Establishing large panel studies in developing countries: the importance of the 'Young Lives' pilot phase

Establishing panel studies – long-term studies where a cross-sectional sample of units is selected and surveyed at regular intervals – is difficult in developing countries. This difficulty is due to the absence of the long-term surveillance systems usually found in developed countries. Studies in developing countries need to be carefully designed to ensure that all necessary information is captured at the outset. Data must be maintained in a format suitable for long-term analysis. The initial study is particularly important. A pilot study for Young Lives was carried out in South Africa in 2001-02. It involved developing survey instruments, defining approaches to fieldwork and establishing a data entry system and analysis package. Households containing 166 one-year-old children and 107 eight-year-olds were included. Lessons learned from the pilot study produced are of relevance for running large panel studies in other developing countries. This paper incorporates a comprehensive discussion of the challenges that face such a long-term study in its pilot phase as well as the benefits of using a single country for an initial pilot.