The biomedical practitioners (public health nurses, midwives, and doctors) and school personnel 

(teachers and administrators) were required to sign a consent form before being interviewed. 

2.6 Staff 

Recruitment 

A Ghanaian anthropologist on the faculty of the University of Ghana was hired as a 

principal investigator to direct the fieldwork. The investigator then hired two masters' students 

and one research assistant to recruit and interview the participants. 

2.7 Research 

Schedule 

2.7.1 Phase 

1 

Phase 1 involved four focus group discussions and in depth interviews of the 29 girls 

who had been chosen as the primary participants from whom the case study information was to 

be gathered. 

For the first week, 24 girls were recruited from the Ga Mashi communities to participate 

in the first two group discussions. The recruitment was done on the basis of age and residence in 

the community. During the first two focus group discussions, which were held with both in 

school and out of school girls, participants were asked to assist in identifying young girls who 

had been pregnant before and had either carried the pregnancy to term or had an abortion. Some 

of the focus group participants later became respondents for the actual case studies. Two other 

group discussions were held with peer promoters and adolescent boys. 

The first phase of the study also included initial interviews with the case study 

participants. An average of four girls were interviewed each day by the principal investigator and 

the two research assistants. All the interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. 

In addition, information on where the girls went for health services and attended school 

was noted and, during the second phase of data gathering, was used to identify the health care 

providers and teachers to be interviewed. During this phase of the study, some in depth 

interviews with school personnel and health care personnel were also conducted. 

2.7.2 Phase 

2 

The major aims of the second phase were to conduct in depth interviews with teachers 

and school administrators on adolescent reproductive health issues and specifically on school 

policy about reproductive health and to conduct a second round of interviews with the girls and 

the members of their social networks. The girls were not very enthusiastic about our request to 

interview the members of their social networks, especially their boyfriends, mothers, and aunts. 

The reason given was that although teenage pregnancy is common, there is still a stigma attached 

to the termination of pregnancy, especially through abortion. Abortions are therefore performed 

secretly, with the knowledge of few friends or relatives.  

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