Evaluation of the Sampling Strategy - Article Example

            The sampling strategy that was used for the study was random sampling. The study was conducted in one place in DRC, which has typical for the given country conditions. Only one period of distribution was selected (between November and January). Three hundred and sixty-two women were randomly selected to take part in the study.  Three hundred and twenty-eight delivery interviews were conducted. A random sample of 115 women was invited to participate in a 6-month post-delivery interview (Pettifor et al., 2009). 

            The presented sample strategy is representative of the given region. However, it has several limitations that do not permit to spread of the obtained results to all populations of Congo. The authors admit that the main limitations are the small sample size, estimation for only one object, and only one period. The study that compared the effectiveness of different social groups, groups living in rural and urban areas was not conducted. The damages of nets after a 6-month period of utilization that does not permit further use were not taken into account. Nevertheless, the significant difference in LLINs utilization before and after the distribution permits us to conclude that obtained results support the idea that distribution free of charge is the effective measure.

            The improved sample strategy has to include an estimation of the given measure for several objects in different parts of the country. Participants in the places have to be selected several times per year, especially before the periods when mosquitos are the most active. The sample size has to be increased. A random sampling strategy would be the most effective. A possible suitable strategy that permits estimating the effect for different social or age groups could be a stratified random sampling.