METHODOLOGY. The study titled "Managerial and Health Problems of Prawn Peeling Workers"

Transcription

1 METHODOLOGY

2 METHODOLOGY The study titled "Managerial and Health Problems of Prawn Peeling Workers" is aimed to understand the socio economic background, dietary pattern, working conditions and managerial and health problems faced by the women prawn peeling workers. 3.1 Locale of the study: Kerala has traditionally been the foremost fishing area of Indian subcontinent, located at the southern tip, situated between the Arabian Sea and Western Ghats. Kerala has a fishable area as large as that of the land surface of the State. Out of 6000 km sea coast of India, Kerala has a coastal line of km. Though the coastal line of Kerala is one tenth of the coastal line of India, the state occupies the foremost position in the marine fish production of the country, accounting for more than 20 percentage of the total landing in the country. (Padmakumar et al, 2008). The estimated fisher-folk population in Kerala is lakh, which includes 8,641 lakh in the marine sector and lakh in the inland sector.there are 222 fishing villages in the marine and 113 fishing villages in the inland sector. Thiruvananthapuram district has the first place in the number of fisher folk with a population of 1.83 lakh followed by Alappuzha ( 1.20 lakh) (Kerala Marine Fisheries statistics, 2008). From the statistical data from Matsyaboard ( _fisheries /dept, 2007) it is found that three districts are having high concentration of prawn peeling workers in Kerala. Alappuzha stands first in the percentage of women peeling workers, second place is for Ernakulam and Kollam stands third. 52

3 Table 3.1 Distribution of peeling workers in Kerala District. Total allied Fish Peeling workers Percentage workers Alappuzha Emakulam Koll am Kozhikode Thrissur Thiruvanantapuram Kannur Kasargod Pathanamthitta Kottayam Idukki Palakkad Wayanad Malappuram Source: Matsyaboard (2007) From the above three districts, Alappuzha district which is having the highest percentage (68) of women workers and Kollam district having the lowest percentage(36) of women peeling workers were selected. Compared to Emakulam these two districts have a higher number of unauthorised peeling sheds. 3.2 Selection of the sample: A sample is a small portion of a population selected for observation and analysis. By observing the characteristics of the sample, one can make certain inferences about the characteristics of the population from which it is drawn. The population of the women peeling workers is indefinite and highly flexible in nature. As the work is seasonal, the number of women, coming to work on days 53

4 varies considerably depending upon the availability of raw materials. When the raw materials are in plenty, the number of women workers seems to be high. When raw materials are less, there is a great reduction in the number of women workers especially when they come from far off places. Another aspect regarding the nature of the population is that, at times, one woman worker may go to more than one peeling shed in a year. The investigator decided to depend on multistage sampling. There are 24 inland fishing villages in Alappuzha district and 26 in Kollam district. While discussing with officials in this field, the percentage of women working in each fishing village, proportion of women peeling workers in each village and the longevity of their service were identified. Keeping these factors in mind, alternate villages from each district were selected and from each village 20 women were selected. Five hundred prawn peeling women were selected 240 from Alappuzha and 260 from Kollam district (Figure I). Only married women with considerable years of service were selected, as they tend to face lot of problems of dual work, both at home and work place. The details of fishing population in the two districts are given in Appendix-III & IV. 54

5 Kerala 12* out of24 fishing villages 13* out of26 fishing villages 20 respondents each village 20 respondents each village (Final sample size) Figure I Diagramatic representation of multi stage sampling * Alternate fishing villages 55

6 3.3 Selection of the method: Based on appropriateness and practicability, the investigator adopted the survey method for collection of data. The survey method is a process by which quantitative facts are collected about the social aspects of communities, composition and activities. It involves interpretation, comparison, measurement, clarification and evaluation, all directed towards the understanding of certain problems in the society and finding solution to them. It is a method for collecting information from a large number of respondents representing a specific population through structured and detailed questionnaire or interview schedule and observation schedule. 3.4 Selection of tools: Tools are of vital importance for any successful research and are used for gathering new facts. A researcher will require many data gathering tools or techniques, which may vary in their complexity, design, administration and interpretation. A multi-dimensional interview schedule and an observation schedule were prepared to collect data that give an insight into the life of the women peeling workers. (Appendix-VIII) Preparation of tools: To develop the schedule, the investigator went through the available related literature, including articles and studies carried out in this field. Based on the review and discussion with the experts in this field, the investigator identified and listed the variables for the study. 56

7 The draft prepared was given to experts for comments. They scrutinized the tool and gave valuable suggestions and opinions. In the light of these suggestions, the final schedule was prepared Interview Schedule: In the interview schedule method the data are collected by the investigator directly from the respondent through face to face contact with the help of the pre set items in the schedule. The schedule provided information relating to the following dimensions: Profile of prawn peeling workers: The interview schedule was framed to collect information relating to age, religion, marital status, education, income, household facilities and employment related details of the women workers in peeling shed. Age: It is the number of chronological years the women workers have completed at the time of interview that has been considered. Depending upon the age, the women were grouped into three. The first category consisted of women belonging to less than or equal to 40 years of age. They are in the beginning and the earlier expanding stage of the life cycle. The second category included women in the years group who are in the later stage of expanding period. The next category belongs to the contracting phase of family life cycle belonging to the more than 51 years of age category. 57

8 Religion: The main religious sects in Kerala are Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Women are coded d ep ending on the religion they belong to. Marital Status: The investigator has purposely selected married women, as they are the ones who face managerial problems rather than the unmarried women. Even though they are married, there can be widows, divorced or separated women. These details were also looked into. Education: The majority of the women in the fisheries sector are illiterate.depending on the educational qualification the women were coded as Illiterate 1 Primary Education 2 High School 3 S.S.L.C 4 PDC 5 Degree 6 Others 7 Monthly Income: The monthly income of the family was collected by directly asking the women. After collecting the data the total monthly income of the women were categorized as follows. Rs / Rs / Rs /

9 Rs / Above Rs 5001/ 4 5 Household Facilities: In order to find out the household facilities available for the women the various facilities such as source of drinking water, lighting facilities and type of fuel used for cooking were collected and coded. Assessment of Quality Life (Index): The concept of quality of life is a quantitative measurement to evaluate the standard of living of the population. It evaluates the basic needs of the people (Wilson, 2000). Veni (2008) has identified certain dimensions for assessing the quality of life of women working in handloom industry. The investigator adopted these dimensions to assess the quality of life of prawn peeling women workers. The index for quality of life is computed with the score corresponding to eight dimensions such as marital status, education, income expenditure balance, comfort at home, household facilities, characteristic of employment, work schedule and nature of work and working environment (Appendix- V). The Thurstone method of assessing the scale value is used for judging the relevance of rating of the dimensions. For this, the listed dimensions were given to eleven judges Appendix-VI).They were requested to rate these items on the basis of the degree of relevance of quality of life index in one to nine point scale. The ratings of the judges were arranged in descending order and the median value of the rating in each dimension was calculated. The score value obtained for each dimension was then multiplied by the median score value obtained. The quality of life of each women 59

10 worker was computed from these score values (Appendix-VII). Based on these values the women workers were categorized into three groups: such as low, moderate and high level of quality of life Dietary pattern: For assessing the dietary pattern of the women working in peeling sheds, twenty-four hour recall method was used. Twenty-four hour recall method was used to estimate the daily average dietary intake of women. A set of standard cups, spoons and glasses were used to collect information on the dietary pattern of the samples. The type of preparations made at breakfast, lunch, tea time and dinner were noted. An account of the raw ingredient used for each preparation was recorded. The quantity of food consumed by the women was also noted. The standardized cups and spoons helped the women to recall the exact amount of foods consumed by them. From the menu consumed the quantity of food consumed in terms of eleven major food items namely Cereals, Pulses, Fish, Leafy Vegetables, Other Vegetables, Roots and tubers, Milk, Nuts & Oil Seeds, Fruits, Sugar and Oil were found. This food consumption pattern obtained was then compared with RDA suggested by ICMR (1998). Food Expenditure Pattern: The amount of money spent on food varies from family to family. Data were collected about their actual income and the percentage of income they spent for their food and the values were categorized as less than or equal to 25 percent, percent, percent and more than 75 percent of their total income. 60

11 Food Intake: Cooked food intake was converted into its raw equivalents with the help of standardized recipes. The actual intakes of raw equivalents were calculated for three consecutive days. The mean daily intake of different food groups was calculated. The average daily intake of various food items were compared with the quantity specified for balanced diet as per the RDA given by ICMR Job Profile of the peeling workers The important variables included for collecting information about the work related details are: Income per day: The details of income they earned daily from their work were collected by directly asking the women and it was coded as follows. Rs 45::.50/-, 1 Rs /- 2 Rs /- 3 Rs /- 4 Rs /- 5 Rs >250/- 6 Hours of work per day: Information was collected from the women regarding the number of hours they worked per day, and it was coded as 'I.. -_s5hr 6-8hr

12 9-llhr 3 >llhr 4 Days of employment in a month: Data were collected about the number of days the women get employment in this sector and it was coded as lodays days days days - 4 Months of employment per year: Number of months, the women gets employment per year varied greatly due to the seasonal nature of work. Data collected in this regard were coded as 1-3 months months months months 4 Distance from work place: Information was collected regarding the distance the women had to travel daily to reach the work place and the data was coded as lkm 1 1-2kms 2 3-4kms 3 62

13 >5kms 4 Mode of transport to reach work place: Women reach the peeling shed either by walking or by usmg public conveyances. Data were collected about the worker's mode of commutation. Years of service: and coded as Data were collected about the total years of service of women in this sector <10 year years years years 4 >40 years 5 Reason for selecting the job: Women working in peeling shed selected this job due to certain reasons. The investigator collected data regarding these reasons and coded them accordingly. Level of satisfaction regarding job and wage: The respondents were asked to indicate their level of satisfaction regarding job and wage. Score value of '3' was given to highly satisfied,'2' for satisfied and 'I' for undecided and 'O' for not satisfied. Not satisfied Undecided Satisfied

14 Highly satisfied 3 Leisure time available at work place: Information regarding leisure time available was collected from the women worker by directly asking them and the time they took as leisure in between work was coded as follows. <10 minutes minutes 2 20 minutes 3 30minutes 4 1 hour 5 > 1 hour 6 Problems at work place: Being employed in unorganized sector the women tend to face a number of problems.these problems were identified and details were collected. Facilities available at work place: In order to compare the facilities available at work place, the various physical facilities available at work place were listed (Appendix-X). Score value 'l' and 'O' were given for responses 'Yes' and 'No' respectively. The total score of the responses was taken, as the measure of the nature of the working environment. A higher score was deemed indicative of more positive environment. 64

15 Level of satisfaction regarding the facilities available at work place: Levels of satisfaction regarding the facilities available were collected from the women workers. Score values were given to their responses as follows. A higher score indicated higher level of satisfaction. Not satisfied Undecided Satisfied Highly satisfied Managerial Problems of peeling workers._ Managerial problems of time, money and energy are prevalent among working women. In order to identify the managerial problems of the women working in prawn peeling shed, both at home and work place, certain details were collected. Time management: Details regarding management of time included - hours of peeling done by the women workers, actual time they spent in doing the household work, the assistance they get from other members in the family in doing household duties, time available for different activities and their level of satisfaction, here score value 'O' was given to not satisfied, '1' to satisfied and '2' to highly satisfied. Details were also collected regarding the reasons for reaching late at work place. Money management: The details regarding money management practices among women were elucidated and it included mode of remuneration of women in the peeling sheds, spending pattern and mode of saving. Women were interrogated about their freedom 65

16 in taking decisions regarding economic matters and 'O' was given to women who do not have decision making power and '1'to those women who participate in financial matters. Women feeling about the income they earn and the reasons for frustration expressed by them were collected and coded accordingly. Energy Management: Data collected concerning energy management included the availability and use of labour saving equipments. In order to find out the frequency of use of these equipment score value 'l' was given to those used occasionally,'2' for weekly use and '3' was given to daily use. Opinions regarding labour saving equipments were also collected.the investigator also collected data regarding the reasons for fatigue.to find out the degree of fatigue, score value of' l' was given for never fatigued, '2' for moderately fatigued and '3' for highly fatigued Health problems of the peeling workers. In order to find out the health problems faced by women peeling workers, certain variables were collected. The variables included are: Symptoms of certain diseases: The investigator identified certain common possible diseases in this sector of employment. By directly asking the women the symptoms they experience, score value of 'l' and 'O' were given for the responses 'Yes' and 'No' respectively. Occurrence of diseases: For the analysis of the health problems occurrence of diseases were scored according to the periodicity.the score value '3' was given for the response regularly ( daily), '2' for frequently ( once in a week), 'l' for rarely ( once in a month) and 'O' for those who have never had any kind of diseases 66

17 Facilities at work place regarding health: Data were collected regarding the facilities available at work place,. in relation to health. The arrangements made in the peeling sheds for providing raw materials for the workers were elucidated. Medical care: Data were collected about going for medical consultation and about the type of medication they prefer for their ailments. Opinion regarding posture at work place: Data were collected from women regarding the posture they follow during work. Score value 'O' was given to not comfortable, 'l' to somewhat comfortable, '2' reasonably comfortable and '3' for highly comfortable. Gynaecological problems: Details about the total number of deliveries and problems related to menstruation and pregnancy were collected. Awareness regarding occupational health problems: Data were collected in order to assess the awareness of women workers about the occupational health problems. Protective measures: Data were collected regarding the use of various protective measures adopted while peeling prawns. Health care activities: Women were asked about their participation in health care activities like medical camps, class organised and conducted by social workers, and Anganwadi meetings. 67

18 After incorporating all the above details, the draft of the interview schedule prepared was given to experts in this field for their comments and in the light of their suggestions the final schedule was prepared Observation Schedule Observation schedule was prepared to record the facilities available in the peeling sheds. It included physical facilities available like pucca building for peeling sheds, flooring, lighting, ventilation and other factors in the work place (Appendix VIII) Pilot Study Pilot study is a preliminary study conducted on a limited scale before the original study is carried out in order to gain some preliminary information based on which the main project would be planned and formulated. A pilot study is a small scale, replica of the main study. It is the rehearsal of the main study (Kothari, 2002). A pilot study was conducted among 50 women prawn peeling workers randomly. The data were tabulated and analysed to find out the drawbacks in collecting reliable information needed for the present study. Additions and deletions were made before finalizing the schedule. Thus, the investigator arrived at the final form of the interview schedule, which was used for the present study. For the convenience of administration the schedule was prepared in Malayalam Data Collection Primary and secondary data were collected for the study. Secondary data collected were from different libraries- Kerala University Library, Center for Development Studies, Agricultural University, Directorate of Fisheries, Matsya Board, and Fishermen Welfare Fund Board. 68

19 The primary data were collected from Alappuzha and Kollam districts. The interview schedule was administered among the samples to elicit information from the workers and the data collected have been supplemented with details derived from observation and informal discussions with women workers. The data collection was done on individual basis. After creating a good rapport with them, they were made aware about the need for the study. While the women were doing the peeling work, the investigator informally read out each question to them and the responses were recorded in an objective way. Each interview lasted for 45 minutes to one hour including informal discussions. Repeated visits were done where ever necessary. The data collection was completed within 8 months Scoring and Analysis of the Data. After data collection, the responses were coded, edited, classified, tabulated and analysed to find out the significance of the differences among the age groups with regard to the different variables of the study Statistical Tests Applied. The following statistical tests were applied to analyse the data and for testing the hypothesis. 1. Analysis of Variances (One- way and two- way) along with Scheffe's test. 2. Chi square test 3. Correlation 4.'t' test 69