Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Beyond the statistic: Exploring the process of early marriage decision -making using  
qualitative findings from Ethiopia and India  
 
Versio n: 1 Date: 24 May 2018  
 
Reviewer: Anne Kamau  
 
Reviewer's report:  
This is a very good paper. It has great value in contributing to the understanding of why early 
marriages among girls continues despite expensive and extensive intervention. The focus on  'early 
marriage' as a process rather than as an 'end' is commendable, as this is where interventions aimed 
at dealing with the challenge need to focus. The Paper could nonetheless be improved further by 
addressing the following observations/concerns.  
 
The background is ok. The Paper could also benefit from the works of  Masabo & Liljestrom (Eds), 
1994, Chelewa, Chelewa: The Dilemma of Teenage Girls; Liljestrom, Rwebangira & Rwebangira 
(Eds), 1998, Haraka, Haraka... Look Before You Leap: Youth at the Crossr oad of Custom and 
Modernity; Hamed, Ahlberg & Trenholm, 2017, Powerlessness, Normalization, and Resistance: 
A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of Women's Narratives On Obstetric Fistula in Eastern Sudan.  
 
Line 141 - 155 (Section on Methods) - it is important  to briefly explain why the sample of 205 was 
used and not 265 upfront as opposed to explaining this towards the end.  
Line 154 - the statement 'with adequate data quality' could be deleted.  
Line 173 - suggestion to put a full -stop after [30] i.e. [30], and  start the next line with 'In....'  
Line 175 -The acronym RISHTA should be written in full when used for the first time. Also a brief 
explanation of what the program as well as the ODA program are about is necessary. Perhaps, very 
briefly in the introductio n or methods section.  
Line 195 - Replace BAs with Bachelors  
Line 206 - In addition to the IRB, were local ethical clearance and permissions obtained in Ethiopia 
and India? Were these necessary given the nature of the RISHTA and ODA programs? This should 
be explained.  
Lines 217 and 218 - Did religion play any role in influence early marriage or stoppage? Or were 
these predominantly Muslim and Hindu regions, and therefore religion did not have much effect?  
Line 224 - Table 1 (the contents) - I propose removal  of percentages as they are not serving much 
purpose. For instance 5% to represent frequency of 5 or 4. On 'Education' I suggest deletion of the 
word 'illiterate'. Also on 'Median age' and 'Median age at marriage', there is a variation in the 'n' - 
why? On  'Birth order' i suggest deletion. This is because the 'not reported' frequency of '4' and '11' 
are high given the sample size. If reported they are likely to change the frequencies in the above 
cells. This information is also not used in the Paper therefo re could be done away with. It also 
raises the question of how data completeness was ensured.  
Line 238 - is 'husband' correct. If yes, were and 'fathers' interviewed?  
Line 242 - Table 2 (contents) - I suggest moving variable 'Sex' and 'Relationship to girl' to be above 
the other variables. On 'occupation', does 'agricultural worker' mean 'agricultural wage worker'. 
This should be clarified since there is also 'Farmer'. Similarly on 'Education' - remove 'illiterate'.  
Line 251 edit the line i.e. replace 'see' with 'check' and add has between 'she and matured' so that 
it reads 'she has matured'  
Line 252 - add 'is' between 'estimation' and 'based' to read as 'estimation is b ased'  
Line 254 - change the word 'married' to 'marry'.  
Line 261 - replace the word 'for' with 'because'; and add 'one' after the word 'takes' so that it read 
as 'it takes one nowhere'.  
Line 267 - replace the word 'vectors' with avenues; the statement 'even  knowing some' is not 
clear/complete.  
Line 270 - Put a full -stop after the word divorced. Begin the next line as 'The mothers'; replace 
'who their' with 'whose'; delete the word 'who' at the end of this line.  
Line 277 - Put full -stop after marriage; Delet e 'though' and start the next line with capital T;  
Line 278 - the statement on penalties being as deterrents from seeking legal help is not clear. (in 
my view, whereas legal frameworks may be in place, the social norms expectations carry a very 
powerful ro le, sometimes even among the legal operators themselves).  
Line 280 - 282 - this is a very important observation which raises the question of whether there are 
any incentives to delay early marriage.  
Line 284 - Explain what a Kabele is for the benefit of re aders who are not familiar with the Ethiopia 
traditional system.  
Line 286 & 287 - could the parents not have confirmed the girls age?  
Line 292 - replace 'don't' with 'did not' and 'will' with 'would'.  
Line 293 - replace 'don't' with 'did not'.  
Line 302 - '...was in 9th...' - what does this mean? 9th grade or class?  
Line 309 - 'decided her marriage'  
Line 318 - check the reference  
Line 324 - check '... take chat'. 'chat' is repeated severally in the paper. what does it mean?  
Line 348 - check 'reference error'  
Line 351 - add 'who' between 'himself' and 'told'.  
Line 352 - replace the word 'makes' with made; and 'am' with 'was'.  
Line 355 - '8th - what does this mean?; replace '&' with 'and'.  
Line 366 - 'supports' - delete 's'.  
Line 369 - check reference error.  
Line 372 - add 'd' to use to read as 'used'; same as in line 373.  
Line 385 - revise '...were more able to have impact'.  
Line 387 - add 'ed' after the word 'harass'.  
Line 389 - delete 'd' from 'matured'.  
Line 390 - was this a case of 13 year old boy marrying?  
Line 409 - as indicate earlier, explain what 'chat' is.  
Line 420 - change the statement ' ... do not involve' to 'do not get involved'.  
Line 441 - add 'to' between 'speak' and 'her mother'  
Line 442 - delete 'up'  
Line 443 - delete 'only'  
Line 451 - check the use of the word 'neglected' - might it be better to use 'exonerated' or 
'burnished'?  
Line 468 -470 - for recommendation, its important to highlight the need to follow -up girls even 
when not in schoo l. 
Line 499 - replace the word 'land up' with 'end up'.  
Line 505 - add 'a' after 'words of'.  
Line 519 - replace 'send' with 'sent'.  
Line 520 - revise the statement '... I only heard only the wedding day held. My husband was also'. 
to read 'I only heard on the wedding day'. Also delete 'was'.  
Line 521 - replace 'are' with 'were' and 'engage in' with 'get into'.  
Line 524 - delete the word 'did'.  
Line 544 - add 'd' to like.  
Line 546 - replace 'are' with 'were'.  
Line 595 - delete 's' from 'anyways'.  
Line 653 - delete 'they will'.  
Line 688 - mention the samples part in the methodology.  
Line 733 - replace 'In fact' with 'In contrast'.  
Line 748 -756 - indicate whether local ethical clearance and research permits were obtained in India 
and Ethiopia, in addition to th e IRB.  
Line 783 - replace 'give' with 'gave'.  
 
In the paper, it appears women played a greater role in decision making in India and men in 
Ethiopia. Did this have to do with the matriarchy and patriarchy systems?  
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
Yes 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
Yes 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supporte d by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
Yes 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an additional 
statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please spe cify what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
Not relevant to this manuscript  
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
Needs some lan guage corrections before being published  
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