3.4 Research instrument for data collection
The Rangsit Agricultural Area has its own irrigation system. It has the
capacity of farming 5 crops of rice/ 2 years. Each crop takes around 3-4 months.
Data collections were carried out in mid-late March, 2010. Normal active pesticide
use is assured as best as we could in this period.
3.4.1 Questionnaire
Qualitative information on exposure was obtained from rice farmers using
questionnaires. In addition, the principal researcher evaluated the exposure by site
visits and observations.
The interview questionnaire study consisted of three parts as follows:
Part 1: Obtain general information and personal background of the rice farmers,
namely: ages, gender, education level, pesticide application practices, terms and
periods of rice farming.
Part 2: Obtain information on health problems to assess any health problems
potentially associate with exposure to organophosphate pesticides, including signs and
symptoms through history of health, and general health status.
Part 3: Obtain information on pesticide use, exposure information, and work
practice for use in organophosphate exposure assessment. Farmers‘ behaviors and
their activities related to organophosphate exposure such as organization of work and
types of the pesticides used, etc, were investigated.
The structure of the questionnaire was based on questions from established
agricultural health studies (Alavanja, 1996; Arcury et al, 2006; Dosemeci, 2002;
Jaipieam, 2008; Stallones, 2002). The questionnaire is shown in Appendix A.
Potential participants were approached through the village headman. The
village headman was chosen because he was the chief informant of the village. The
village headman was the point of contact for this project. With the desire to have well
coordinated data collections, the principal researcher‘s advisor, Dr. Siriwong, and the
coordinator (a Ph.D. student of Dr. Siriwong contacted the village headman. We had
the village headman arranged recruitment and the locations on site at the paddy fields
for hand-wipe samplings and interviews. The locations situated at a minimal distance
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from the spray areas to reduce the time of transportation, and minimize crosscontamination
of participants‘ hands. In such a way we could be able to obtain handwipe
samples as soon as possible after the participants finished their pesticide
applications.
The principal researcher invited Dr. Wattasit Siriwong to translate the
informed consent form, the participants‘ information sheet, and the questionnaire.
By doing so, the translation was more unified as the interpretation of Dr. Siriwong‘s
translation should mean the same to all assistants in order to standardize their
performance. Then informal meetings were held with the principal researcher, Dr.
Siriwong, and the coordinator and assistants (the other assistants are also fellow
graduate students under Dr. Siriwong‘s wings. The details of what were to be carried
out on the data collection days were discussed. While the principal researcher
conducts the meeting, the interpretation, clarification, and the training were further
reinforced by Dr. Siriwong to ascertain that the assistants could fulfill their duties
professionally.
The following were carried out on the data collection days:
- After the participants finished application the pesticide(s), they reported to the
area arranged by the village head. The principal researcher and the
coordinator or other assistant will approach the participant. Since hand-wipe
samples should be obtained as soon as possible after pesticide application, the
coordinator or the other assistant explained to subjects of the procedures, and
what was expected when hand-wiping was done. Oral consent of wiping the
participant‘s hands is obtained first. After hand-wiping, information sheets
including informed consents were provided. Upon subjects‘ full
understanding and willingness, the participants were asked to sign the
informed consent forms. The researcher and the coordinator and/or the other
assistants served as witnesses for both oral and written consents.
- Each participant was given a name tag with a code number written on it. By
doing so, the confidentiality of the participants would be protected when the
hand-wipe samples were sent to the laboratory for analysis.
- It took about 20-30 minutes for each participant to take part in the interview.
- Compensations for time lost for the participants were offered.