Principles and Techniques of Veterinary and AH Extension

Techinques of PRA

TECHNIQUES OF PRA

Transect walks and direct observations

• These are systematic walks with key informants through the area of interest observing, asking, listening, looking and seeking problems and solutions.
• Most transect walks result in the outsiders discovering surprising local practices. It has been instructive for many professionals to realize how much they do not see or do not think to ask about.

Wealth ranking and social maps

• Wealth rankings are used to classify households according to relative wealth or well being.
• Wealth rankings are useful for leading into other discussions on livelihoods and vulnerability and producing a baseline against which future intervention impact can be measured providing a sample frame to cross check the relative wealth of informants.

Semi-structured interviews

• This is guided interviewing and listening in which only some of the questions and topics are pre-determined. Other questions arise during the interview.
• The interviews appear informal and conversional but are actually controlled and structured. Using a guide or check list, the multidisciplinary team poses open-ended questions and topics as they arise.

Participatory mapping and modeling

• This involves constructing on the ground or on paper maps or models using materials such as sticks, stones, grasses, wood, tree leaves, coloured sands and soils, rangoli powders, coloured chalks, pens and papers.

Matrix scoring and par wise ranking

• These methods are about learning about local peoples’ categories, criteria, choices and priorities.

Group discussion

• Group discussions help members identify and find solutions to their problems. They provide opportunities to influence participants’ behaviour. The extension agents are usually the expert source of information, and hence perceived to be above their audience in status. However, in discussion groups they participate as group members who join all other members in solving problems. Group discussions have the following roles in extension.
• Increasing knowledge
• Attitude change
  • Creating awareness of problems and feelings.
  • Concrete formulation of problems.
  • Change in norms.
  • Formation of opinions.
• Behaviour change
  • Individual decision-making.
  • Collective decision-making.
  • Confirmation of the choice.

Informal discussion

• It is a group technique in which the neighbours get together in a certain house or a common place (venue) at a certain time period (once a month or once a week) to consider and communicate the common public problems, to get acquainted with the neighbours, to exchange farming information and ideas and to share common problems, in order to help each other and the community.