was taken from the office of C.M.O.

Almora.

Step-II: Number of health facilities in all 11 blocks of the district varied from 30.6 to

47.6 per ten thousand females for Chukhutia and Bhikiasain development blocks. On

the basis of health facility density the blocks were stratified into three strata viz:

blocks having health facility density of 30 to 36, 36.1 to 42 and 42.1 to 48 as first,

second and third strata. Chaukhutia, Takula, Deghat and Hawalbagh are in the first

Strata, Lamgarah, Dhauladevi, Bhaisiachhana, Sult and Dwarahat are in the second

strata where as Tarikhet and Bhikiyasain constituted the third strata. Stratified random

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sampling was resorted to for the random selection of one block from each strata. The

outcome of this sampling was the selection of Hawalbagh, Tarikhet and Sult

development blocks.

Step-III: Keeping in view the resource constraints in terms of time and money two

Gram Panchayats from each block were selected using simple random sampling .

This process gave rise to the random selection of two gram panchayats from each of

Hawalbagh, Tarikhet and Sult development blocks. The details of selected gram

panchayats/villages is as follows:

Table 2.4: Description of sample blocks and villages

Sl.No. Development Block Gram panchayat Revenue-villages

1 Hawalbagh Udiyari Udiyari

Kayala Kayala

2 Tarikhet

Walna Walna

Uprari Uprari

Pipalkhand

3 Sult Barkinda Barkinda

Dadholi Dadholi

Step-IV: From within the selected Gram Panchayats all the married women of

reproductive age group 18-49 years were interviewed.

2.06 Sample size determination:

Determining sample size is a very important issue because samples that are too

large may waste time, resources and money, while samples that are too small may

lead to inaccurate results.For the purpose of study universe is District Almora. Using

the following formula we determined the sample size necessary to produce results

accurate to a specified confidence and margin of error. For this study the confidence

level of 95% and confidence interval of 6% has been determined keeping in view the

limitation of resources like finance and time available.

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Sample Size (SS) - Infinite Population (Where the population is greater than 50,000)

Z 2 x (p) x (1-p)

C2

SS= Sample Size

Z = Z values which is 1.96 for a 95 percent confidence level.

P= Percentage of population picking a choice, expressed as decimal (0.5)

C= Confidence interval, expressed as decimal ( .06 =+/- 6 percentage points)

Z - Values (Cumulative Normal Probability Table) represent the probability

that a sample will fall within a certain distribution.

The Z- value for confidence levels is 1.96 for 95 % confidence level

(1.96) 2 x .5 x .5

(.06) 2

SS = 266.777 or say 267

From above it is thus clear that in order to achieve at least 95% level of

confidence with 6% confidence interval for sampling efficiency, keeping in view the

total population of rural women (302833 in 2011 census ) in district Almora ,the total

sample size in terms of number of women participants for the study was determined to

be 267 and actually 280 rural women were interviewed for collection of primary data

from the sample villages. It is also important to mention that as per the 2011 census

results the total rural female population of district Almora is 302833 but this includes

female of all age group. The number of rural girls in 0-6 years of age group (35770)

are also included in the above figures. Besides this, girls aged between 6-18 years of

age and old women also form sizable number in the area. It is thus clear that the total

population of target rural women is less than 267063.This implies that the actual

confidence interval would be less than 6 and confidence level more than 95%.

The details of actual sample villages and number of respondents are given

below :

SS =

Sample Size(SS ) =

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Table2. 5 :villagewise sample profile

Development Block Village No.of

Respondents

Hawalbagh Udyari 50

Kayala 46

Tarikhet

Valna 50

Uprari 28

Peepalkhand 21

Sult Dhadoli 50

Barkinda 35

Total 280

During the field visit for collection of primary data, the selected Gram

panchayats were visited and the married women of reproductive age group 18-49

years were interviewed.

2.07 Tools of data collection:

Both primary and secondary data was collected and used for the research

study. The following major tools were used to obtain the desired data and

information:

A.Primary Data:To ascertain the qualitative and quantitative aspects of primary

data the following tools were used :

1.Interview Schedule-The interview schedulein Hindi wasprepared and the

questions were drafted and chosen keeping in view the objectives of the study. The

schedule was then pre-tested in the field in the month of May 201 . On the basis of

feedback and experience the interview schedulewas modifiedi finetuned and finalized

for the collection of data in the field. The final version of interview schedule

contained 77 appropriate questions to obtain primary data pertaining to identified

parameters and issues.The schedule contained questions for both qualitative and

quantitative data. During the field study interviews wereconducted across different

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age and social groups of participants to have as wide spectrum of datai knowledge and

attitudes as possible amongst the respondents.

2.Informal interviews and discussions -With the help of ASHA workers

informal interviews and discussions were held with the respondents. Six such

meetings were conducted at Panchayat Ghar, Aaganwadi Centres. Besides this, efforts

were also made to have informal interactions with the women at places like public

drinking water stand posts, where they come to fetch drinking water and also at fields

where women were harvesting potatoes, wheat and other agriculture crops.Some

women also came in contact when they were returning from adjacent forests from

where they collected grasses, fuelwood and pirul etc. Also detailed

meetings,discussions with health care providers like ASHA, ANM, HV, Pharmacist

andMedical Officer Incharge of the respective health facility were conducted to get

indepth knowledge about the various issues related with maternal and child

health.Discussions on other key aspects about overall health of women was carried

out with CMO,Dy.CMO,CMS and other higher Authorities of the medical department

in district Almora. To increase the participation level of rural women, assistance of

reputed local persons like Gram Pradhan,ASHA,Ward Member was also sought for

rapport building. After rapport building with the people their free and unrestricted

participation was encouraged to get the real and unbiased insight of the issues

involved and relevant to achieve the objectives of study.

3.Non-participant observation- Observation by far is one of the most effective

and useful PRA tools which was used for the study. During field visits from time to

time observation related to the study parameters were taken and noted. These unbiased

observations helped in corroborating and validating the reliability of data collected

through other tools. Thishas resulted in developing better understanding of the

problems and find out need based solutions.

4.Participatory Rural appraisal (PRA)- During field study P.R.A. tools like

social and resource mapping were used to obtain information on medical facilities in

terms of infrastructure and trained man power availably and time line survey was

used to know the changes over time with respect to gender role,social customs and

behavior in the study area.

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B.Secondary Data:Secondary data was mainly collected from the following

organizations:

Govt. Department

Panchayati Raj

Social welfare

Economicsand statistics

Medical and Health (CMO Almora and other offices)

Block Development Officer Hawalbagh, Sult and Tarikhet

Booklets published by department of Economics and statistics

Rural development departments

Census handbooks of district Almora and Uttarakhand.

Central library of Kumaon University Nainital;

Library of Sociology department of KU, Nainital;

Websites.

2.08 Analysis of data and their presentation:

The systematic compilation, classification, and tabulation of data is of utmost

importance for systematic analysis of data as it helps in getting realistic interpretation

of the facts and observations. The main function of analysis is to summarise the data

in such a manner that they provide meaningful scientific knowledge to address the

objectives of the research study. The data collected through different tools mentioned

above was scrutinized, compiled and tabulated in the suitable formats. The data was

processed and analysed using excel and other appropriate software. Use of visual

presentation aids like pie charts, graphs and histograms etc. has also be done for

improving the presentation of the research findings. Some of the primary research

data collected compiled and tabulated on the spatial distribution of sample villages

and socio-economic parameters are given below:

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Table2.6 : Geographical Location of sample villages

Development

block

Name of

the G.P.

Name of

the village

Altitude

(mts.)

Lattitudeandlongitude

Tarikhet

Uprari

Uprari 1470 N 29degree35.218 minutes

E 79 degree 28.174 minutes

Peepal

khand 1354 N 29degree35.043 minutes

E 79 degree 28.110 minutes

Walna Walna 1376 N 29degree41.o66 minutes

E 79 degree 25.427 minutes

Hawalbag

Kayala Kayala 1426 N 29degree39.037minutes

E 79 degree 34.936 minutes

Udiyari Udiyari 1225 N 29degree 38.137 minutes

E 79 degree 38.101 minutes

Sult

Barkinda Barkinda 830 N 29degree 43.937 minutes

E 79 degree 15.201 minutes

Dadholi Dadholi 1738 N 29degree 44.746 minutes

E 79 degree 11.472 minutes

The above table shows the geographical distribution of sample villages in

three development blocks of district Almora. As has been mentioned earlier in this

chapter, the developments blocks represent different statistical strata as per the density

of govt. health facilities within the blocks of the district. The above table shows that

the villages are fairly well distributed in terms of their spatial locations.

Table 2.7 : Education- profile of the sample

S.N

o

Dev

elopm

ent

Blo

ck

Nam

e of

Sam

ple

Vil

lages

Illi

tera

te

Lit

erat

e/

Pri

mar

y

Eig

hth

pas

ses

Hig

hsc

hool

Inte

rmed

iate

Gra

duat

e/P

G

Tota

l

1 Hawalbagh Kayala 5 9 17 6 6 3 46

Udiyari 9 16 9 1 6 9 50

2 Tarikhet

Walna 7 10 9 8 8 8 50

Uprari 0 3 11 3 7 4 28

Peepalkhand 4 3 6 5 2 1 21

3 Sult Barkinda 11 9 12 2 0 1 35

Dadholi 26 3 13 2 4 2 50

Total 62

(22.1%)

53

(18.9%)

77

(27.5%)

27

(9.7%)

33

(11.8%)

28

(10%)

280

(100%)

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The above data shows that 22.1% respondents were illiterate which indicated

low literacy level among the rural women. The percent of respondents with primary,

middle, high school, intermediate and graduate andand post graduates was 18.9,

27.5,9.7,11.8 and 10% respectively. The literacy rate of respondents was 77.9%

which is higher than the average literacy rate for women in Uttarakhand and district

Almora which was 70.70 and 70.74% respectively.

Table 2.8: Social profile of the sample

S.No Development

Block

Sample

Villages

General SC Total

1 Hawalbagh Kayala 30 16 46

Udiyari 8 42 50

2 Tarikhet

Valna 37 13 50

Uprari 16 12 28

Peepalkhand 17 4 21

3 Sult Barkinda 23 12 35

Dhadoli 38 12 50

Total 169

(60.4%)

111

(39.6%)

280

(100)

The above data shows that the sample consists of 111 Scheduled Caste

(SC)respondents and 169 General caste respondents. In terms of percentage there

were 39.6% Scheduled caste respondents and 60.4% general caste respondents.

Table 2.9: Age gradation in the sample

S.No Development

Block

Sample

Villages

18-28

years

28-38

years

38-49

years

Total

1 Hawalbagh Kayala 12 19 15 46

Udiyari 20 20 10 50

2 Tarikhet

Walna 24 22 4 50

Uprari 14 13 1 28

Peepalkhand 10 6 5 21

3 Sult Barkinda 7 13 15 35

Dadholi 12 15 23 50

Total 99

(35.4%)

108

(38.6%)

73

(26.0%)

280

(100%)

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The above table shows that majority of respondents i.e. about 64.6% were in

the age groups of 28-38 and 38-49 years of age. A large proportion i.e. 35.4%

respondents represented the youngest age group of 18-28 years of age among the

respondents. The sample thus has fair representation of women from different age

gradations.

Table 2.10: Family types for the respondents in sample

S.No Development

Block

Sample

Villages

Joint Nuclear Total

1 Hawalbagh Kayala 17 29 46

Udiyari 23 27 50

2 Tarikhet

Walna 31 19 50

Uprari 20 8 28

Peepalkhand 15 6 21

3 Sult Barkinda 13 22 35

Dadholi 14 36 50

Total 133

(47.5%)

147

(52.5%)

280

(100%)

The profile of respondents for family type i.e. joint family or nuclear family

was also compiled and studied and the figures in the above table show that 47.5%

respondents belonged to joint families and 52.5% respondents had nuclear families.

Even though nuclear family is primarily considered to be an outcome of urbanization

but this social trend of nuclear family was found to be marginally on rise among the

respondents in the rural areas also.

Table 2.11: Number of children and their gender profile(for sample)

S.No Development

Block

Sample

Villages

Total

Children

Male

children

Female

children

1 Hawalbagh Kayala 108 54 54

Udiyari 115 56 59

2 Tarikhet

Walna 115 56 59

Uprari 61 31 30

Peepalkhand 50 24 26

3 Sult Barkinda 108 53 55

Dadholi 162 74 88

Total 719 (100%) 348 (48.4%) 371 (51.6%)

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The number of children for respondents and their gender wise profile was

compiled and the figures are shown above. There were 13 respondents with no

children and most of them were recently married. The over all 267 respondents with

2.69 children per couple had in all 719 children with 48.4% boys and 51.6% girls.

Over all sex ratio among the respondents was very healthy but detailed scrutiny of

data revealed that some individual respondents has skewed sex ratio.

* * * * *

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References:

1. District Health Action Plan(DHAP) , District: Almora ,2013-14,p10

2. www.wikipedia.com

3. Census Report Almora and Uttarakhand,2011,

4. District Health Action Plan(DHAP) , District: Almora ,2013-14,p11

5. Ibid.p 12

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