Speaker: Dr. Navika Harshe, Senior Research Manager at NEERMAN, Mumbai

Date & Hour: 12 February 2020, 4:15 pm

Venue: Seminar Hall 1

Title: Cohort studies for development economics: Experiences from the design and implementation of a cohort study

Abstract: Cohort studies provides information which ordinary cross-sectional studies are not equipped to find. While cohort studies are an accepted methodology worldwide their utilization in India to study development has been limited. In 2019 NEERMAN in collaboration with IFPRI conducted a cohort study where 440 pregnant women were tracked in Uttar Pradesh. The aim of the study was to collect objective measures of maternal nutrition outcomes and to understand the key barriers/facilitators which influence intentions and practice related to maternal nutrition. This presentation will focus on the practical issues surrounding the design and implementation of a cohort study in India. We will look at issues related to questionnaire designs, Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) development, interviewer bias and tracking of interviewees. We will also share some preliminary results of our study.