Grand Valley State University
Author Note
This paper was prepared for SW 603, taught by Professor Dr. Green-Smith.
Feedback Assignment
Review for Early Marriage, Marital Relationships and Intimate Partner Violence in Ethiopia by Erulkar, A.
1. What was the purpose of the study or more specifically, what was the primary problem the author was interested in knowing?
The purpose of the study is to introduce child marriage in Ethiopia, its negative consequence and associated violations. The study addresses a harmful traditional practice that sets up structural conditions for poverty, domestic violence, infant and maternal mortality, the spread of disease, and gender inequality.
2. Describe the sampling process. How were participants recruited for the study? What criterion did they have to meet in order to participate in the study?
Data collected in seven Ethiopian regions was used to examine early marriage among 1,671 women aged 20–24. Cross-tabulations and logistic regressions were used to compare characteristics and contextual factors among girls married before age 15, at ages 15–17 or at ages 18–19 and to identify factors associated with selected marital outcomes. One of the common criteria recruiting the participant is people who are victims of child marriage.
3. Was there diversity in the study sample? Describe all aspects of this diversity.
The study was conducted with a mixed approach, which means both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. In this study interviews were conducted with various age groups, women, family hold, and community members. The study also covered issues like sex, marriage, education, violence, HIV/AIDS and so on.
4. Describe how the research was performed. How was data collected? How was the data maintained?
Data for this study comes from a population-based survey conducted in Ethiopia in 2009–2010 among young people aged 12–24. The information in the data set on the context of marriage and marital relations is far more extensive than that currently available in demographic and health surveys. The survey took place in seven of Ethiopia’s nine major regions: Addis Ababa; Afar; Amhara; Beneshangul Gumuz; Oromiya; the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR); and Tigray.
5. How was the data analyzed? The author should inform you of analyzing procedures. Look up familiar and unfamiliar concepts from a research book in order to address this question with a level of competence.
Analyses for this study were restricted to women aged 20–24 so that no respondent was still at risk for marriage during adolescence. Participants were asked if they had ever been married and, if so, the age at which they had first married. In all, 1,679 women aged 20–24 were interviewed; eight were excluded from analysis because of incomplete information on marital status or age at marriage, resulting in an analytic sample of 1,671 women. The remaining analyses were restricted to respondents who had married before age 20 and examined the relationship between the timing of marriage and aspects of marital relations.
6. Describe the results of the study.
17% of respondents had married before age 15 and 30% had married at age 15-17. Most of those who married before age 18 had never been to school. Compared with young women who had married at ages 18–19, those married before age 15 were less likely to have known about the marriage beforehand (odds ratio, 0.2) and more likely to have experienced forced first marital sex (3.8). Educational attainment was positively associated with foreknowledge and want of marriage and with high levels of marital discussions about fertility and reproductive health issues.
7. Was the study qualitative or quantitative? Evidenced based or practice wisdom?
This study was a cross-sectional design that combined both quantitative and qualitative research methods. As a quantitative study Erulkar notes that 1,679 women