2.2.2. In-Depth Interviews

The team selected 36 participants from the 24 study households to conduct in-depth interviews, including 24 women and 12 men. Since women are considered to be responsible for maintaining domestic hygiene, water and sanitation within the household [17], we considered more women than men for the interviews to collect accurate data on domestic hygiene and water use. The household heads and their spouses were selected for the in-depth interviews. To conduct the in-depth interviews with males, we planned to select the household heads of the 12 observation households. The team conducted multiple sessions of in-depth interviews. The in-depth interview sessions were conducted in between the water usage observations. After one or two episodes of day-long observations in each household, the team conducted the in-depth interviews as the observations increased the rapport between the researchers and the participants. In the interviews, the team explored individual personal hygiene practices in terms of bathing, washing hands, face and legs and washing the genitals and anus after urination and defecation. The team also explored what the participants perceived about hygiene and how it was linked to water use practices in terms of frequency and quantity. The team also asked the participants whether they performed religious prayers in order to understand the differences between the perceptions and water use practices among participants who prayed regularly and those who did not. The different local terms used by the participants is included in the Table S1. The team also explored the reasons and rationales for water use by the participants for different personal hygiene activities.