Young Lives first visited these families in 2002 1 and 8 yrs. old. Where are they now 13 years later at the ages of 14 and 21 yrs.? And can we predict where they’ll be in another 3 years? In order to track our children we have implemented a system where we visit them at their last known address approximately every 1.5 to 2 years either on what’s known as a tracking visit or to conduct the main survey work. We ask questions confirming their current address, known contacts in the greece rcs data area (family/friends), if they expect to be moving in the foreseeable future and if so, where they would likely move and why. We have managed to keep our attrition rates across all countries and both cohorts below 6% but it hasn’t been easy or cheap. This is one of Young Lives mostly costly activities – but at the same time it’s most vital.
Our ability to successfully keep our attrition rates low is down to the country teams. In each country we have a Principal Investigator who, among many other responsibilities, is charged with cohort maintenance. They manage a well-trained and dedicated team of fieldworkers who travel by plane, car, bus, tuk tuk, cart, boat, horse, donkey, and on foot to track our children across their respective countries. They visit family and friends of children who they cannot track in an effort to get a location and/or contact information for the child. They use mobile phones and emails as a mean of communication where possible.