Sampling techniques and data collection
malaria
MALARIA
A total of 3,204 children attending their primary education were approached at 32 primary schools. Seventy-two children from grades one to three were selected using systematic random sampling technique from eligible children in each section of the students with a class roster as the sampling frame. The number of participants from each grade level (grade 1 to 3) was determined by their relative contribution to the total enrolment of students in the school. Children aged 5–14 years and attending their education in the schools during the data collection period were included in the study, but those mentally not fit to respond to questions directed to them and with physical problems to measure their height were excluded from the study. The selected children were used to trace their households. Participants’ households were approached by trained data collectors for interview.A pretested, structured questionnaire was used to collect data on demographics, water source, toilet structure, household assets, and bed nets. The questions were adapted to the local context from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) malaria indicator survey household questionnaire [After baseline data were collected, the 32 schools were stratified into districts (Dara Mallo or Uba Debretsehay) and residence places (rural or urban). From each of these strata, schools were randomly assigned to intervention and control arms by a statistician who was not aware of schools. The final interview was made with either the parents or adults in the household. The data collectors were supervised daily for completeness and correctness of the data by supervisors from Arba Minch University.