D. Identify the survey population
ACSM activities target different audiences, and
your survey may as well. The key question is:
From whom do you need to collect data? The au-
dience for your survey may be pre-dened by
the larger programme goals, or in other cases, a
review of existing literature may highlight pop-
ulation groups that have not been studied but
that are in need of ACSM interventions. Dene
your survey population specically in terms of:
• demographic characteristics,
such as
age, sex, religion, urban/rural residence,
income level, social class, education, em-
ployment status, and ethnic or language
group;
• job or social category, such as policy-
makers, doctors, nurses, factory workers,
religious leaders or university students;
• other relevant characteristics: Some
individuals or groups may be dispropor-
tionately affected by TB, such as persons
living with HIV/AIDS, imprisoned people,
homeless populations, drug users, or
family members of people with TB;
• secondary audiences:
Your secondary
audiences may include allies who can in-
fluence or provide access to your primary
audience, such as community leaders or
health authorities.
Knowledge, attitudes and health-seeking prac-
tices may vary substantially among popula-
tion groups, and according to social, cultural
or economic characteristics. This is important
if your survey intends to establish differences
at baseline, so as to allocate resources or tailor
ACSM interventions for different segments of
the population. Segmenting the survey popu-
lation is important if your ACSM interventions
intend to reach specic audiences. Which char-
acteristics make up the distinct population from
which your survey needs to collect information?
Sample population characteristics may be re-
lated to where people live, their religious, lan-
guage or ethnic grouping, age or their socio-
economic class, or how likely they are to seek
care and treatment. Examples of distinct popu-
lations that you may want to survey are:
• subset of women or men in the general public
• subset of youth, adults or elderly in the gen
-
eral public
• individuals who inject intravenous drugs
• current or recently released prisoners
• TB patients
• family members, neighbours or friends of
TB patients
• TB physicians or nurses
• health-care workers
• unemployed, low-income and/or homeless
people.
Dening which population you want to study
is an important consideration, as it will affect
your sample size calculations, the time need-
ed for data collection, the type of interviewers
you choose, and even the number of question-
naires to develop. You will likely need to design
slightly different questionnaires for audiences
such as health workers, TB patients and the
general public, depending on the specic in-
formation you wish to collect from each popu-
lation. Some segmented audiences can be re-
grouped. For example, the same questionnaire
could be used for the general public to survey
men and women at worksites, unemployed
men and women, couples, youth and family
members. Similarly, a single questionnaire may
be used for counsellors, physicians and social
workers. The data for each category can then
be separated out by audience category during
analysis if necessary.
16 Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization for TB control /A guide to developing knowledge, attitude and practice surveys