Population Council Research that makes a difference

Banner photo: Council president Peter Donaldson talking to a reporter at a 2008 event in Pakistan.

ACASI: Audio Computer-assisted Self-interviewing

Research must be based on honest, valid information.

But too often there is a gap between the truth and what interviewees are willing to say because of fear, embarrassment, or desire to please the interviewer.

The Population Council's audio computer-assisted self-interviewing program (ACASI) helps eliminate these biases and deliver more accurate data.

Using computers also reduces errors, time, and cost that would have been required to convert responses from paper to an electronic format so the data can be analyzed.

ACASI is currently used by the Council and other research institutes and has been configured for use in 21 languages and dialects.

Resources

  • "Obtaining more accurate and reliable information from adolescents regarding STI/HIV risk behaviors" (PDF)
  • "Improving public health through software" (PDF)

Projects using ACASI

 

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Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C)

FGM/C is

  • the cutting, removal, and sometimes sewing of external female genitalia for cultural or other nontherapeutic reasons.
  • a manifestation of deep-rooted gender inequality that assigns women and girls an inferior position in society and has profound physical and social consequences. 

The Population Council's efforts to facilitate change

  • The Council conducts research to document the extent, types, and the resulting complications of FGM/C. Council staff also track attitude changes and evaluate interventions to end this practice.

Staff profiles

Additional information

Change is possible: An FGM/C photo essay

"We abandoned it; it is no longer practiced in the village. Since the public declaration [against FGM/C] I have neither seen nor heard of anyone circumcising his daughter in the village or beyond."

—Female, age 39, Senegal

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Microbicides

Fact sheets

  • "Questions and answers about the Population Council's microbicides program and Phase 3 Carraguard trial" (2008) (PDF: A4 and letter)
  • "Trial statistics for the Phase 3 efficacy and long-term safety trial of the candidate microbicide Carraguard" (2008) (PDF: A4 and letter)
  • "The Population Council, HIV and AIDS, and microbicides" (2008) (PDFs: A4 and letter)
  • "Ethics in clinical trials: Population Council's microbicides program" (2008) (PDF: A4 and letter)
  • "Population Council microbicide program: A chronology" (2008) (PDF: A4 and letter)
  • "Benefits of the Population Council's microbicides program and Phase 3 Carraguard trial" (2008) (PDFs: A4 and letter)

Research area/program overviews

Selected Population Council management/senior staff profiles

Related news releases

  • "The Lancet publishes Carraguard Phase 3 trial results: Trial showed anti-HIV microbicide candidate is safe, but did not prove it effective" (2008) (full text)
  • "Trial shows anti-HIV microbicide is safe, but does not prove it effective: Research advances HIV prevention field" (2008) (full text)

26 February 2008 op-ed from The Star (South Africa)

  • "Disappointment in trials another lesson" (2008, posted with permission from The Star) (PDF)

Offsite links

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Contacts and Resources

What's New

Schooling and Conflict in Darfur: A Snapshot of Basic Education Services for Displaced Children. The Population Council, in collaboration with the Women’s Refugee Commission, conducted a survey of basic educational services and facilities in North and West Darfur in 2008. Read about their findings in this report, forthcoming in March. To order a copy, contact publications@popcouncil.org

BMJ has announced the nominees for its prestigious annual award for "Getting Research into Practice." The Sexual Health and HIV Evidence into Practice (SHHEP) group—to which ABBA, a Population Council–led consortium, belongs—was nominated for successfully "advocating research findings to change the law in Ghana so that survivors of gender based and sexual violence are no longer forced to pay for their own medical tests to prove assault in court." Read more about this on page 6 of the linked PDF. (offsite link)

New statistics project more than five million fewer deaths from AIDS in 2030 than previously estimated. The Population Council's John Bongaarts and co-authors François Pelletier and Patrick Gerland address the cause and implications of the revised estimate in a recent article in The Lancet, "How many more AIDS deaths?" (more)

The Population Council applauds the US government’s renewed support and dedication to meeting the health and development goals laid out in the ICPD and other related UN agreements. (more)

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