Social data?

Under the heading “THE POWER OF SOCIAL DATA”, The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for Polio Eradication concluded in its most recent, highly readable report - summary here with link to full document -  that there should be a greater emphasis on “Why?” data:

"...to identify the root cause of the rejected opportunity e.g. trust in the vaccinators is low (the Why). These need qualitative and ethnographic data to be understood. It is by acting on the insights provided by the Why? data that transformation in performance is often achieved. ... The evidence is strong that where social data findings have been acted upon, polio is gone. Where social indicators are weak polio thrives."

Questions for response:

Related to the health issues that are priorities for you and your work:

1. Is there a lack of priority focus on gathering social data that seeks to answer the “why” questions? 

2. As a result is there an absence of social perspectives to inform and improve the strategy and programme decisions?