Critical Thinking on Abortion Research

This resource is from the Capacity Strengthening for Abortion Research in Nigeria (CSARN) project. The material was developed as teaching modules for project Fellows who are early-career abortion researchers in Nigeria.

The session focuses on values clarification, complexities in abortion issues and research in Nigeria (and would apply to similar legally restrictive setting), particularly the role that restrictive laws play in complicating access to abortion services for women and young girls, as well as the judgmental cultural and religious perceptions of the phenomena.

The presentation covers basic concepts of multi-disciplinary issues in abortion studies, application of critical thinking skills to abortion research, and identifying research gaps. Those who participated in this session also learned about the effectiveness of multidisciplinary approaches and identifying root causes of SRH problems instead of its symptoms. Participants were introduced to value systems, their role in decision-making and they participated in a short value clarification exercise. Participants critically analyzed two case studies during practice sessions to further establish the lessons learned in the module.