more on Assessment

[Guest guest]

May I add a few belated comments to the discussion of Assessment.

Bobbi's call for ideas on Needs Assessment asked for " a guide " (plan). My

impression is that some folks may be moving toward reducing this call to

instrument development, which would be more appropriate for a later stage

than the call " to locate. " I am inclined to view an instrument as one

component of a plan (guide) that informs the process of doing an assessment

" to locate. " An instrument of any kind needs tailoring to fit the local

circumstances. I don't believe that one instrument will fit all situations

across the country. It might, if other methods are included in the process.

At least one colleague at the Western Stream Forum I heard used the concept

of Triangulation, which means multiple-methods, multiple-techniques for

collecting data, which in this instance might include an instrument (or

short instruments based on multiple techniques), that is combined with

other methods to collect data. Multiple methods may include existing data

sets such as time-depth records that show worker increases from

agro-companies, security commissions, contractor licensing, camp inspection

units, etc, as well as markers of demographic shifts such as recent Latino

tiendas, comedores and negocios; misas in Spanish; bailes at Armories;

remittance services; Spanish language newspapers (open the paper to look

for a column in an indigenous tongue) and, occasionally, new Spanish

language radio stations. This demographic shift may include full-time

year-round farmworkers, and these markers definitely suggest permanency

within the local population: one can learn even more by getting out from

behind the windshield to talk with these folks on their locale.

Key words beyond Needs Assessment include Community Assessment (a favorite

of disciplines like Public Health) and Rapid Appraisal or Rapid Assessment

(a favorite of several disciplines), as well as derivatives of these terms.

Each might include participant-as-consultant geo-mapping among other

methods to facilitate the process of local input on locating farmworkers,

ascertaining duration in locale, and identifying types of work. Difference

in terminology is little more than theoretical turf boundaries. The bigger

issue, I believe, is assessing the situation before or simultaneous to

locating and assessing " the community, " hence the need for a guide (plan),

before designing data collection methods.

One other key word that has been missing from the discussion (unless it

occurred in situations I missed at the Forum) is " hidden populations, " a

recent variation of hard-to-reach. Folks who do hidden population research

started with the dilemma of locating their population of interest; more

recently they have been developing statistical methods that permit

statements of reliability that parallel those of population-based research.

Population-based research is the gold standard and it can include the two

types of assessment to which Bobbi refers, but its possibility is less

likely in areas where prior research with farmworkers has not been done

and/or where one is trying to locate farmworkers. Population-based research

becomes easier as farmworkers are located. Those who have worked with the

gold standard in farmwork research (we thank Don, Matt and for

keeping things on track) should be included in the discussion to select,

incorporate, or adjust the most effective methods to identify locales and

types of work, and ascertain work duration.

The " path of least resistance " in focusing on full-time year-round

farmworkers is appropriate for the task. It would be nice if secondary

assessment of the derived materials --funds, time and staff permitting–

included a brief appraisal of the situation of those farmworkers who fall

outside this scenario. I wonder if all full-time year-round farmworkers

will be segregated occupationally and residentially for an easy survey

and/or quick appraisal by locale-experts. I don't believe this will be the

case; at least in some areas with which I'm familiar, full-time year-round

are mixed with part-time and seasonal, and sometimes both these are mixed

with occasional and sporadic.

Thankfully, farmworkers other than full-time year-round are served by

programs whose mandate defines the population differently. Building their

capacity to better serve would be useful in tandem to the present endeavor,

and most likely would be cost-effective over long-term.

V Bletzer. Dep of Anthropology, Arizona State University.

[Guest guest]

I understand that in California, Hmong are doing a significant amount of farm

work.

>>> keith.bletzer@... 02/06/02 07:04AM >>>

May I add a few belated comments to the discussion of Assessment.

Bobbi's call for ideas on Needs Assessment asked for " a guide " (plan). My

impression is that some folks may be moving toward reducing this call to

instrument development, which would be more appropriate for a later stage

than the call " to locate. " I am inclined to view an instrument as one

component of a plan (guide) that informs the process of doing an assessment

" to locate. " An instrument of any kind needs tailoring to fit the local

circumstances. I don't believe that one instrument will fit all situations

across the country. It might, if other methods are included in the process.

At least one colleague at the Western Stream Forum I heard used the concept

of Triangulation, which means multiple-methods, multiple-techniques for

collecting data, which in this instance might include an instrument (or

short instruments based on multiple techniques), that is combined with

other methods to collect data. Multiple methods may include existing data

sets such as time-depth records that show worker increases from

agro-companies, security commissions, contractor licensing, camp inspection

units, etc, as well as markers of demographic shifts such as recent Latino

tiendas, comedores and negocios; misas in Spanish; bailes at Armories;

remittance services; Spanish language newspapers (open the paper to look

for a column in an indigenous tongue) and, occasionally, new Spanish

language radio stations. This demographic shift may include full-time

year-round farmworkers, and these markers definitely suggest permanency

within the local population: one can learn even more by getting out from

behind the windshield to talk with these folks on their locale.

Key words beyond Needs Assessment include Community Assessment (a favorite

of disciplines like Public Health) and Rapid Appraisal or Rapid Assessment

(a favorite of several disciplines), as well as derivatives of these terms.

Each might include participant-as-consultant geo-mapping among other

methods to facilitate the process of local input on locating farmworkers,

ascertaining duration in locale, and identifying types of work. Difference

in terminology is little more than theoretical turf boundaries. The bigger

issue, I believe, is assessing the situation before or simultaneous to

locating and assessing " the community, " hence the need for a guide (plan),

before designing data collection methods.

One other key word that has been missing from the discussion (unless it

occurred in situations I missed at the Forum) is " hidden populations, " a

recent variation of hard-to-reach. Folks who do hidden population research

started with the dilemma of locating their population of interest; more

recently they have been developing statistical methods that permit

statements of reliability that parallel those of population-based research.

Population-based research is the gold standard and it can include the two

types of assessment to which Bobbi refers, but its possibility is less

likely in areas where prior research with farmworkers has not been done

and/or where one is trying to locate farmworkers. Population-based research

becomes easier as farmworkers are located. Those who have worked with the

gold standard in farmwork research (we thank Don, Matt and for

keeping things on track) should be included in the discussion to select,

incorporate, or adjust the most effective methods to identify locales and

types of work, and ascertain work duration.

The " path of least resistance " in focusing on full-time year-round

farmworkers is appropriate for the task. It would be nice if secondary

assessment of the derived materials --funds, time and staff permitting

included a brief appraisal of the situation of those farmworkers who fall

outside this scenario. I wonder if all full-time year-round farmworkers

will be segregated occupationally and residentially for an easy survey

and/or quick appraisal by locale-experts. I don't believe this will be the

case; at least in some areas with which I'm familiar, full-time year-round

are mixed with part-time and seasonal, and sometimes both these are mixed

with occasional and sporadic.

Thankfully, farmworkers other than full-time year-round are served by

programs whose mandate defines the population differently. Building their

capacity to better serve would be useful in tandem to the present endeavor,

and most likely would be cost-effective over long-term.

V Bletzer. Dep of Anthropology, Arizona State University.

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[Guest guest]

Hi, just a couple of thoughts on needs assessment. Thank you Beltzer

your comments are always helpful. Lets don't forget that a well designed

instrument still presents problems to people who have low literacy levels.

Focus groups and ethnographic interviews are alternative methods of

collecting important data, however they don't lend themselves to

quanitiative research. I really appreciate this network and was please to

see many of your at the Stream forum conference.

[Guest guest]

This was as usual a very thoughtful summary analysis by . Just a

couple of points. Don Villarejo was very aware of these issues regarding

hidden populations, etc. when setting up the CAWHS research design. To

maximize access to these folks the approach included (1) an enumeration of

all possible living quarters in the target area and (2) conducting the field

research at the time of peak labor demand. One of the largest challenges I

found in managing the CAWHS was achieving the second objective, especially

towards the end of the project and we were in the final three regional

sites. The first objective was based on a lot of shoe leather work--what we

geographers call ground truthing, I will always remember going out the first

week on the job with Don in Vista (San Diego County) and walking the target

neighborhoods (census block groups) and looking for alternative living

quarters to add to the sample frame.

In that area we found that a number of workers were camping out in the hills

near the large nursery firms. We accessed these workers at the pickup sites

where they would congregate rather than beating the brush. Rick Mines and

Mullenax are again doing work in the north San Diego Co. region and is

working with growers to gain better access to labor camps, trailers, and in

some cases, caves. These factors/challenges are one of the reasons why the

NAWS has used growers as a point of contact with workers, in conjuction with

seasonal timing. But again all of this is based on the California landscape

and many of you face a situation where farmworker residence patterns are

more diffuse.

Regards,

Lighthall Ph.D.

Executive Director

California Institute for Rural Studies

221 G Street, Suite 204

, CA 95616

Tel: (530)756-6555

Fax: (530)756-7429

dlighthall@...

www.cirsinc.org

-----Original Message-----

From: V Bletzer [mailto:keith.bletzer@...]

Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 7:00 AM

Subject: [ ] more on Assessment

May I add a few belated comments to the discussion of Assessment.

Bobbi's call for ideas on Needs Assessment asked for " a guide " (plan). My

impression is that some folks may be moving toward reducing this call to

instrument development, which would be more appropriate for a later stage

than the call " to locate. " I am inclined to view an instrument as one

component of a plan (guide) that informs the process of doing an assessment

" to locate. " An instrument of any kind needs tailoring to fit the local

circumstances. I don't believe that one instrument will fit all situations

across the country. It might, if other methods are included in the process.

At least one colleague at the Western Stream Forum I heard used the concept

of Triangulation, which means multiple-methods, multiple-techniques for

collecting data, which in this instance might include an instrument (or

short instruments based on multiple techniques), that is combined with

other methods to collect data. Multiple methods may include existing data

sets such as time-depth records that show worker increases from

agro-companies, security commissions, contractor licensing, camp inspection

units, etc, as well as markers of demographic shifts such as recent Latino

tiendas, comedores and negocios; misas in Spanish; bailes at Armories;

remittance services; Spanish language newspapers (open the paper to look

for a column in an indigenous tongue) and, occasionally, new Spanish

language radio stations. This demographic shift may include full-time

year-round farmworkers, and these markers definitely suggest permanency

within the local population: one can learn even more by getting out from

behind the windshield to talk with these folks on their locale.

Key words beyond Needs Assessment include Community Assessment (a favorite

of disciplines like Public Health) and Rapid Appraisal or Rapid Assessment

(a favorite of several disciplines), as well as derivatives of these terms.

Each might include participant-as-consultant geo-mapping among other

methods to facilitate the process of local input on locating farmworkers,

ascertaining duration in locale, and identifying types of work. Difference

in terminology is little more than theoretical turf boundaries. The bigger

issue, I believe, is assessing the situation before or simultaneous to

locating and assessing " the community, " hence the need for a guide (plan),

before designing data collection methods.

One other key word that has been missing from the discussion (unless it

occurred in situations I missed at the Forum) is " hidden populations, " a

recent variation of hard-to-reach. Folks who do hidden population research

started with the dilemma of locating their population of interest; more

recently they have been developing statistical methods that permit

statements of reliability that parallel those of population-based research.

Population-based research is the gold standard and it can include the two

types of assessment to which Bobbi refers, but its possibility is less

likely in areas where prior research with farmworkers has not been done

and/or where one is trying to locate farmworkers. Population-based research

becomes easier as farmworkers are located. Those who have worked with the

gold standard in farmwork research (we thank Don, Matt and for

keeping things on track) should be included in the discussion to select,

incorporate, or adjust the most effective methods to identify locales and

types of work, and ascertain work duration.

The " path of least resistance " in focusing on full-time year-round

farmworkers is appropriate for the task. It would be nice if secondary

assessment of the derived materials --funds, time and staff permitting–

included a brief appraisal of the situation of those farmworkers who fall

outside this scenario. I wonder if all full-time year-round farmworkers

will be segregated occupationally and residentially for an easy survey

and/or quick appraisal by locale-experts. I don't believe this will be the

case; at least in some areas with which I'm familiar, full-time year-round

are mixed with part-time and seasonal, and sometimes both these are mixed

with occasional and sporadic.

Thankfully, farmworkers other than full-time year-round are served by

programs whose mandate defines the population differently. Building their

capacity to better serve would be useful in tandem to the present endeavor,

and most likely would be cost-effective over long-term.

V Bletzer. Dep of Anthropology, Arizona State University.

To Post a message, send it to: Groups

To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to:

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[Guest guest]

This depends on what you mean by significant. I don't have any hard data

but relative to Latino workers, it is a pretty small fraction. A number of

the Hmong are farmers, and many others aspire to such. They are

concentrated in the Fresno area. A colleague of mine, Ida Jeter, of Aguirre

International is doing collaborative research with this group so I will pass

this on to her.

Regards,

-----Original Message-----

From: G ABRAMS [mailto:nancy.g.abrams@...]

Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 9:38 AM

keith.bletzer@...;

Subject: Re: [ ] more on Assessment

I understand that in California, Hmong are doing a significant amount of

farm work.

>>> keith.bletzer@... 02/06/02 07:04AM >>>

May I add a few belated comments to the discussion of Assessment.

Bobbi's call for ideas on Needs Assessment asked for " a guide " (plan). My

impression is that some folks may be moving toward reducing this call to

instrument development, which would be more appropriate for a later stage

than the call " to locate. " I am inclined to view an instrument as one

component of a plan (guide) that informs the process of doing an assessment

" to locate. " An instrument of any kind needs tailoring to fit the local

circumstances. I don't believe that one instrument will fit all situations

across the country. It might, if other methods are included in the process.

At least one colleague at the Western Stream Forum I heard used the concept

of Triangulation, which means multiple-methods, multiple-techniques for

collecting data, which in this instance might include an instrument (or

short instruments based on multiple techniques), that is combined with

other methods to collect data. Multiple methods may include existing data

sets such as time-depth records that show worker increases from

agro-companies, security commissions, contractor licensing, camp inspection

units, etc, as well as markers of demographic shifts such as recent Latino

tiendas, comedores and negocios; misas in Spanish; bailes at Armories;

remittance services; Spanish language newspapers (open the paper to look

for a column in an indigenous tongue) and, occasionally, new Spanish

language radio stations. This demographic shift may include full-time

year-round farmworkers, and these markers definitely suggest permanency

within the local population: one can learn even more by getting out from

behind the windshield to talk with these folks on their locale.

Key words beyond Needs Assessment include Community Assessment (a favorite

of disciplines like Public Health) and Rapid Appraisal or Rapid Assessment

(a favorite of several disciplines), as well as derivatives of these terms.

Each might include participant-as-consultant geo-mapping among other

methods to facilitate the process of local input on locating farmworkers,

ascertaining duration in locale, and identifying types of work. Difference

in terminology is little more than theoretical turf boundaries. The bigger

issue, I believe, is assessing the situation before or simultaneous to

locating and assessing " the community, " hence the need for a guide (plan),

before designing data collection methods.

One other key word that has been missing from the discussion (unless it

occurred in situations I missed at the Forum) is " hidden populations, " a

recent variation of hard-to-reach. Folks who do hidden population research

started with the dilemma of locating their population of interest; more

recently they have been developing statistical methods that permit

statements of reliability that parallel those of population-based research.

Population-based research is the gold standard and it can include the two

types of assessment to which Bobbi refers, but its possibility is less

likely in areas where prior research with farmworkers has not been done

and/or where one is trying to locate farmworkers. Population-based research

becomes easier as farmworkers are located. Those who have worked with the

gold standard in farmwork research (we thank Don, Matt and for

keeping things on track) should be included in the discussion to select,

incorporate, or adjust the most effective methods to identify locales and

types of work, and ascertain work duration.

The " path of least resistance " in focusing on full-time year-round

farmworkers is appropriate for the task. It would be nice if secondary

assessment of the derived materials --funds, time and staff permitting

included a brief appraisal of the situation of those farmworkers who fall

outside this scenario. I wonder if all full-time year-round farmworkers

will be segregated occupationally and residentially for an easy survey

and/or quick appraisal by locale-experts. I don't believe this will be the

case; at least in some areas with which I'm familiar, full-time year-round

are mixed with part-time and seasonal, and sometimes both these are mixed

with occasional and sporadic.

Thankfully, farmworkers other than full-time year-round are served by

programs whose mandate defines the population differently. Building their

capacity to better serve would be useful in tandem to the present endeavor,

and most likely would be cost-effective over long-term.

V Bletzer. Dep of Anthropology, Arizona State University.

To Post a message, send it to: Groups

To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to:

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