October Midterm Review

Question 1

Purpose and significance of development research

Answer 1

• Rationalist/Engineering: using research on a social issue to find a solution. Can influence policy
  -Policy: research as evidence to inform a policy
  Campaigning: research as ammo for NGO campaigning on development issue
  Empowerment: research so a group can understand an issue better that they are experiencing and then enact change

Question 2

knowledge hierarchies

Answer 2

Research on development in GS has been carried out largely by group of GN experts and GN generated research tends to be more valued. Shift towards GS research but still dominated by GN

Question 3

Features of qualitative research

Answer 3

• Contextualises: does not reduce context to variables
• Includes participant experiences and values their diversity
• Not testing previously known theory (hypothesis), but generating new knowledge
• not based on one unified theoretical or methodological model
• Incorporates the subjectivity of the researcher and participants into research
• determines method based on phenomena under study

Question 4

Differences between positivism and interpretivism

Answer 4

positivism:

• reality consists of facts and measurable things
• research of objective and measurable phenomena separate from people
• research is value free
• research is experimental
• use of quantitative methods that are like natural science methods - surveys, questionnaires, structured interviews
• minimisation of subjectivity

Interpretivism:

• reality is socially constructed and inter-subjective
• purpose of research is to understand people’s lived experiences from their point of view
• importance of context and subjectivity
• study of the subjective meanings that people attach to experiences rather than establishing facts
• qualitative methods that are not scientific: unstructured interviews, focus groups, participant observation

Question 5

strengths of qualitative research

Answer 5

• good for dealing with the unexpected
• generating knowledge that is experientially credible for people
• for evaluating or improving project implementation - getting feedback
• generating new theories
• getting people’s perspectives on things - emic perspective
• understanding the role of context
• flexible and can adapt
• critical research - can reveal role of power
  understanding PROCESSES

Question 6

characteristics of qualitative research design

Answer 6

• not linear
• flexible - not fixed
• reflecting on how different aspects of the design impact on other aspects, changing and evaluating throughout process

Question 7

function of research questions

Answer 7

The research question is the overall question that your research is aiming to answer, should be able to answer by the end of research
What don’t i know that I want to…?
The research question guides what you are looking for and how to structure research
can be re-worked throughout research process and after data collection and analysis - interactive and iterative

Research questions are what you propose to answer through data collection

Question 8

Interview questions

Answer 8

They are the questions you ask in order to gain understanding - operationalisation of the research question and help answer the overall research question
in colloquial language

Question 9

Key components of research methods

Answer 9

Naturalistic: in-depth and open-ended, studying things in a natural setting
Flexible: may use multiple methods
Iterative: asking the same people same questions and repeating studies

Question 10

responsibilities to respondents

Answer 10

• do no harm and anticipate harm
• informed consent and communicating information
• not wasting people’s time
• avoiding undue intrusion and appreciating what sensitive questions to avoid
• child protection and protection of vulnerable respondents
• anonymity and confidentiality
• avoiding raising expectations

Question 11

Methods v methodology

Answer 11

methods = techniques that you use to research and work towards answering research question (interviews, focus groups, participant observation)
Methodology: the overall strategy and rationale for using methods and data collection

Question 12

Interview types: structured

Answer 12

pre-set list of questions that the interviewer does not deviate from, standardised as much as possible to avoid variation, error or bias, close-ended questions, close to survey method, good for comparing responses, not good for sensitive or complex issues, good for simple issues

Question 13

Interview types: unstructured

Answer 13

Very free-flowing and spontaneous, the participant has a lot of control and is encouraged to answer at length, asking probes and follow up questions. Open-ended questions Questions arise in context

Question 14

Interview types: semi-structured

Answer 14

Interviewer asking set list of questions to respondent who has expertise in topic from direct experience - but still room for it to be free-flowing, asking probes for clarification and can deviate from guide as long as you cover everything. relaxed discussion. A

Question 15

Methods continuum

Answer 15

a whole spectrum of methods for interviews between extremes of structured and un-structured can ask a mix of open and closed questions
use multiple methods - triangulation and complementary methods

Question 16

Ethical principles guiding human subjects research

Answer 16

Belmont Report 1979

• Beneficence - maximise benefits and minimise harm
• respect for persons: voluntary, informed consent
• Justice: fairness, equality

Question 17

Sampling strategies

Answer 17

Convenience: whoever is around
Snowball: find 1 or 2 people and then ask them who else in community
Theoretical: based upon theoretical concept
Quota: find people who fit a particular characteristic

Question 18

Incentives

Answer 18

Pros: encourage response, recognition of people’s time and efforts
Cons: can distort answers, people might answer with what they think you want to hear, can compromise informed consent, cost to research

Question 19

Focus group composition

Answer 19

Set up by researcher
Emphasise homogeneity - they should share characteristics as this allows people to be comfortable to talk as well as study differences well

Question 20

limitations of focus groups

Answer 20

can be dominated by one voice 
go on tangents
less control of the data collected
group think - can all agree
harder to record everything
cannot guarantee anonymity and confidentiality of participants

Question 21

advantages of focus groups

Answer 21

often used at the outset of a research project to get insight into an issue
good for communities where interviews are not appropriate
To get many perspectives in short period of time

Question 22

Agar: 3 characteristics of participant observation

Answer 22

1. you have to be there and present (something happens to you) - participant observation means you are involved and present in a community
2. something happened that I don’t understand - rich point = surprising/unexpected things
3. Cohesion: how you make sense of the gap between their world view and yours

Question 23

Agar: rich point

Answer 23

something that comes up in participant observation that reveals a gap between your understanding of the world and their world view

Question 24

shifts in ideas about culture

Answer 24

No longer see culture as a bounded, distinct thing
realise that culture of someone and somewhere has many influences from outside
no longer looking at foxed traditions - ongoing processes of change
looking at power dynamics
people can have many identities

Question 25

shifts in ideas about the role of culture in development

Answer 25

1950s/60s: modernisation theory –> development means taking on western culture and values, culture as distinct and bounded entity
1970s/80:
- post-colonial studies: critique of western cultural dominance and representations of developing countries’ culture
- globalisation: makes it hard to see the boundaries of culture as bounded as the borders are being permeated
- cultural studies: looking at culture as network of representations that shape social life
Today: culture as contested context of development- it is an obstacle to development, idea that development is cultural (resisted), culture can be instrumentalised in development (tool)

Question 26

Emic v etic

Answer 26

Emic: insider POV/meanings/beliefs
Etic: outsider POV/values/beliefs

Question 27

subjectivity

Answer 27

recognising the the experiences, values and perspective you have influence the research process

Question 28

reflexivity

Answer 28

conscious self-reflection on how your personal biases and positionally affects there research process
interpersonal: how your interaction with researcher and participant affects the research

Question 29

paradigm

Answer 29

a way of thinking about the world - your POV

Question 30

ontology

Answer 30

the nature of social reality

Question 31

epistemology

Answer 31

what constitutes knowledges - what counts as evidence

Question 32

complementarity of methods

Answer 32

using multiple methods to get different perspectives on the same issues

Question 33

triangulation

Answer 33

using multiple methods to reduce biases with methods and to get more data