A. Context Setting: The study was carried out in the semi-urban contextual setting of Bagnibari village, located about 35 km from Dhaka. The population of Bagnibari is around 7000 with 530 households (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Population Census, 2001). It is surrounded by several factories, a local market and has farming/agricultural land. The local market has vendors of vegetables, fish & meat, restaurants, tea-shops, fast food shops, and shops that sell packaged food products. A few small bakeries that sell bakery products, tea and snacks are located by the side of the main road in Bagnibari. Preliminary field visits revealed that the village inhabitants were primarily rickshaw pullers, daily wage/agricultural labourers, local business men, and “Rajmistri”/construction labourers. The houses in the village are made of brick, mud, and bamboo thatch. The village is made up of three hamlets or neighbourhoods/localities named Modhyapara, Purbapara and Paschimpara.
B. Study Design and Conceptual Framework This was an exploratory qualitative study with focus on the Grounded Theory design. Through literature review, an initial conceptual framework was prepared which served as a guide in the design of the questionnaires and checklists for the focus group discussions and observations. Based on the information gathered during the conduction of the study a new conceptual framework was developed to identify the variables that influence the food consumption patterns of adult women, both working and non-working. Biological, economic, social, cultural and physical determinants, knowledge, beliefs and age are the main factors that influence perceptions and practices of food consumption of adult women.
C. Sample population: Purposive sampling was used and the sample population for this research comprised of adult women who had been broadly divided into two groups: working (age ranging from 15 years to 35 years) and non-working (age ranging from 17 years to 60 years). Working group may be defined as women engaged in work in the informal and formal sector. Among the women interviewed and those who participated in informal discussion all except one worked in the garment factory. The “nonworking” (not engaged in paid wage labour) group may be defined as those who are engaged in household work. In the sample population adolescents, the middle aged and elderly women were included. Elderly women (even retired) were not included in the working group. Participants in the study included women belonging to the lower socio-economic background, and two among them were from ultra poor households.
Data Collection: The methods for data collection included six indepth interviews with women at the household level; three of which were conducted among women in the working group and three among women in the non-working group. The interviews were semi-structured and free-flowing and unstructured observation of the participant and their surroundings was done during the interview. Two Participatory Rural Appraisal tools, free listing and ranking, were used alongside focus group, informal discussions and key informant interviews. Observation and informal discussions were conducted with the owner and a few customers in the local tea shop located by the roadside in Bagnibari village and the owner and the lady helper in the restaurant in Akran Bazaar. The process of preparation and cooking of food was observed in the household of working and nonworking woman. A focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted with 8 participants, all of who were engaged in household work (age ranging from young, middle-aged and elderly). The common variable in the focus group discussion was that all were women; however, a limitation of the study was that focus group discussion with women in the same age group could not be carried out owing to the time constraints within which the research was conducted. An informal discussion with four working women in the garment factory was conducted at the household level on their holiday. Guidelines for in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation had been developed and used. During the process of data collection, field notes were collected.
In order to reduce bias, verification of the collected data was done through triangulation of methods (tools) primarily using focus group/informal discussions, in-depth interviews and observations. Triangulation of sources of data was done by conducting informal observations in the restaurant in Akran Bazaar and roadside tea shop in Bagnibari. Data were collected until a point of partial saturation was reached. Limited time did not permit further data collection.
D. Data Analysis: Field notes were taken by the researchers in the village. They were transcribed and after examining the transcripts carefully, illustrative codes were formulated. The transcripts were analyzed by broad coding of data into general categories. An initial code list was prepared. The transcripts were reexamined and the preliminary code list was partly modified. The entire process of coding was done manually. Sub-codes were identified and written in the margins of the transcripts. Codes were categorized for existing patterns and relationships and the themes were identified. New themes that emerged were included and sorting was done by compiling and arranging themes, and the illustrative quotes into an outline of a narrative.