The beginning of research

I have finally gotten my research under way. It took a while but I have found a wonderful research assistant/twi (pronounced chwi) interpreter. Twi is the most widely spoken language, even though Ga is the native language of Accra. With the rapid urbanization of Accra since the 1980s there is now a lot of Twi spoken in Accra. My assistant is a pleasant young woman who just finished her second year of college.
My research is focused exploratory study on the food environment in an area of Accra called Ashongman Estates. It is an area that has zones that are highly developed while other areas are on the fringe and currently being built up rapidly. It butts up against the hills and has a beautiful view of Accra.

 I will be completing household interviews to obtain information on household food purchasing decisions. It is based on food dessert research, but it is not quite that easy here. The food environment and norms are different than the United States or western nations where food desert research has taken place. This has made me adjust my research to fit the food environment here.
Last week was the first real week out in the field. We pre-tested my adjusted household survey a few times. This week I settled on two versions I think do a good job collecting the info I need. One takes a little longer than the other, but I feel like I’m getting better information. I will make a final decision with the help of my professor on Friday. We will speak via skype to see discuss whether I need change anything or if I am getting information that is useful.
The rain has been holding us up a bit, because it is the rainy season, but this week we did finish 6 household surveys. We go to complete household interviews in the evening and then the lady who works with me stays at my place and in the morning we go out to interview distributors. The heat is not as much as a problem, but it does still slow us down. It is best if we get an early start. We will be going out this next Saturday to do some household surveys. I hope it goes well and we can complete quite a few, I am worried that I will not get a large enough sample that will represent the households in the study area. At this point my goal is to get at least twenty household surveys in each zone. I have created three zones, but I might split one zone into two because they represent two types of living conditions.
I ventured to Dome market today and completed one distributor interview. I like the market but again I will have to adjust the way I am going to gather information. Many women just sell one or two things while other women sell many things. I’m going to think about it tonight and create a new strategy that fits more closely with the situation. Wish me luck, a few bumps on the way is good, but I hope I don’t hit a hole and get stuck!