The simulated client method: evaluating client-provider interactions in family planning clinics.

The "simulated client" method was first detailed in the family planning literature in 1985, but it has not been extensively covered since. As used by the authors to study client-provider interactions in family planning programs, this method essentially consists of sending women to a family planning service provider to request information, and interviewing them after the encounter. The women do not reveal to service providers they are participating in the study. This report describes the method; reviews some of the theoretical, ethical, and methodological issues related to it; and underlines its usefulness as a tool for examining quality-of-care issues in family planning programs.