The impact of Early Childhood Care and Development services on Women’s empowerment in Albania Table of Contents



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IV. Methodology

The methodology used for this assessment included different types of information gathering and analysis. A desk review, one fact finding mission from the lead consultant and fieldwork done by the local partner were the main activities for the data collection process. The information was collected through semi-structured interviews, surveys and focus group discussions that were designed by the lead consultant, adjusted during the field visit and applied by the local partner. Since the study intended to explore the direct link between women’s empowerment and the existing of ECD services, the methodology was supported on three focus areas of analysis: women’s empowerment, services and institutions.


The study phased some limitations in terms of resources and time, which might have had some effect in the results obtained. The sample therefore, was designed in a way that the mothers who responded the questionnaires were those who had one or more of their children enrolled in some ECD service. It can be fair to assume that, given Albania’s socioeconomic situation, the women included in the sample are not the poorest women in the country or the more isolated. Generally, in developing countries, people who have access to services are poor but not the poorest. This decision on the sample responded with the objective set for the study that is to assess if and how ECD services in the country are or not impacting at all on women’s empowerment; this can only be obtained for women who do have access to services. However, to mitigate the risk of this option of sampling, the study also conducted Focus Group Discussions that included other segments of Albanian population that included: women that did not have children enrolled in any ECD services, men, adolescents, and Roma mothers and fathers. Results obtained from these FDG’s are qualitative results and should be analyzed as an added value for the information collected in the in-home surveys.
Women’s empowerment
Being the main focus of the analysis, this variable implied revising data on current employment conditions of women (pregnant and mothers of children under 6 years) in the country; analyzing social and cultural dynamics of relationships between men and women on household division of labor, families structure; analyzing Albanian women’s preferences and behaviors regarding empowerment in their context; and analyzing current community based strategies for child care in the different regions of the country.
Services
Provision of ECD services is related to family’s and women’s behaviors given that these represent an alternative for many men and women who need to leave their children in order to work or carry out other activities. In order for these services to be implemented and have a positive impact on beneficiaries they have to be: of the highest quality, have good population coverage and be cost efficient. The study focused on analyzing three main types of services:


  • Services for mothers: programmes (private and public) directed to pregnant women and mothers of children under 6 years. E.g. community centers, vocational training, formal education, parenting skills, others implemented in Albania.




  • Services for children: programmes (private and public) directed to children between 0-6 years. E.g. day care centers, kindergartens, community centers, others implemented in Albania.




  • Services for families: programmes (private and public) directed to families who have children under 6 years. E.g. community centers, training on care and parenting, training on building strong social and family networks, home visits, others implemented in Albania.



Institutions
The study included data collection and analysis on the different institutions that provide the services stated before. The analysis of services includes looking into types of services, responsibilities, institutional capacity and intersectoral work.


  • Types: services providers can be public or private.




  • Responsibilities: what are the responsibilities and mission statements of the different public and private institutions that provide ECD services in Albania.




  • Institutional capacity: quality of ECD services is tied to the institutional capacity because their sustainability depends on them. This includes, human resources (training and education, availability, etc), infrastructural resources (adequate spaces, adequate amount, in what conditions) and financial resources (sufficient funds, are these services prioritized in public annual budgets and annual budgets of private organizations, are they financed with donor resources, etc).




  • Inter-sectoral work: analysis of inter-sectoral interventions in Albania regarding ECD programmes and services. Analysis of feasibility of setting up inter-sectoral actions directed to children under 6 years and their families.

For the data collection process, and in order for it to be representative of the country, including rural and urban areas as well as regional and ethnic differences, four study units were randomly selected based on the knowledge and advisement of key national stakeholders. The study areas finally selected were: Tirana (includes the outskirts), Elbasan, Fier and Kukes.


In all four study units the same instruments were applied: in-home surveys to beneficiaries (vulnerable mothers of children under 6 years old), structured interviews to service providers, semi structured interviews to local governments and focus groups with women and men which will be described later this document.
In- home surveys
A total of 490 in home surveys15 were applied to beneficiaries who are mothers of children under 6 years old who have access to ECD services. The sampling of the surveys regionally and the division between urban and rural areas was as shown in Table 1 16. The number of surveys applied in each region was done accordingly with the population size for each unit. Albania’s population is slightly higher urban than rural, which is a worldwide tendency for developing countries.

Table No. 1. Sampling: Study units Urban vs. Rural


Study Units

Urban

Rural

Total

Tirana

78 (100 suburban)

39

217

Elbasan

50

61

111

Fier

57

55

112

Kukes

26

24

50

Total No. of surveys

311

179

490

Structured interviews
Twelve structured interviews were conducted with service providers in the four units selected for the study. Due to budget issues the sample was small, however this does not compromise the thoroughness and validity of the information collected. The following was the final distribution of the surveys17.
Table No. 2. Structured interviews, regional sampling and urban vs. rural


Study Units

Urban

Rural

Total

Tirana

1 suburban

1

2

Elbasan

2

1

3

Fier

4

1

5

Kukes

1

1

2

Total No. of surveys

8

4

12


Semi structured interviews
There were 26 semi-structured interviews conducted for this study. Of these interviews, 11 were applied to local government and 15 to national government officers. The division of the local interviews was 3 interviews per unit (except Elbasan where only two were conducted). In all the units the interviews were done with one representative of the Department of Education and two of the Municipality one from the education sector and the other one from the social services sector.
At the national level, the lead consultant did a total of 14 interviews with different key actors of the national and local governments, public and private service providers, NGO’s and UN agencies18.
Focus group discussions
The focus groups (FGD) were divided into four categories in order to cover the main aspects of population differences that affect how Albanians are, or not, impacted by ECD services. These categories are: families of children under 6 years of age, teenagers (girls and boys), families of children with disabilities, and Roma families19.
Five FGD were done in each study unit. All categories are divided into those who have access to ECD services and those who do not (one focus group per category), and they all include urban and rural families. This makes a total of 25 focus groups done for the study.
Five of these focus groups were done with Roma families and two with families with children with disabilities. The distribution of the groups was undertaken as described in Table 3.
Table No. 3. Focus Group Discussion distribution


Focus Groups with mothers, fathers and teenagers: Total no. of FDGs: 18




  • 7 FGDs with mothers:

    • 1 FGD in suburban area Bathore, Tirane;

    • 2 in Elbasan (1 in rural area & 1 in urban area);

    • 2 in Fier (1 in rural area & 1 in urban area);

    • 2 FGDs in Kukes (1 in rural area & 1 in urban area)




  • 7 FGDs with fathers:

    • 1 FGD in suburban area Bathore, Tirane;

    • 2 in Elbasan (1 in rural area & 1 in urban area);

    • 2 in Fier (1 in rural area & 1 in urban area);

    • 2 FGDs in Kukes (1 in rural area & 1 in urban area)




  • 4 FGD with teenagers:

    • 1 FGD in Bathore, Tirane;

    • 1 FGD in Elbasan (with participants from rural & urban areas);

    • 1 FGD in Fier; (with participants from rural & urban areas);

    • 1 FGD in Kukes (with participants from rural & urban areas);

FGDs with parents who have children with disabilities under 6 years old. Total No. of FDGs: 2




  • 2 FGDs with mothers who have children with disabilities

    • Participants: mix groups (mothers with children who have & don’t have access to specialized and/or mainstream ECD services). 5 participants in the 1st FGD & 6 participants in 2nd FGD

Focus Groups with Roma community. Total No. of FDGs: 5




  • 2 FGDs with Roma mothers who have children under 6 years old: 1 in Elbasan and 1 in Fier

  • 2 FGDs with Roma fathers: 1 FGD in Elbasan and 1 FGD in Fier

  • 1 FGDs with teenagers (in Fier)


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