Doing Development/Global South
Dissertations: A Guide for
Undergraduates
by
Vandana Desai, Becky Elmhirst,
Charlotte Lemanski, Emma Mawdsley, Paula Meth,
Jon Oldfield, Ben Page, Catherine Souch, Glyn
Williams and Katie Willis
2008
Developing Areas Research Group
Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers)
2
Contents
Page
Introduction 3
Contributor Profiles 7
Part 1: Research design: from a hazy idea to a dissertation plan 8
Part 2: Logistics 13
Part 3: Ethical issues 16
Part 4: Keep it safe: plan in terms of health and safety 21
Part 5: Getting funding 23
Part 6: Working with research assistants & language issues 28
Part 7: Rapid appraisal techniques 30
Part 8: Interviews (including life histories), focus groups and diaries 35
Part 9: Questionnaires and surveys 39
Part 10: References 43
DARG membership form 52
3
Introduction
There is no shortage of excellent books on social science research strategies and
methodological techniques suitable for geographers doing research on ‘development’
and/or on the global South. Recently there has been a surge of good quality
publications which add to these themes with discussions of ethical considerations
and practical issues. Why, then, should we add to this list? We felt that few of them
were specifically concerned with the particular needs and constraints of
undergraduate students who are thinking of doing some form of study in the global
South.1 Most of them seem to be directed at postgraduate researchers or academics.
While all researchers must address the issues that these guides raise and discuss –
research design, ethics, language differences, logistical problems and so on - many of
the challenges are particularly acute for undergraduates. For all but a lucky few,
money is a serious constraint, but pretty well everyone has a severe shortage of time.
The summer vacation, when most people think about doing their primary research
isn’t that long, and there are often other obligations to be met – seeing family and
friends, working to raise money, and so on. Undergraduate student researchers are
under a lot more pressure to get it right the first time – few can afford the time or
money to go back to the field site, or radically overhaul and re-start the research
again (graduate researchers and full time academics do have this luxury, and
sometimes have to use it!). Finally, for those who want to go abroad to do their
research this is very often their first visit to that country or place. Indeed, for some,
that is the primary attraction, mixing travel somewhere new with the demands of an
undergraduate degree. But this too means that there are particular difficulties for
undergraduates.
All researchers face constraints of time, money and various degrees of (un)familiarity
with their research subjects and areas – but all of these problems are magnified for
undergraduate students. This booklet is specifically designed with these issues in
mind, with the aim of encouraging students to do a dissertation in/on the global
South in the first place, and then to do it well – rigorously, ethically, enjoyably and
productively.
Before continuing, we need to make a distinction between doing a ‘development’
oriented dissertation, and doing a dissertation in or on the global South. As those of
you who have done some form of critical development geography will be aware, the
‘development’ label is a deeply contested and problematic rendering of the majority
of the world’s places and populations. To this day, and despite all of the critical
contributions of feminist and postcolonial scholars and activists, there is a bias
within Geography (as a discipline, in teaching, research and publishing) towards
thinking in terms of ‘theoretical’ sub-disciplines when looking at Europe and North
America (economic geography, urban geography, political geography and so on), but
lumping all of those sub-disciplines into one unsatisfactory category of ‘development
geography’ when it comes to the majority world – Asia, Africa, the Pacific,
Caribbean and South America. Although there are some signs of welcome and long
overdue change, geography as a discipline still reflects tremendous Anglo-American
bias. One way of disrupting this is precisely to resist the label ‘development
1 One excellent exception is Vandana Desai and Rob Potter (2006). This offers a much fuller set of
discussions, and we would encourage everyone to read it. This booklet provides a shorter
introduction for those in the early stages of thinking about doing an undergraduate dissertation on or
in the global South.
4
geography’ unless one is specifically examining just that – the institutions,
structures, discourses and practices of intentional Development (for example, foreign
aid, or development NGOs). Otherwise, why should a dissertation looking at
gentrification in Brooklyn be urban geography, but the same project in Mumbai be
considered development geography? Why should an exploration of consumer
behaviours in shopping malls in Newcastle be social geography, but the same project
in Lagos be development geography? To turn it around, we might also ask why an
analysis of poverty alleviation strategies in rural Wales shouldn’t be considered
‘development geography’, as it most certainly would be if the study was located in
Laos.
This critique has important implications for thinking about your dissertation. We
hope it will stimulate your imagination to think about a whole different range of
research possibilities in the global South. If you are enthused about the idea of going
to Ghana, say, there is no need for you to start casting about for ‘development’ ideas
to explore. Ideas, theories and issues that have caught your attention from other
parts of the curriculum – cultural geography, say, or environmental behaviours – are
just as legitimate and relevant within Ghana as in Scotland. To turn this around
again, if you are fascinated by, say, transport geographies, you don’t automatically
have to consider London – why not research what is happening in Lima? Of course,
research on Development – that is the intentional institutions, practices, politics and
rhetorics – is still important, relevant and legitimate. But, we suggest, it should be
understood as such, and the ‘development’ label not just used as code for research in
the non-western world.
The booklet is structured along the following lines.
Part 1 looks at getting started – how to move from a broad interest in a topic
towards a research question that is based on the ‘wine glass model’ rather than the
‘amorphous blob model’.
Part 2 considers the practical and logistical issues you will confront – again,
especially tailored to the idea that as undergraduates, you are likely to be
particularly short of time, money and familiarity with the research site. Within these
constraints, this chapter will give you advice on how to get the best out of your
research. This chapter includes research preparation (e.g. what to do before you
depart, and planning for all eventualities), working in the field, and preparation for
leaving the field.
Part 3 discusses important ethical considerations you will need to think about and
address in your research. In particular, the need for cultural awareness about the
‘norms’ in a foreign country, as well as the ways in which your positionality and
associated power dynamics will affect the research, are considered. In addition, the
ethical issues related to collaborating with local academics and NGOs are explored.
Finally, the ethical issues you need to consider when conducted research (e.g.
informed consent, behaviour, clothing), in particular when working with research
assistants and/or translators, are discussed. To highlight the complex nature of
research ethics, some contentious situations are provided for you to consider.
Part 4 provides an overview of the key health and safety issues that you need to
consider before (and during) embarking on overseas fieldwork.
5
Part 5 focuses on how to achieve funding for your dissertation fieldwork. This
includes very practical advice on how to write a ‘winning’ application, as well as
some ideas on sources of funding.
Part 6 explores the issues related to employing research assistants and translators in
the field.
Part 7 introduces and critiques ‘rapid appraisal’ research methods, and in
particularly the participatory types of research methods that fall under this category.
Participatory and rapid appraisal research methods are very popular strategies for
hearing ‘the voices of the poor’ in a fast and efficient manner, but do come with
potential problems and are not suitable for every type of research project.
Part 8 introduces interviews, focus groups and diaries as forms of qualitative
research methods that you might choose to employ. This section discusses some of
the principal ways of implementing these methods, and offers much practical advice,
particularly within the global South context.
Part 9 introduces questionnaires as a quantitative method for data collection that
you might choose to employ. The section discusses some of the advantages and
disadvantages of this method, particularly in the global South context, and advises
students to undertake some pilot questionnaire and data inputting.
The book concludes with an annotated bibliography.
Before continuing, we need to establish clearly that this book provides a set of
general guidelines. Each university or college will have different formal
requirements, timetables and practices in guiding and assessing dissertations. The
advice in this book must be tailored to what your specific institution asks of you.
We hope you’ll find this booklet useful, and that you will also consider joining
DARG to access further information and assistance.
Emma Mawdsley
Chair, DARG
December 2008
6
A note on DARG
The Developing Areas Research Group (DARG) is one of 28 research/study groups
of the Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers). The
DARG membership is largely made up of academics, postgraduates and practitioners
interested in 'developing areas'. This term has tended to cover Africa, Asia, Latin
America and the Caribbean, but in recent years has been extended to cover the
transitional societies of Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR.
Every year DARG organises events to promote the geographical study of
developing areas. In addition to sessions at the Annual RGS-IBG Conference,
DARG runs workshops on thematic issues (such as poverty or health and
development) or methodological debates in development research (such as ethics).
DARG is very keen on supporting undergraduate and postgraduate research and
interest in the geography of developing areas. Every year we provide funding for
postgraduate fieldwork and award an undergraduate dissertation prize for the best
dissertation on a ‘development’ topic completed in Geography at a UK university.
This booklet, and the workshops from which it came, are part of our commitment to
supporting students.
You can join DARG as part of full membership of the RGS-IBG, or you can just join
DARG, which only costs £2 per year for students. A membership form is attached
to the end of this document.
For further information about DARG activities see:
http://www.gg.rhul.ac.uk/DARG/
7
Authors
Vandana Desai is a Senior Lecturer in Development Geography at Royal Holloway
University of London. Her principal research interests are in NGOs and civil society,
community participation, urban poverty, and the impact of globalisation and economic
liberalisation on gender, with particular empirical expertise in India.
Becky Elmhirst is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Environment and Technology at the
University of Brighton. Her research interests focus on environment, development and
migration in Southeast Asia.
Charlotte Lemanski is a Lecturer in Geography at University College London. Her
research focuses on human security, housing, poverty and urban governance in cities of the
South, with particularly empirical expertise in South Africa.
Emma Mawdsley is a Lecturer in Geography at the University of Cambridge and a fellow
of Newnham College. Her current research interests lie in the fields of environmental
politics in India with a focus on middle class attitudes and behaviours, as well as work on the
role of development NGOs in the Global South. She has wide-ranging fieldwork experience,
particularly in India.
Paula Meth is a Lecturer in Town and Regional Planning, University of Sheffield. Her
current research interests are around gender and violence and her work focuses on men and
women living informally in South Africa. Paula’s fieldwork focuses on using a mix of
qualitative methods, particularly the diary approach.
Gill Miller is Programme Leader of International Development Studies in the Department
of Geography and Development studies at the University of Chester. Her research interests
focus on commodity chains in Fair Trade, and on Corporate Social Responsibility.
Jon Oldfield is a Senior Lecturer in Central and East European Studies at the University of
Glasgow. His research interests focus on issues related to the environment and sustainable
development, with a particular regional interest in the EU and Russia.
Ben Page is a lecturer in Geography at UCL. His current research investigates the
contribution made to African development by the African diaspora. His recent fieldwork has
been in Tanzania, Cameroon, Nigeria and Dalston.
Catherine Souch is Head of Research and Higher Education at the Royal Geographical
Society (with IBG). Previously she taught Geography at Indiana University, USA. Her
research interests are the human impact on the environment and global environmental
change.
Glyn Williams is a Senior Lecturer and Director of the International Development and
Planning MA in the Department of Town and Regional Planning, University of Sheffield.
His research interests include poverty and participation; state power and political practices;
and environmentalism and environmental governance, which he has explored through
fieldwork in India.
Katie Willis is a Reader in Development Geography and director of the Centre for
Developing Areas Research Group at Royal Holloway University of London. Her research
interests focus mainly on gender and households in periods of macro-economic change, with
empirical expertise in China and Mexico.
8
1: Research design: From a hazy idea to a dissertation plan
How do you start?
A tried and trusted way of thinking through (and writing up) an undergraduate
dissertation is the ‘wine glass model’ (Kennedy 1992). If you imagine a glass in
profile it has a broad top, narrows down, and then finishes by widening out again.
The wide rim at the top is the broad general area or interest of your topic (services
in cities), as you move down the glass the bowl becomes narrower or more specific
and you start to focus on the specific sub-discipline (the urban geography of
services). When you reach the stem you have reached your own very specific and
focussed research project (the effectiveness of urban water supply in Cameroon
1995-2005). At the bottom of the glass is the broad foot – this is where you go back
to the general issues that you began with only this time you are armed with the
findings from your own study to add to the conversation.
For many of us the difficult part is getting started. A typical sequence for, say, water
privatisation in Africa, might look like this:
1. You enjoyed the lecture on urban infrastructure, which covered issues like urban
geography, connected to health, liveability and economics (top of the wine glass)
2. You did a tutorial essay on how ideas about urban governance are changing in
geography (moving down the glass)
3. The bit that really interested you was debates over the role of the private sector
in the operation of urban water supplies (further down the bowl of the glass).
4. You are keen to go overseas for your dissertation, and so you start reading
around how is the private sector involved in financing water infrastructure in
sub-Saharan Africa (towards to the stem of the glass)
5. You come across a useful study of water management in Cameroon (towards to
the stem of the glass)
6. You find and analyse more secondary data from Cameroon (in the stem of the
glass)
7. You start to develop a claim that new investments in urban water infrastructure
have been delayed because the Government in Cameroon is resisting
privatisation (in the stem of the glass)
8. So you go to Cameroon and during your study you find that the experiment with
private sector participation has failed to generate new capital. Interest is
returning to public sector management. The last 15 years have produced a
period of stagnation with negative consequences for health and productivity.
(getting to the bottom of the stem of the glass)
9. You broaden out your conclusions to reflect on the politics of resistance to
externally imposed urban/economic policies and the consequences for theorising
urban governance around the world (widening out to the foot of the glass)
There are two advantages of this model:
1. The link to the general interest (at the beginning AND the end) forces the
author to explain why their specific case matters to a wider audience.
2. The proportions of the ‘wineglass’ can be modified in relation to data collection –
if you don't get enough data you can always expand the ‘bowl’ of the glass and
reduce the ‘stem’ without losing the overall structure.
9
The alternative is the ‘amorphous blob model’! Here you enjoyed the urban
governance lecture, and decide to go to Cameroon to see ‘what is happening there’.
You’ve always wanted to visit Cameroon, so this seems like a good opportunity to
combine your degree work with travel. You turn up in Cameroon without a very
clear idea of what you want to do and without having done any reading, but know
that water privatisation is a big problem that you would like to solve. You start
asking around, but don’t know who the best people are to ask, or what it is you
really want to know. You aim therefore to ask as many people as possible everything
they know about water privatisation. You come home with a mass of interview
notes, a few newspaper articles, and have to try and find a framework for analysing it
all ….
The ‘amorphous blob’ approach to turning a vague research idea into a dissertation
plan is bad because:
1. It ends up raising dull questions that tend to produce a narrative account of what
the researcher did rather than critical engagement with issues.
2. It invites other geographers to ask ‘so what?’ or ‘who cares?’ because it isn’t linked
into broader questions or current academic debates.
3. If you get to Cameroon to carry the study out and can’t get hold of any data
because the mayor doesn’t like you and the government officials don’t give you
access to any documents then you are in trouble.
Think of coming up with a project in terms of the following stages:
1. Identifying an interest
2. Moving from a general interest to a broad topic
3. From a broad topic to a narrow topic
4. From a narrow topic to a research question
5. From a research question to its significance
An interest The broad academic area of inquiry that your work sits in
A broad topic A phrase which names the area of research within the interest
A narrow topic A name for your topic which introduces the parameters of the study and
also implies a claim statement to be tested
1. Identifying an interest
• Find a geographical topic that interests you – interests are big, broad and general.
• If you are having trouble working out what really interests you then draw up a list
of the ways in which you can tell if something really interests you (time flies when
you are reading about it…, you talk about it with friends outside college…it doesn’t
send you to sleep… you find you want to argue about it).
2: Moving from an interest to a broad topic
For example: my interest = ‘Nature, Cities, Politics’
My broad research topics are:
• Urban agriculture
• Botanic gardens
• Associational life in cities
• Water use in cities
10
• Cyborg urbanization
If you are having trouble homing in on broad topics:
• Think about the claims you have heard in lectures or read in books about the
general interest. What don’t you understand? What do you disagree with?
• Look at the chapter titles or sub-headings that appear in a textbook on your
interest
• Think about the important changes that are taking place in your area of interest.
• Think about the differences that occur across space in your interest
• Think about how your interest is covered by the media
• Think about the last time you had a heated conversation about the interest, but
didn’t have the facts you needed to support your ideas
3: Moving from a broad topic to a narrow topic
To move from a broad topic to a narrower one you need to do several things:
• Draw spatial and temporal limits around the topic
• Where necessary focus on just one aspect of the broad topic (e.g. the water example
below focuses on issues of payment and billing)
Broad Topic Narrow Topic
Urban agriculture The expansion of urban agriculture in Cameroon during the
structural adjustment period.
Botanic gardens The conflicts between farmers and botanists in the botanic gardens
in Limbe, Cameroon from 1916 to the present day.
Associational life in
cities
The contribution of contemporary Nigerian associations in London
to politics and development in Nigeria.
Water use in cities The commodification of urban water supplies in West Africa since
1931.
Cyborg urbanization The dependence of individuals on extended infrastructure networks
in modern cities.
As has been mentioned, formulating a narrow topic is step towards identifying a
claim statement that you can then analyse
Narrow Topic… … suggests a claim that can be tested
The expansion of urban agriculture in
Cameroon during the structural adjustment
period
Urban agriculture has expanded in
Cameroon in the last ten years
The conflicts between farmers and botanists
in the botanic gardens in Limbe, Cameroon
from 1916 to the present day.
Different users of the botanic gardens in
Limbe have come into conflict over its
value and function.
The contribution of contemporary Nigerian
associations in London to politics and
development in Nigeria.
Nigerian ethnic associations in London have
contributed in significant ways to Nigerian
development
The commodification of urban water supplies
in West Africa since 1931.
Water has been commodified in West
Africa since 1931
The dependence of individuals on extended
infrastructure networks in modern cities
Individuals in modern cities depend on
extended infrastructure networks
4. From a narrowed topic to a research question
Choose one narrow topic and bombard it with questions, don’t think about the
answers – just come up with as many questions as you can.
11
Who, what, when or where questions help locate the data you need to gather. They
will help guide you when you come to write questionnaires or interview schedules. A
lot of your research programme will be governed by them.
How, why questions produce the more analytical and less narrative sections of your
dissertation.
It can be helpful to classify all the different questions that you will need to answer as
part of your project.
The different elements of the
topic
What are the component parts of the project and what
are the relationships between those parts?
The structures in which the topic
is embedded
What are the larger systems of which your topic is a
smaller part?
The history and geography of the
topic
Treat the topic as dynamic. What parts of the topic
have changed over time and space? How have ideas
about the topic changed?
The context of the topic In what ways is your topic one episode in a larger
history?
The characteristics of the
elements
How do the component parts of the project differ from
each other? What is a typical example of your topic?
What is the range of variation?
Comparisons with similar topics What other topics are a bit like yours? How does your
topic compare with others? In what ways is it different?
The value of the topic What is the use of your topic? Are different parts of the
topic of different use?
Narrow Topic Research question
The expansion of urban agriculture in
Cameroon during the structural adjustment
period
Why has urban agriculture expanded in the
last ten years?
The conflicts between farmers and botanists
in the botanic gardens in Limbe, Cameroon
from 1916 to the present day.
How have the conflicts between farmers and
botanists been resolved?
The contribution of contemporary Nigerian
ethnic associations in London to politics and
development in Nigeria.
How have ethnic associations in London
contributed to Nigerian development?
The commodification of urban water supplies
in West Africa since 1931.
How has water been commodified in West
Africa since 1931?
The dependence of individuals on extended
infrastructure networks in modern cities
Why have individuals in modern cities
become so dependant on infrastructure
networks?
5. From a research question to its significance
Its always useful to ask yourself ‘So what?’ Why would any other geographer want
to learn the answer to my research question? What contribution does my research
make to understanding the general interest I began with? In effect you need to
provide the justification for the project.
To do this:
• Name your topic
• Name your question
• Name the rationale by going back to your general interest
12
The following formula can be used as a crude device for articulating your rationale.
“I am studying……………. (insert name of the broad topic into space) because I
want to find out how/why ………(insert research question) in order to understand
how/why/what….……. (insert the rationale based on the interest).
Remember, my own interest is in nature, cities and politics so….
I am studying urban agriculture because I want to find out why it has expanded in
Cameroon in the last ten years in order to understand how natural resources
become incorporated into politics.
I am studying water use in Cameroon because I want to find out about how water
has been commodified in order to understand the political struggles over water
supply in cities
I am studying associational life in cities because I want to find out how hometown
associations in London have contributed to Nigerian development in order to
understand how the diaspora can influence urban politics in their country of origin
Finding a research topic is not easy, and can be pretty stressful. These guidelines
should help – especially if you follow the opening suggestion: be focussed!
13
2: Logistics (preparing research, being in the field, and leaving)
Carrying out fieldwork abroad presents a range of obstacles which can be negotiated
more easily through thoughtful planning and preparation. While it is impossible to
plan for every eventuality, there are a number of things you can do in order to
ensure that your research is not hijacked by more mundane concerns or serious
problems.
Preparing research
A useful maxim to bear in mind when designing overseas fieldwork is that things
will go wrong. As such, a key to successful overseas research is to be prepared to
react positively and be flexible when things do go wrong.
The inevitable uncertainties of overseas research apart, it is worthwhile bearing in
mind the following before you leave:
• Ensure that you have a firm understanding of what you are going to do. In
general, those students going abroad need to be far more disciplined in the
development of research ideas than those remaining at home. Be honest with
yourself – are your ideas advanced enough to facilitate the collection of
worthwhile data?
• Have a back-up plan - both alternative methodologies for achieving the same
research goal(s), as well as substantive alternative research questions.
• Remember – in most cases you will not be able to go back to your research site,
so make sure you collect sufficient data and investigate your ideas and questions
thoroughly whilst overseas.
• Firm up contacts well in advance (ideally several weeks) of leaving for the
research site via email/fax/phone. These might include academics, policymakers,
NGO representatives etc. Be sure to carry paper-copies of these contact
details in case internet access is limited once you arrive.
• Think laterally about possible useful contacts. Ask your supervisor for her/his
ideas.
• Visa requirements. Check these out on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
website (www.fco.gov.uk) (or the relevant embassy website). Many require
several weeks (for the cheapest option) and may require invitations to be supplied
by host institutions/personal friends. Also – check the expiry date of your
passport. In some cases, visas will not be issued if your passport has less than 6
months to run. If the FCO website advises against travel to a certain country or
area then you must follow this advice in order to comply with insurance and
university regulations.
• Inoculations – again the FCO website is useful here. For many inoculations you
can make an appointment to see your local nurse at relatively short notice (but
not always). However, some medications require a long lead-in time in order to
be effective (e.g. malaria). Also, long stays in a country often require additional
14
medical assurances (e.g. HIV test).
• Clothing – obviously you need to ensure your clothing takes into account the
prevailing climate. In addition, think about the nature of your research
(interviews with elites, working in remote villages etc). It is important that you
feel comfortable and balance this with respecting the social environment in
which you will be working. In many countries, people expect you to look smart they
will NOT be impressed if you come to talk to them while wearing shorts
and sandals! You should also respect and emulate local dress codes, which may
differ for men and women. If bare shoulders/arms/legs are not acceptable, then
don’t do it.
• First Aid and medical supplies. There are few things worse than feeling ill whilst
on fieldwork and often far from assured medical care. Take your daily health
seriously. Take sufficient supplies of any prescribed medication (insulin, epipen,
painkillers) and it is often useful to obtain an accompanying letter of explanation
from your doctor. First Aid packs can be very useful (i.e. antiseptic/light
bandage/tape/wipes). You might also consider taking sealed First Aid packs with
needles. However, you need to be careful here due to security issues whilst in
transit. Seek advice from your doctor/relevant embassy. At the least, an
accompanying explanatory documentation signed and dated by an appropriate
authority is always a good idea.
• Other medicines you might consider (dependent on allergic reactions,
intolerances etc.) include: flu capsules (non-soluble), diarrhoea medicines,
rehydration powders, aspirin, paracetamol and insect repellent. Make sure you
take sufficient supplies of toiletries if they are likely to be difficult to access.
• Equipment – recording equipment and power source. Writing
implements/paper! Laptop? Camera? In some cases expensive equipment can
more of a hindrance than benefit. Think about where you are going and be
honest about your needs in the field. An i-pod may be great, but it will attract
attention (possibly from thieves), and also cut you off from all the conversations
you could be having!
• Physical address (not PO Box) of where you are staying, embassy, local contacts
– take written copies of this with you on the airplane/boat/train as you might
need this information in order to pass through border control on arrival.
Detailed map of area – google maps provide an excellent resource here. Leave
contact addresses and an itinerary if relevant with friends/family/supervisor in
the UK
• Copies of all personal documents, which you should aim to keep apart from the
originals. A photocopy of your passport and visa can circumvent enormous
bureaucratic obstacles if the original is lost/stolen.
• Letters of introduction signed and stamped by your institution stating the
purpose of your work.
• Travel insurance. Do not go without this. Ensure you get the best policy for
your particular needs – in particular comprehensive health cover, as most
countries in the global South do not have a ‘free’ national health service
15
• Gifts. Even small gifts can be enjoyed. You shouldn’t patronise people, but kids
love balloons (easy to carry), while calendars or jars/tins of nice biscuits or
sweets can be a pleasant gesture.
Working in the field
• Stay in contact with your supervisor, e.g. via email, during the fieldwork period if
at all possible.
• Get to know the area in which you are staying and become comfortable using
local public transport.
• Seek local advice wherever possible – for example regarding issues of safety.
• Plan your days. Ensure that you have specific targets for each day. For longer
periods, ensure that you include some leisure time in your schedule. Plan for
disappointment and the need to change your original ideas/methods.
• It is important to cultivate a sense of ‘moving forward’/progress in your work so
use any ‘free time’ to jot down your ideas and thoughts – you will be surprised
how useful these comments are when you’re back home trying to write your
dissertation
• Make sure you know the way to buildings where interviews will be held
(reconnoitre the day before). Do not presume they will be easy to find. Being late
is both frustrating and rude and can result in the loss of important interviews.
• Find places (library, institutions, cafes etc.) where you can work and think about
your findings.
Leaving the field
• The way you respond to leaving the field is closely tied in with broader ethical
concerns, for example any promises made to participants, as well as your
intentions to remain in contact and/or disseminate your findings back to
participants.
• Think about what you are planning to take home with you – for example
research materials as well as gifts. Have you got sufficient room? Is there any
restricted material?
• It is often possible to post bulky items back home.
• Thank people for their time.
• If you are not planning to keep up contact, or don’t think you will be able to send
things back, then don’t offer/promise to. Of course, if you can, that is great – but
think about leaving the field in advance, and decide what is desirable/feasible. It
can be a surprisingly stressful time.
16
3: Ethical Issues in Development Research
Introduction:
This section will consider the role of ethics in development research. But firstly,
what is meant by ethics and why is it important to make sure that research plans and
practices are “ethical”?
When considering ethics in research, there is a heavy reliance on the idea of “ought”
– i.e. that you have a moral obligation to consider ethical concerns in your research.
In addition to these reasons of ‘principle’, your university will also have a formal
code of practice that you must adhere to in order to acquire research permission.
The main ethical issues you are likely to encounter in your research are the ways in
which you interact with participants and local ‘experts’ in the field – for example,
collaboration with local NGOs and researchers, facilitation of workshops and the
participation of local people in your research (e.g. interviewees).
Issues: The specific ethical issues that you will need to consider vary according to
the specifics of your project, as well as the empirical context in which you will be
working. Indeed, many issues are specific to particular places and circumstances and
there is no absolute “right” way of doing things. However, you should be aware of:
• Cultural, economic and political realities (past and present) in the region in
which you will be based (gain advice from local researchers and your
supervisor).
• Outcome(s) of your research – for example, the possible impact/consequences
of your research on local communities/academics (some anticipated and some
non-anticipated).
Cultural Understanding:
It is very important that you gain some awareness of the specific culture of the
region/country in which you’ll be working before you depart. A good way to do this
is by reading extensively about the country and region – not just academic texts, but
also novels, biographies, films and music. The things you’re looking out for are the
cultural codes/religious norms, local beliefs and practices, as well as everyday
behaviours. Some might seem very odd to you (e.g. whether to make eye contact or
whether females can wear trousers), but it is vital that you respect them and adopt
them.
Researcher’s Positionality:
The second key issue related to research ethics is being aware of your positionality
as a researcher. In particular, the economic inequality that exists between you as a
student studying in the global North, and those you intend to work alongside in the
global South. In addition to economic inequality, there may also be significant power
differentials between you as a well-educated representative of a British university,
and those you will be working with – particularly if you will be working in a former
colonial context. Finally, you will need to consider who benefits primarily from this
research - which is probably you, given that you’ll be getting a dissertation out of it,
whilst those who help you will remain in the same position as they were prior to
your research – and how to fairly represent the aims of your research to potential
participants without raising expectations of change.
17
It is likely that your research will involve collaboration with locals ‘in the field’, most
likely academic and/or NGO partners. In fact, we strongly advise to seek out such
collaborations in order to ensure that your work is grounded in local issues and
learns from local advice. However, be aware that local partners have their own
agendas and issues, and their support to you can be costly and time-consuming.
Academic Collaboration:
1. With Universities. Linking with local universities can be very useful as they
are often able to provide you with access to: research assistance, interpreters,
libraries, skills and training. You may be expected to provide financial
remuneration for these services.
2. With Academics. Linking with local academics can be a very useful way to
establish local insights and contacts for your research. However, be aware that
their time is precious and you should be sure to send them your dissertation in
due course.
NGO Collaboration: Working with or alongside an NGO provides an opportunity
to explore development actions ‘at the coal-face’. However, finding an NGO is hard,
so you will need to start your search early. Below is some guidance on identifying
and contacting suitable NGOs:
1. Find out about NGOs, what they are doing and what are the local issues in the
region where you wish to work.
2. Use World Wide Web, lecturers, charities, and directories to identify suitable
NGOs
3. Do your homework - search the literature for other studies on NGOs in the same
country or sector (e.g. the journals ‘Environment and Urbanization’ and
‘Development in Practice’ often have articles that are written in conjunction with
NGOs).
4. Consider whether other NGOs work in the area, and think about the
relationships between different NGOs – competitions that might exist within
and between them.
5. Consider the non-beneficiaries of project interventions – what do they think?
6. Broaden your sources beyond a specific NGO
7. Provide help to NGOs who have supported your work (write reports)
8. Communities want to see real results/benefits rather than just another report
1. Advantages of working with a local NGO:
• NGOs are a good entry point: they have a great deal of local knowledge –
contacts, communication networks, background information, language skills.
• Staff may have local insight into your research questions
2. Problems of working with a local NGO:
• NGOs are usually very busy
• NGOs want collaboration to reflect well on them, and therefore may steer
your research in one particular direction
• NGOs have a very ‘practitioner’ rather than ‘academic’ view.
• Your positionality within a community might be affected by your
relationship to an NGO (e.g. you are seen as their representative).
• The nature of a relationship with an NGO as a neutral researcher can be
problematic. For example, can you be critical of an NGO’s work whilst
maintaining good relations? Recognise the limitations and advantages of
18
collaborating with an NGO.
3. Advice on working with a local NGO:
• Always try and maintain your own identity as a neutral researcher and
impartial observer. Stress that you do not represent the NGO.
• Share your findings at all stages of the research process.
In the Field: Having gained ethics approval before departure, and perhaps
developed collaborations with local researchers and NGOs, it is crucial once you’re
in the field to retain your ethical awareness. Some of the key issues related to this
are explored below:
1. Informed Consent – it is vital that you secure informed consent from all
participants in your research project (not necessarily just the people you
interview). Informed consent involved explaining why you are doing this
research, and what the intended outcomes are, both for yourself and for them).
Depending on the context and your university guidelines, you may need to
secure this consent in writing. Some idea of the types of informed consent are:
• Approval of chiefs and elders in the community before you start research
• Promises of anonymity to all participants
• Being aware of the local nuances of power (e.g. short-term research that
is unlikely to make a difference)
• Being aware of local intermediaries and their power to determine your
findings and affect levels of ‘informed’ consent (e.g. as translators and
gatekeepers)
• Being aware of inappropriate research strategies/practices, which may
result in the acquisition of biased/wrong information.
2. Clothes: Being culturally-aware will ensure that you seek local advice on what
to wear and when, and in particular on gender-specific clothing.
3. Behaviour: Whilst in the field you should be careful to behave politely and
professionally at all times, even if you feel others are not treating you in this
way! In particular, be aware of:
• Positionality – as mentioned earlier
• Value indigenous knowledge - local people are highly knowledgeable,
even if they are illiterate, unschooled etc
• Openness and honesty in the field and be sure to present your results,
even if only very preliminary.
• Risk to community as a consequence of your presence.
• Health and emotional well-being: yours and those working with you
Ethical Issues when working with Guides/Translators:
- See Part 6
Showing Gratitude: It is important that you express your thanks to those who have
supported and/or participated in your field research without being patronising.
Giving gifts to participants is a very obvious indicator of gratitude. However, there
are potential problems here with how much and what to give (e.g. cash, essential or
luxury food), as well as who to give gifts to and the danger of raising expectations.
Some ideas for gifts are:
• Children’s materials
19
• Completing a task identified by the local community
• Holding a party
• Leaving scientific/technical equipment
• Sending copies of publications (journal articles, books) to local academics
After Research/Field Trip: It can be easy to think that your fieldwork is complete
once you return to the UK, and it can also be a time of confusion and ‘feeling lost’
regarding your research. It is therefore really important to do at least the following,
as soon as possible after your return:
• Returning translated summaries to participants
• Sending ‘plain English’ summaries of your research results to local
participants and academics/NGOs
• Sending published papers/reports (e.g. your dissertation) to local participants
and academics/NGOs
• Thank you letters/emails where appropriate
20
Ethical Issues: Scenarios
For each of the following scenarios, think about what you would do. There is usually
no one right answer. The point of the exercise is to get you to think about the ways
in which development fieldwork includes many situations where decisions about
ethics need to be made.
Situation 1
You are conducting fieldwork in a highland Bolivian village on the impact of
microcredit on women’s lives. After two weeks in the village you are getting
frustrated about the lack of progress. Nobody wants to talk to you. An NGO worker
suggests that women would be more willing to participate in the research if they are
paid for doing so. What do you do?
Situation 2
You are working on issues of low-income housing provision in Ghana. Some of the
government officials you are working with invite you to a party. Everyone gets a bit
drunk and people start talking about proposals that are meant to be confidential.
This information would be a fantastic addition to your dissertation’s argument, but
you are aware they are breaking their code of conduct. What do you do?
Situation 3
You are working with an NGO in northern India on a water supply project,
examining the degree to which local people are involved in the project. People seem
very keen to talk to you and you are getting some great information. However, in
one interview it becomes clear that people think you are somebody very important in
the NGO who has come to discuss continued funding. If people find out you are a
‘lowly student’ they may not be so happy to talk. What do you do?
Situation 4
You are working on local environmental issues in favelas in Rio. You have
successfully worked in two areas and want to work in a third. To gain access to this
district you have to go through the local drug baron as he controls the district. Do
you agree to use him as the point of entry and use members of his group as
translators?
Situation 5
You have applied for a research visa to go to Zimbabwe to work on issues around
political violence. The visa application is rejected. Do you still go, but on a tourist
visa?
21
4: Keep safe! Plan in terms of Health and Safety
Hazard and risk are inherent in everything we do, but the degree of hazard and risk
is dependent on the activity and environment in which it takes place. In the UK, the
degree of risk tends to be less than overseas, particularly in less developed countries
where our ability to control the environment and the circumstances we are in,
coupled with a lack of knowledge of the environment, is proportionally greater.
All universities now require students (and staff) undertaking fieldwork (in the UK
and overseas) to complete some sort of Risk Assessment and Crisis Management
Plan. This is a document in which you identify potential risks and hazards associated
with your proposed project. Unfortunately, risk assessments are often considered to
be nothing more than a bureaucratic chore. However, a much more useful way to
think about them is as a safety management plan – a way to think through the
obvious dangers (life-threatening and more routine) that will disrupt your plans; the
actions you need to take to reduce or mitigate against the risks; how you will deal
with a problem/crisis if it happens (rehearse the ‘what if scenarios’); to make sure
you have adequate insurance in place; and to know exactly who and how you can ask
for help if you need it.
Although the exact features of the risk assessment forms that you will need to
complete for your university and for funding applications differ, there are some key
issues (hazards) that should be considered in any risk assessment and safety
management plan.
• Those involved (You/The team) – in terms of health and fitness (including preexisting
medical conditions); attitude and behaviour, training and experience
• Environment - mountain, savannah, tropical forest, urban etc. all present
special risks and hazards; need to consider climate and weather conditions,
wildlife (including insects), altitude, river crossings, route selection etc.
• Health - endemic disease (Dengue, Malaria, HIV/AIDS), polluted water,
contaminated food, environmental health (heat/cold related illness)
• Local population - political instability or civil unrest, theft, personal attack,
attitudes to foreigners, cultural differences.
• Fieldwork activities and methods - natural hazards (avalanche, rockfall, deep
water), use of specialist equipment (electrical equipment, chemicals, climbing
harnesses, ropes, theodolites …. ), questionnaires/interviews on sensitive topics
• Travel and Accommodation - transport (public/private), road conditions, other
road users, accommodation, fire, electrocution, serious injury, disease, mugging
The risks associated with these range from illness/death, accidents, personal attack,
imprisonment etc.
The key five steps in risk assessment are:
1. Identify the hazards and associated risks
2. Identify who is potentially at risk and how
3. Identify the precautions or control measures to minimize the risk, including
further action required to reduce these to an acceptable risk
4. Document all of the above (complete a risk assessment form)
5. Review the risk assessment periodically and update it as appropriate
22
In addition you should complete a crisis management plan – this outlines the plans
you have in place to deal with an emergency situation, should one occur. What you
will do if things go wrong? This should include details on emergency evacuation,
insurance, proximity to medical facilities, plans for communicating with the relevant
people i.e. local services, your home contact, the British Embassy or High
Commission, etc.
There is a wealth of useful links and resources accessible from Geography Outdoors,
RGS-IBG on these and other related topics (exemplars of good practice; seminars
and training programmes, general advice etc):
http://www.rgs.org/GO
23
5: Getting Funding
Introduction
Lack of funds is one of the key obstacles to undergraduate dissertation research on
development issues. Some of the possible solutions are:
• Choose a topic you can research in the UK
• Get further into debt
• Seek other sources of funds
Preparation
Assuming that by reading this document you intend to conduct research in/on the
global South, then this section provides practical advice on securing sources of
funding for your research (advice on possible funding is detailed at the end of the
chapter). Before launching yourself into finding financial support you have to be
prepared. Make sure that you have worked out:
• Budget
• Timetable
• Project summary
Working out a budget
• For most students, it is transport costs which loom large, but don’t forget to
budget for all possible costs. While this may produce a more daunting figure,
it is important that you are realistic from the start and that you are able to
present a suitably costed project to any funding agencies.
• Most undergraduate dissertation research will take place in the summer
vacation between years 2 and 3. This is usually at peak holiday times, so
flight costs go up. Try and be as flexible as you can in terms of departure
dates and airports, but remember to keep the needs of the project in mind. It
is no good accepting a great flight deal if it means you have to cut two weeks
off your proposed trip. Shop around on the internet and campus travel stores.
• Living expenses. If you have never been to your research location then find
out as much as you can about costs of living. Again, be sensible about
accommodation. When it comes to a choice between safety and cost, safety
should always come first.
• Internal travel. The safety factor is again important here. In many parts of
the global South there are a range of road transport options. The very
cheapest will certainly give you insights into dimensions of local life, but you
will also get insights if you travel on slightly more expensive transport
which may have a better safety record. Make sure you include cost of travel
to the airport in the UK as well.
• Insurance. DO NOT FORGET THIS.
• Payment for translators and guides (see later section). You should also
budget for gifts if appropriate.
• Equipment. You should not see applying for funding as a chance to get a new
24
laptop or digital camera, but if there are small pieces of equipment that are
vital, then ensure they are included in the budget. Some departments have
small items of equipment (e.g. tape recorders, soil kits, tape measures) which
can be lent out to students. Check with the appropriate member of staff well
in advance. Don’t forget the cost of batteries, tapes and film as well.
• Miscellaneous. Could include postage, photocopying, internet access. Think
through exactly what you will be doing and what costs may be incurred.
• Vaccinations etc. While some vaccinations are free, you may have to pay for
some. In addition, malaria tablets can be expensive depending on the brand.
It is perfectly legitimate to include these in your costings.
• Visas. Include costs of visas where appropriate. It is not appropriate to
include the cost of a new passport in an application to a funding body.
• Contingencies. It is always useful to have a contingency fund in case of
emergencies. This could include things like changes in the exchange rate, or
unforeseen expenditure. This is usually costed at 10% of the budget, but as
unspecified funds are rarely funded by an external agency, the ‘contingency
fund’ should be listed on your proposal as something that you will provide
yourself.
• Including a personal contribution (if you are able) will demonstrate to the
funding bodies that you are financially committed to the project. In addition,
it reflects the fact that you would have had to spend money if you had stayed
in the UK rather than going on fieldwork.
• The budget plan should be laid out neatly so it is easy to read
25
Example Budget
Gender and Health Project, Oaxaca City, Mexico July-August 2009
Travel & Subsistence
Return air fare Heathrow-Mexico City 750.00
Tube: Central London – Heathrow (2 x £4.00) 8.00
Bus: Mexico City-Oaxaca City (2 x £21) 42.00
Subsistence: Mexico City (5 nights x £40) 200.00
Subsistence: Oaxaca City (35 nights x £30) 1050.00
Equipment & Consumables
Digital recorder 91.00
Batteries 22.00
Photocopying (300 x 2p) 6.00
Gifts for participants 25.00
Insurance 65.00
Contingencies (10 % of budget) 225.00
TOTAL 2484.00
Personal Contribution 350.00
AMOUNT NEEDED 2134.00
Note: Costings are based on exchange rate of £1.00 to 18 Mexican pesos.
Sources of Money
It is impossible to provide a definitive list of funding sources here, but the following
provides some suggestions or routes to take:
• Departmental/university funding. Some institutions may have funds
available. While the sums provided are rarely large, it is still worth applying.
It also shows bigger potential grant givers that you have explored lots of
avenues, and that you are organised. It also helps reassure them that your
project has been approved by your institution.
• Grant-giving organisations and charitable trusts. There are many
possible sources of funds within this category. To find out which funds are
available, use directories such as:
o Directory of Social Change. This organisation provides support about
funding for community and voluntary organisations, but is also able
to provide services for individuals. They have a library in London
where you can access information about funding bodies. It publishes
the Director of Grant Making Trusts which should be available in
university and public libraries. Their website www.dsc.org.uk has
more details.
o The Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British
Geographers). Provides some support for undergraduate fieldwork.
Geography Outdoors may also be able to provide advice about
26
funding as well as fieldwork planning. www.rgs.org/grants (links to
the RGS-IBG funds and other sources too)
o Charity Choice: The Encyclopedia of Charities on the Internet
www.charitychoice.co.uk. Provides a list of UK charities. Educational
charities may provide financial support for students.
o International Foundation Directory. London: Europa Publications.
Provides a list of ‘foundations, trusts, charitable and grant-making
NGOS and similar non-profit institutions’. Again, university libraries
should have a copy.
• Industry and Commerce It may be possible to gain financial support or
assistance in kind (e.g. with equipment or flights) by contacting businesses.
Remember that large transnational corporations will get many requests for
money, so don’t get downhearted if your application is rejected. Try and
target companies that may have particular link to the work that you are
going to do.
Writing a Project Summary & Application Letter
• Do not use the same letter or summary for each application. You need to
make sure that your application for funding is appropriate to the destination.
While this may take more time, it is more likely to be successful.
• A project summary needs to be understandable for a non-Geography
audience. Just rehashing your dissertation abstract is not enough! Try to
explain and outline your project as clearly as possible. Use maps if
appropriate and make sure you include the budget and timetable. If there are
no restrictions on length of application this does not mean you can waffle.
Keep it concise.
• Make sure that all your application documents are well presented. If you are
not sure about spelling and grammar then make sure you get someone to
proof-read it for you. Again, you are trying to present a professional image.
• Include a stamped addressed envelope with any speculative enquiries. You
are more likely to get a reply, even if your application is unsuccessful.
Ethics in Funding
In addition to the ethical issues raised in an earlier chapter, there are a number of
ethical issues which you should consider when seeking funds.
• Be upfront about what the money is for. Do not try and alter your research
proposal to get money and then do a completely different project.
• If you are applying to a private company, make sure that you are happy to
receive funding from that company. Consider its record on environmental
issues, labour rights etc. if these things are important to you.
• Participants in the research have a right to know where your funding has
come from.
Make sure you send a report to any organisation which provides financial or other
support, even if this is not a condition of the funding. Usually funders will prefer a
one or two page summary report rather than your whole dissertation, but check.
27
Overview of key funding issues:
The key elements of a good proposal
1) Sound and realistic research design
• An interesting idea
• Research questions, aims and objectives clearly stated
• Clear contextual understanding (demonstrating this is an important topic
and you know what others have done)
• Appropriate methodologies
• Well designed sampling frameworks
• Sensitivity to host country (e.g. cultural constraints)
• Clear thoughts on data analysis
• Defined project outputs
2) Logistics - thought through and ‘do-able’
• In field long enough to complete work
• Time built in for things to go wrong!
• Complete budget with realistic costs
• Permissions (if needed) obtained
• In-country contacts established
3) Documented expertise to complete the project safely and responsibly
• Attention to impacts on people and environment
• Courses/specialised training (if appropriate)
• Evidence of discussion with appropriate experts
• References from advisors with appropriate expertise (approach them early)
Handy Hints
• Identify possible funding sources early – see the DARG handbook and also
resources online (www.rgs.org/grants)
• Apply to multiple places
• For each competition, review criteria and FAQ document carefully
• Answer every question
• Follow application layout
• Permissions – request in good time
• Referee Statements – not left to last minute
• Risk Assessment and Crisis Management Plan - needs to be comprehensive
28
6: Working with research assistants and language issues
Employing a research assistant can be enormously helpful for fieldwork, not only in
terms of helping you with data collection and translation, but also with the more
intangible aspects of field work such as gaining access to research participants and
facilitating your acceptance into the community.
Employing a research assistant means balancing a number of factors:
• Time: a research assistant can help you make the most of a relatively short
time period in a field setting. This may be particularly helpful in terms of
gaining access (physically and socially), in building rapport within the
community, and in helping with the nuts and bolts of research. If entry into
the community is your primary concern, then a research assistant who is
known and trusted by the community will be a valuable asset.
• Budget: you will need to consider how much funding you have available to
employ a research assistant with the requisite skills.
• Institutional context: access to your field site and field community may
depend on you working with or through a local NGO. The provision of
research assistance may be part of this and you need to bear in mind the
implications that this has for the independence of your project and your
findings.
• Research skills: a research assistant may be an educated outsider who will
quickly understand the nature of your research, or a local person with no
formal research skills but with good links with the community.
• Language: if you do not speak the local language, then a field assistant with
fluency in your language and the local language is vital.
Working with an interpreter
Planning for work with an interpreter:
• Budget for and pay a decent wage. In many places, formal translators, or
people who speak English and the local language(s) can earn quite a lot. If
you want someone good, don’t assume that this will be cheap.
• Translating is often difficult, demanding and exhausting. You need to be
aware of the pressures on your translator (not just you) when carrying out
your research.
Interpreters and you: field work roles:
• When you involve someone else to assist you in communicating with people,
it is important to be clear about the capacity in which you wish them to act.
They may be a research assistant, an interpreter, or an advocate, and each of
these roles brings with it different expectations.
Interpreters and positionality:
• Be aware of your translator(s) positionality – their gender, class,
background. In many parts of the world, women may feel uncomfortable
talking to a male interpreter (e.g. in India, low caste women respondents
would find it difficult talking to a high caste man). If your interpreter is from
29
a particular organisation (an NGO active in the area where you are
undertaking research, for example), this may influence the responses you get,
either as respondents choose their answers knowing the position of the
person asking questions, or as your interpreter poses questions in a particular
way. It is not just North/South dynamics that affect fieldwork.
• Insiders/outsiders. Choosing an interpreter from the community you are
working in may not seem to offer much confidentiality to respondents,
particularly in small or closely knit communities. Depending on the subject
to be discussed, it may be best to use an interpreter from a little further away
if sensitive topics are to be raised.
• Experienced researchers say they would favour an interpreter with good
interpersonal skills (tact, interest in what people are saying) over someone
with better language skills.
Briefing your interpreter:
• Spend sufficient time explaining to your translator(s) what it is you are
doing and what you want. They will work much better if you have spent a
day (or more) talking about the goals, methods and issues of your research
subject.
• It is important to encourage the person interpreting for you to let you know
how questions will be understood in their language. Often concepts
(including common terms like ‘household’, ‘work’ or ‘child’) do not simply
translate directly from one language to another. If you do not do this, you
may find they alter your questions in any case, to avoid the embarrassment of
asking what seem to them to be stupid questions.
• You need to make it clear that you want to know exactly what respondents
are saying, and you do not want your interpreter to censor, edit or
paraphrase what is being said, whatever their own views on it.
• Learning to work with an interpreter is a skill in itself and takes time to
perfect: never pretend to have understood when you have not.
At the end of the field work:
• When you leave, write your interpreters a reference and give them several
copies to keep. It may help them find future work, including further
translating.
• Make sure your interpreter is given due acknowledgement in your
dissertation and any reports that you may write from the research.
30
7: Rapid Appraisal Techniques
Rapid appraisal techniques have long been the stuff of development work, used by
development practitioners (NGOs and development agencies) to generate data
quickly and cost-effectively on the features of local groups, and community needs
and priorities, largely for the purpose of designing development interventions. In
recent years, many of these techniques have been used in academic work in
developing world settings, and with a number of caveats, rapid appraisal can be a
useful ‘way in’ to a chosen research problem and a means of familiarising the
researcher with a particular research setting. Rapid appraisal techniques involve two
closely related families of approaches: rapid rural appraisal or RRA (not always
rapid, not necessarily rural, not necessarily involving an appraisal) and participatory
rural appraisal (PRA). Both RRA and PRA have been referred to as data
economizing or data-optimizing approaches.
Origins:
• Dissatisfaction with the anti-poverty biases of 'rural development tourism' and
concerns related to the brief visits of the urban professional (Chambers, 1983), as
well as spatial, personal, seasonal and diplomatic biases within research work, led
to the development of more ‘participatory’ approaches that seek to include the
‘voices of the poor’ themselves.
• In terms of research methods, disillusionment with the normal processes of
questionnaires - which are tedious, long-winded, difficult to implement and write
up – as well as a recognition that rapid appraisal techniques were less costly and
more time-effective than questionnaires and anthropological approaches (i.e. onetwo
year ‘immersion’), led to the use of more participatory appraisal techniques.
A Different Approach to Development Research:
• Researchers facilitate rather than dominate/dictate the research process.
• Methods shift from pre-determined closed research questions, to open lines of
investigation; from individual to group; from verbal to visual; and from
measuring to comparing.
• Rapid appraisal techniques emphasise partnership and sharing of information,
experience, food and training between insiders and outsiders and between
organisations.
Common Principles of RRA and PRA
• A reversal of learning: to learn from people, directly, on the site and face-toface,
gaining from local physical, technical and social knowledge.
• Learning rapidly and progressively: with conscious exploration, flexible use of
methods, improvisation and cross-checking, rather than following a ‘research
blueprint’.
• Offsetting biases: by being relaxed and not rushing, listening not lecturing,
probing instead of passing onto the next topic, seeking out the poor, women
and marginalised, and learning their priorities and concerns.
31
• Triangulating: meaning using a range of methods, types of information
and/or disciplines to cross-check.
• Seeking diversity: looking for variability rather than averages by deliberately
seeking out and investigating contradictions, anomalies and ‘differentness’.
Additional Principles Stressed by Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA)
PRA is more of a development approach than a research approach. It is (in theory)
about empowering local people to recognise their knowledge and capabilities, and
then to facilitate them in making and implementing decisions. As such, it is a very
powerful tool, with scope that goes way beyond that of dissertation research and
thus must be used with caution.
• Facilitating: facilitating investigation, analysis, presentation and learning by
people themselves so that they present and own the outcomes, and also learn.
This entails an outsider starting a process then sitting back and not
intervening.
• Self-critical awareness and responsibility: facilitators are continuously examining
and reflecting upon their own behaviour and trying to do better, using own
best judgement and accepting responsibility rather than relying on a manual
or set of rules.
• Sharing of information: between people, between researchers and local people,
between different researchers in which no one person/group is ‘expert’.
Tools and Techniques
Some typical RRA/PRA techniques/approaches:
• Review of secondary sources: files, books, maps, aerial photographs etc.
• Structured observation: e.g. transect walks. Systematically walking through a local
area (sometimes on a line) with (a) knowledgeable local person(s). Asking
listening, discussing and learning about vegetation, land use, soil types, burial
practices, local problems, livelihood practices and so on. Take several transects at
different times to reveal daily livelihood patterns. Results then
diagramatised/mapped.
• Semi-structured interviews:
• Key individuals
• Focus groups, homogeneous or mixed (gender, age, ethnicity etc)
• Off-setting biases: e.g. talking to those who are normally missed (women, the
poor, aged, children, sick) and in places usually overlooked (rural, difficult
terrain, mountains) and at times that are often avoided (rainy season, the
weekend, evening)
• Case studies and stories
Some typical RRA?PRA approaches:
32
• 'Handing over the stick' to participants to lead the research process. Basically,
PRA is facilitating people to do things themselves. Give them the chalk, pen or
stick. Help them become the mappers, observers, analysts and so on.
• Reverse roles of expertise. Insiders and local people as the experts, ‘outsiders’ as
the students.
• Local analysis of secondary material (e.g. aerial photos of soil type, or land
tenure maps and records).
PRA techniques:
• Wealth ranking: informants rank members of a group/community according to
wealth and sort into as many categories as they see fit. Needs to be accompanied
by discussion about what makes people wealthy and poor (potentially sensitive).
• Mapping and modelling: Ask different people to draw their own maps and models land
tenure, boundaries, resource location, land-mine location, health maps,
social data etc (potentially politically sensitive).
• Resource evaluation: comparing the value, availability and cost of various
resources by ranking them or constructing a matrix to compare particular
resources.
• Time-lines and change analysis: chronologies of events, listing major local
incidences, people's accounts of the past etc. (whether social customs, animal
ownership, ecological histories, changes in the cost of living etc.).
• Seasonal calendars: by major season or month. Show distribution of rainfall, crop
cycles, men and women's labour, diet, illnesses, sources of income, expenditure.
Use charts which layer the information down the page rather than long and
tedious individual questionnaires.
• Daily time use analysis: how do different groups/individuals in the community use
different resources/services/activities at different times of the day?
• Spider and venn diagrams: of connections and perceptions of connections between
issues under investigation. Participants list the variables and elements that are
involved in a particular issue and draw lines between them to illustrate how they
are connected.
• Shared presentation of results: given that you have been equal participants in the
research process, there should be an equal presentation of the results e.g. a
workshop to which all interested parties are invited. However, how you run this
event (e.g.who dominates/interrupts/talks etc.) is crucial.
• Drama and participatory video-making: Given low literacy levels in many lowincome
communities of the global South, PRA techniques favour visual and
verbal methods. Encouraging participants to co-ordinate and present a drama or
create a video of their ideas provides an exciting and novel way to gain
information and present findings.
33
• Immediate report-making: rather than mining data and then going ‘home’ to writeup
your research findings into a neat report, conduct a participatory meeting in
which the findings are identified by participants and a mini-report is created (not
necessarily written).
Potential Advantages of PRA and RRA:
• Demonstrates to research participants and to others that people have capabilities.
Helps counter eroded self-confidence (especially among the particularly
marginal).
• Behaviour and rapport. PRA and RRA techniques are much more relaxed than
traditional outsider/insider interaction.
• Diagramming and visual sharing. Not only are you employing methods that the
illiterate can access (thereby reducing ’power’ asymmetries), but above all, the
'result' is shared with all participants (compare the results of a questionnaire) and
therefore people are building their own knowledge, not having it extracted from
them. PRA and RRA techniques encourage equality between speakers of various
languages and between literates and non-literates.
• Expressing and analysing complexity.PRA and RRA allow presentation, discussion
and analysis of difference and diversity, as opposed to more traditional research
methods (e.g. data analysis of questionnaires) which seek to achieve consensus
and uniformity.
• Sequences. Often the techniques allow and encourage the making of increasingly
deep and complex information. E.g. a village map may get increasingly more
detailed, or a health survey may prompt new questions etc.
• Validity. Chambers (1997) gives many examples where RRA/PRA studies have
shown to be as sufficiently accurate and representative (and frequently more so)
than previous or follow-up studies on the same issues. Not just that RRA/PRA
are faster and more cost-effective, but they generate the same results, often with
more insight, complexity and coherence.
Potential problems:
• There are contexts/cases in which RRA/PRA are simply not appropriate: e.g.
can RRA/PRA be done in the time available and will it yield data appropriate to
the research question? Good information takes time and patience to gather and
requires observation, checking, evaluating and cross-checking.
• Emphasis on the public domain in data gathering can result in a particular
‘version’ of a community’s story being presented to outsiders. Certain forms of
knowledge may not be revealed in a public setting.
• Emphasis on group data gathering can involve an erroneous conception of
‘community’ that masks community politics, social divisions and the voices of
marginal groups (women, the poor, children, the sick etc).
• Can lead to generalisations and superficiality unless a decent in-depth and multi-
34
tooled strategy is undertaken.
• Some of the methods used are politically sensitive, for example, maps may be
associated with the interests of powerful groups and therefore some groups may
be unwilling to ‘map’ resources, seeing this as a first stage in letting go of local
resource control.
• Has become so popular that there has been a considerable demand from NGOs
and governments to employ RRA/PRA methods. This has easily led to bad
practice – e.g. researchers/practitioners going in too hastily without enough
forethought.
• Practitioners have sometimes not managed to or not bothered to try and alter
old behaviours of dominating and didactic behaviour (from small to large e.g.
demanding a chair, wearing rich clothes, speaking in the derogative etc.).
• Still may not escape imposing 'our' ideas and categories on 'them'.
• RRA/PRA are not the 'easy options'. Like all good research, they require
patience, care and forethought, and get better with experience.
35
8: Interviews (including life histories), focus groups and diaries
Interviews
Interviewing is a useful methodology for exploring the reasons behind certain
actions, underlying motives, and also for exposing the complexities of lives that are
stereotyped and simplified within the general literature. Interviews can take various
forms dependent upon the nature of the subject, the status of the respondent and the
aims of the research.
The elite/‘expert’ interview
These interviews tend to be of a formal nature and might involve decision-makers,
politicians, business people etc. In general, these people are interviewed for the
expert knowledge they possess and this determines the overall structure of the
interview process.
 Think carefully about whom you want to interview. Ask yourself whether
you can expect to obtain original information. In some instances, expert
interviewees will simply regurgitate the ‘party line’ which is readily available
in electronic or paper form. In other words, do not become obsessed with the
‘kudos’ of the interviewee. Junior staff, for example, often provide far more
interesting insight into the workings of an organisation than their more
senior colleagues.
 Expert interviews can be daunting and therefore detailed preparation is
essential. We are all busy, and busy people can resent (quite reasonably)
having their time wasted. It is therefore imperative that you adopt an
efficient and professional manner. They won’t be charmed by a show of
immature ineptness – impress them!
 Once you have decided on your target figure(s), think carefully about what
you want to ask them. You should be able to provide a concise outline of your
intentions in the initial contact email/letter/fax communication. You might
follow this up with an interview schedule.
 Be prepared for slow responses and, indeed, no response at all. This demands
an imaginative and dynamic approach to the interview process with multiple
actors contacted. Do not take a negative response personally. It is likely that
the individual you are contacting has many such requests and she/he may be
simply too busy to respond. Certainly do not ‘hound’ the individual
concerned. Move on and explore other possibilities.
 In your initial covering letter/email it is worthwhile indicating dates/times
which are convenient for you to meet and the likely length of the interview.
Be flexible.
 Dress – expert interviews often take place at the person’s place of work. You
will be nervous and this can be amplified if you do not feel comfortable in the
surroundings. Also think about the impression you want to convey to the
interviewee.
36
 You need to establish the terms of reference for the interview. Be aware that
a recorded interview will often generate different answers to an unrecorded
interview. The interviewee may want to see a transcribed version of the
interview before it is used in a dissertation/publication. Such issues should be
determined prior to the interview if at all possible.
 The interviewee may want comments to be ‘off the record’. ‘Off the record’
interviews are not a waste of time. While you will not be able to use the
material directly in your work you will often acquire a useful insight into the
subject area.
 Ultimately, it is very important to respect the wishes of the individual. You
should make it clear what you are going to do with the interview material and
obtain the appropriate permission.
 During the interview adhere to the interview schedule. Make sure you turn
the recorder on if one is being used. Be positive – make eye contact. Be
concise. Time is of the essence and there is nothing worse than the
interviewer rambling on for several minutes as she/he attempts to articulate
a question.
 Listen to what is said and react appropriately (i.e. seek clarification – it might
not be possible later). Observer body language, style of delivery etc.
 Bring the interview to an end efficiently. Ask whether it would be possible to
follow up the interview with an email/phone call if such a necessity arises.
Informal interview
In contrast to the expert interview, informal interviews are often less pressurised for
time and provide you with the opportunity to adopt a more conversational approach
during the interview. Nevertheless, it is important to maintain the high level of
preparedness associated with the expert interview.
You might also consider conducting serial interviews i.e. carrying out a series of
interviews with the same subject. This approach is only possible with certain
respondents but can be useful in gaining the trust of the interviewee in order to
facilitate a deep engagement with a particular issue over time.
Oral histories
Oral/life histories are useful in facilitating an in-depth exploration of someone’s life
where you are interested in discerning underlying intentions, motives etc. associated
with a particular issue/theme. In addition, they can facilitate an understanding of the
characteristics and internal dynamics of a specific group of people or a particular
historical event.
While oral histories require an underlying structure/focus, the emphasis is typically
on exploring a particular life or event in concert with the interviewee. It is important
to create an environment in which the respondent feels comfortable and able to roam
freely across topic areas. Unlike the expert interview where time is of the essence,
oral histories should ideally have few time constraints. As a consequence,
37
digression/detours into related (and not so related areas) is to be encouraged.
Indeed, it is often in such instances that real insight into a topic is gained.
 Initial contact – it is important to provide the intended target with a concise
outline of your aims/objectives. This encourages the interviewee to think
about things in advance of the meeting which can improve the flow of the
conversation. In addition, she/he may be able to locate old records and
memorabilia prior to the meeting.
 In order to ensure the correct atmosphere think carefully about the time and
place of the meeting. Ideally, you should choose a quiet environment where
you will be subject to minimal disturbances. The respondent may invite you
to her/his home. Such gestures should be treated with utmost respect.
 During the meeting it is important that you encourage the respondent to
expand on points. Enunciate questions clearly and concisely. Do not be too
hasty to fill silences. Allow the respondent to think and formulate ideas.
Allow them to ‘wander’ around topics.
 At the same time, maintain a focus on what you want to get out of the
meeting and steer conversation as appropriate.
 Equipment – ‘spider’ microphones are particularly useful (i.e. unobtrusive).
Ensure you have spare tapes and/or batteries.
 Oral histories will often cover very personal events or else encourage
meaningful reflection. You should therefore treat the recorded conversation
with considerable respect. It is good practice to provide a full transcription
(can be both time consuming and costly) for the respondent to go through
and amend after the meeting has taken place. In addition, they should be
given the opportunity to ask for certain parts of the interview to remain ‘off
the record’. As such, the process of carrying out oral histories is necessarily
lengthy and this should be taken into account when thinking about
employing such a methodology.
Focus groups
Focus groups are useful when you want to explore a contentious issue or the
dynamics of a certain group/cohort. In addition, this format can also facilitate
engagement with minority groups where access to individuals is undermined by the
uncertainties (and fears) of the subject group (e.g. migrant workers) or their age (e.g.
school children).
Focus groups can take many forms. Ultimately, however, they should provide an
environment in which the subjects feel comfortable. This may mean organising such
groups to take place in a school or a community centre etc.
Things to consider:
 size of the discussion group (usually between 4 and 8 persons)
 will you lead the discussion or take a less intrusive role?
 with certain groups it is useful to include a stimulus for discussion – object,
38
photograph, image, recording etc.
 how will you record the discussion?
 what strategies will you employ to prevent one person dominating
proceedings?
Diaries
Asking participants to keep diaries is a useful source of information for a range of
reasons. Diaries can be an effective way of understanding how people experience
particular events or perform certain practices over time. This longitudinal insight
can sometimes be hard to gather from other methods. Diaries can also provide
participants with a place to explore their memories, feelings and emotions and thus
they can be less of a record and more of a space for reflection. Written diaries are the
most common form of diary, but one could also use video, photography, blog-based
diaries, audio or picture based diaries.
Advantages of using diaries: Diaries can provide extensive information, which is
written in the participants’ own words. Providing diaries can be very cheap (just a
booklet and pen) and participants often prefer being able to write their diaries in
their own time. Some participants may find diary writing empowering – as a way of
unloading difficult memories or establishing an insight into routines they hadn’t
appreciated before (e.g. frequency of visits to the doctor). Diaries can prove very
useful when used in conjunction with other methods, such as photography,
interviewing and life histories.
Possible problems with using diaries: Diaries can exclude illiterate people, although you
can find substitute writers for them if they agree. Diary writing can be time
consuming for the writer and suffer from a decline in effort. This is strongly shaped
by the participant’s daily life and the amount of time they have available. Diaries
written in foreign languages require transcription which is expensive and time
consuming. Diary content can often not be verifiable and questions that arise from
the content can often not be followed up. Entries can be limited with little
explanation. Participants may not return their diaries or complete their entries –
incentives may be required. Diaries (because they are written over time) require a
reasonable period of time to be spent in the field, such as four weeks.
39
9: Questionnaires and Survey-Based Research
Why use a questionnaire?
Any standard methods textbook or research methods course should give you a
general overview of the advantages and disadvantages of questionnaire-based
research. Questionnaires lend themselves well to situations where you want to gain a
statistical overview of data that are relatively easy to quantify; they can be useful as
a relatively rapid technique (compared to more in-depth interviewing); and once
designed (a complex process!), they can be relatively straightforward to actually
administer. The disadvantages of questionnaire surveys are that they enforce the
researcher’s categories and concepts on those being researched, it can be difficult to
generate the depth of insight provided by qualitative work (the down-side of
covering a breadth of respondents), and if badly conducted, questionnaires can
generate superficial data of dubious quality.
All of these generic qualities of questionnaires also hold true for field-based research
in the global South. In addition, when working in the global South (especially if this
means doing research outside of your own cultural context), there are some
additional issues to think about:
How are questionnaires likely to be viewed by your research respondents? If you can, try to
find this out before embarking on questionnaire design. In rural India, households
are periodically subject to questionnaire surveys by the government and other
agencies for various purposes. This has advantages (surveys are fairly widely
understood as a ‘normal’ method of finding things out) and disadvantages (surveys
are often used as a basis on which to decide how government or other assistance
should be distributed – there may be an expectation that providing the ‘right’
answers will lead to concrete benefits). In other contexts, a questionnaire may seem
like an alien or abrupt form of social interaction – and where they have been used by
government or other agencies to gather data for repressive ends, it may be better to
think about other methods altogether.
How will questionnaires work with any field assistants you may be using? Again, cultural
contexts will differ greatly, but questionnaires can offer a relatively ‘safe’ and stable
method that can give both you and a field assistant/translator a clear set of aims and
objectives for fieldwork. Because of this, questionnaires are often used in ‘remote’
fieldwork – a researcher trains the field assistants, who then conduct questionnaires
in her/his absence – but within the context of an undergraduate dissertation this is
likely to be a high risk strategy (time to recruit and train field assistants to work
independently will be limited), and you might also miss out on valuable field
experience from conducting the questionnaire directly yourself (see below).
Questionnaire Design
Importantly, the design stage of your questionnaire should involve you thinking
through all aspects of the research process below – and not just the research
questions themselves. The more you can think about questions of sampling (who do
you want to gather data from and why?), conduct (how will you administer the
questionnaire in the field?) and analysis (what will your data actually be able to tell
you – will it answer your research questions?), the more likely you are to design a
questionnaire with appropriate levels of detail and fewer extraneous questions.
Again, much of the advice in generic textbooks on questionnaire design will hold for
40
research in the global South, with some additional qualifications:
Question types: Questionnaires can contain a range of question types, from ‘closed’,
tick-box response to ‘open’ questions designed to record answers in a respondent’s
own words. Opinion scales and attitudinal questions are widely used in academic and
market research in the UK, but may not translate well to other contexts – if in
doubt, keep the content and form of questions as simple as possible, as this will
hopefully reduce the chances of mistranslation.
Appropriate levels of detail/depth: Remember that there are always limits on
respondent’s time, and you shouldn’t design a questionnaire that will take more than
half an hour for a respondent to answer. Especially where a research area is new and
unfamiliar, there is always a temptation to ask a range of questions that might be
useful – focus on your overall research questions to avoid a ‘scattergun’ approach.
Cultural translation and data sensitivity: For simple, factual questions, be aware of local
units of measure and other definitions, and try to use these wherever possible (e.g.
how is land measured, or different systems of ‘months’). Where you are dealing with
more complex ideas, ensure first of all that you are avoiding technical jargon or
academic language, but also ensure that have a full understanding of the
connotations of local terms you are using (e.g. a field assistant may give you a rough
translation of terms such ‘environment’, ‘democracy’ or ‘corruption’ – but these
might have different associations and emphases than their English equivalents).
Wherever possible, research these more complex ideas using simple, unambiguous
language and practical illustrations.
Importantly, take local advice on where your questionnaire deals with sensitive
issues – seemingly innocuous questions (‘how many cattle do you have?’) can
transgress local social rules – if it’s necessary to include this material, leave it
towards the end of a questionnaire.
Testing your questionnaire: Any good methods textbook will stress the important of
piloting your questionnaire, but where you are working in a context that is
unfamiliar, this is particularly important. Always discuss your questions at length
with field assistants, translators or others, and collectively try to imagine the most
awkward/complex answers a respondent could generate. Redesign it to cope with
these, and then pilot it on some real respondents. Try to code up their actual
responses (do they make sense? are you losing any detail or definition in the coding
process?), and then refine the questionnaire and coding schedule again…. It’s a slow
and sometimes painful process – so allow space for it within your research timetable
– but time spent here can save a lot of wasted time later.
Sampling and Sample Sizes
Questionnaires are intended to produce findings from a sample (the people you have
actually interviewed) that can then be generalised across a population (all the people
you could have interviewed) – and the rules governing appropriate sampling
strategies and sample sizes don’t differ for fieldwork in global South. One of the
most frequently asked questions by students before they start fieldwork is ‘how
many questionnaires do I need to do?’. Unfortunately, this is a question that is
impossible to answer in the abstract: in general, the more ambitious you intend your
analysis to be, the more respondents you are going to need. For example, if you’ve
collected data on voting patterns, estimating the total number of voters for party X
41
across a whole village will require less data than testing whether female-headed
households were significantly more likely than male-headed households to vote for
that party. Think through the process of what you might actually do with the data in
as much detail as possible (see below), and if you are likely to want to work with
particular subgroups of your population, make sure you’ve sampled them
appropriately.
One important place where fieldwork in the global South may differ is that
background data about your population (how many voters live in area X, what
proportion of the population have completed secondary school, etc.) can be much
harder to come by – and this can make identifying an appropriate sample more
difficult. Conducting a few unstructured interviews with key ‘gatekeepers’ about
your research topic can therefore be very important in substituting for this
background data and giving you an overall impression of the likely characteristics of
your population.
In the field: Questionnaire Conduct
Although questionnaires may seem like a fairly ‘neutral’ and impersonal research
device relative to in-depth interviewing, it is very important that all of the advice
given elsewhere about ethical practice in the field is followed very closely. Some data
you are collecting may be sensitive and/or potentially damaging to your
respondents, so it is essential that you not only ensure promises of anonymity and
confidentiality at an individual level where necessary, but also consider any possible
harm that might come from releasing data displayed at an aggregate level.
On a more positive note, directly conducting the questionnaire yourself can be a rich
and illuminating experience. If your respondents (and any research assistants) are
broadly comfortable with your research aims and methods, actually doing the
questionnaire interviews can give you ‘valid’ purpose for being in a community. As
such, it may give you access into public and/or private spaces (such as household
compounds) that in turn provide a chance for observation, conversation, and other
social interaction. This can be a real opportunity to develop your research topic: in
part, by gaining more ethnographic insights beyond the information recorded in the
questionnaire itself – but also by being questioned yourself about your research and
background. This can help to make the experience of doing a survey more of an
equal social exchange and less of a process of ‘data extraction.’
Data Analysis
As with sampling and sample sizes, once you have your data coded and entered into
an appropriate format (such as Excel and SPSS), all of the ‘normal’ procedures and
practices of quantitative analysis apply to your work – in this sense, quantitative
analysis is not context-specific. For all quantitative work, you should try to think
through in detail from the outset what you will actually do with your data: the
statistical tests might you be applying, how might you want to display your data, or
produce estimates for complex variables (such as ‘household income’). The more
precise you can be here before you start your fieldwork the better: it will help you
fine-tune your questions and coding schedule (to ensure that they will produce data
of an appropriate form), and ensure that you are using an appropriately sized and
structured sample.
Perhaps one area for special consideration when doing research outside your own
cultural context is that of data coding. A well-designed questionnaire should have a
42
clear coding schedule – one that unambiguously assigns values or to responses, or
places them in different categories according to a fixed set of rules. In practice,
however, there are always ‘grey areas’ here (e.g. is person X a skilled or unskilled
labourer? Which of their many roles counts as their ‘main occupation’?), and this is
an area where cultural mistranslation can occur. Good question design can reduce
the areas of ambiguity, but where you do end up having to make value judgements at
the stage of coding, talk these through with field assistants or others if at all
possible.
43
10: References
There is an ever-expanding literature on research methodologies and research
methods in Geography and associated disciplines. The following list aims to give
you some idea about what is available. Not all of the references deal directly with
‘developing areas’, but they will provide some excellent guidance in framing your
research project.
General overviews:
Desai, V and Potter, R (eds) (2006) Doing Development Research, Sage.
Devereux, Stephen and John Hoddinot (eds.) (1992) Fieldwork in Developing
Countries. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Geographical Review – special issue on conducting fieldwork, Vol. 91, (1-2).
Kapila, S. and Lyon, F. (1994) Expedition Field Techniques: People Oriented Research.
Expedition Advisory Centre: Royal Geographical Society
Laws, Sophie with Caroline Harper and Rachel Marcus (2003) Research for
Development: A Practical Guide London: Sage Publication.
Mikkelsen, Britha (1995) Methods for Development Work and Research: A Guide
for Practitioners, Sage Publications, New Delhi.
Nash, D.J. (2000) ‘Doing independent overseas fieldwork 1: Practicalities and
pitfalls’, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 24:1, pp. 139-149.
Robson, E. and Willis, K (eds.) (1997) Postgraduate Fieldwork in Developing Countries:
A Rough Guide. 2nd Edition. Developing Areas Research Group. London:
RGS-IBG. Available on the DARG website
Scheyvens, R. and Storey, D. (eds) (2003) Development Fieldwork: A Practical Guide.
London and New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Willis. Katie (2003) ‘Fieldwork abroad’, in Alisdair Rogers & Heather Viles (eds) The
Student’s Companion to Geography, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 219-224.
Getting started
Kennedy, Barbara (1992) ‘First catch your hare, Research Designs for Individual
Projects’, in Rodgers, A., Viles, H. and Goudie, A., 1992, The Student’s
Companion to Geography, Blackwell Publishing, pp128-134
Ethics:
Bell, Diane, Pat Caplan & Wazir Jahan Karim (eds) (1993) Gendered Fields: Women,
Men and Ethnography London: Routledge.
Chambers, Robert (1982) Rural Development: Putting the Last First London: IT
Publications.
Chambers, Robert (1997) Whose Reality Counts? Putting the First Last London: IT
Publications.
Corbridge, Stuart (1998) ‘Development ethics: Distance, difference, plausibility’,
Ethics, Place and Environment 1, pp. 35-54.
Denscombe, Martyn (1998, 2003) The Good Research Guide Open University Press.
[This is an all round guide to doing small scale research, but there are
several sustained discussions of ethical problems throughout the book.]
44
Dickson-Swift, V. and James, E. L. et al. (2007) ‘Doing sensitive research: what
challenges do qualitative researchers face?,’ Qualitative Research, 7: 327-353.
Edwards, Michael (1989) ‘Rethinking social development: the search for relevance’,
in David Booth (ed) Rethinking Social Development: Theory, Research and
Practice Harlow: Longman, pp. 279-297.
Katz, C. (1994) Playing the Field: Questions of Fieldwork in Geography. Professional
Geographer, 46 (1).
Kobayashi, A. (1994) Coloring the Field: Gender, Race and the Politics of Fieldwork.
Professional Geographer, 46 (1)
Laine, Marlene de (2000) Fieldwork, Participation and Practice: Ethics and Dilemmas in
Qualitative Research, Sage Publications.
Madge, Clare (1993) ‘Boundary disputes: Comments on Sidaway’, Area 25, pp. 294-
299.
Madge, Clare (1997) ‘The ethics of research in the ‘Third World’, in Elsbeth Robson
and Katie Willis (eds) Postgraduate Fieldwork in Developing areas: A Rough
Guide Second Edition. DARG Monograph No. 9, Royal Geographical Society
(with The Institute of British Geographers).
Mauthner, Melanie et al. (eds) (2002) Ethics in Qualitative Research Sage Publications.
Meth, P with Malaza, K (2003) “Violent research: the ethics and emotions of doing
research with women in South Africa”, Ethics, Place and Environment, Vol. 6
(2) pp 143 – 159.
Mohan, Giles (1999) ‘Not so distant, not so strange: The personal and the political in
participatory research’, Ethics, Place and Environment 2:1, pp. 41-54.
Patai, Daphne (1991) ‘US academics and Third World Women: Is ethical research
possible?’, in Sherna Berger Gluck and Daphne Patai (eds) Women’s Words:
The Feminist Practice of Oral History London: Routledge, pp. 137-154.
Porter, G. (1995) 'Third World' research by 'First World' geographers: an Africanist
perspective. Area, 27 (2).
Radcliffe, Sarah (1994) ‘(Re)presenting postcolonial women: Authority, difference
and feminism’, Area 26:4, pp. 25-32.
Robson, E (2001) Interviews Worth the Tears? Exploring Dilemmas of Research
with Young Carers in Zimbabwe, Ethics, Place and Environment 4, pp 135 –
142.
Sidaway, James (1992) ‘In other worlds: On the politics of research by ‘First World’
geographers in the ‘Third World’’, Area 24:4, pp. 403-408.
Wilson, Ken (1992) ‘Thinking about the ethics of fieldwork’, in Stephen Devereux &
John Hoddinott (eds) Fieldwork in Developing Countries London: Harvester
Wheatsheaf, pp. 179-199.
Interviews:
Arskey, H. & P. Knight (1999) Interviewing for Social Scientists London: Sage.
Baxter, Jamie & John Eyles (1997) ‘Evaluating qualitative research in social
geography: establishing ‘rigour’ in interview analysis’, Transactions of the
Institute of British Geographers 22:4, pp. 505-425.
Borland, K. (1991) ‘That’s not what I said: Interpretive conflict in oral narratives
research’, in S.B. Gluck & D. Patai (eds) Women’s Words: The Feminist Practice
of Oral History London: Routledge.
Fielding, N. (2002) Interviewing London: Sage
Gulbrium, JF and Holstein, JA. Eds. (2001) The Handbook of Interview Research,
London: Sage
45
Kvale, S. (1998) Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviews London:
Sage.
Schoenberger, E. (1991) ‘The corporate interview as a research method in economic
geography’, Professional Geographer, Vol. 43, pp. 180-189
Silverman, D. (1993) Interpreting Qualitative Data London: Sage.
Smith, Katherine E. (2006) ‘Problematising power relations in ‘elite’ interviews’,
Geoforum, 37:4, pp. 643-653
Wengraf, T. (2001) Qualitative Research Interviewing London: Sage
Focus Groups:
Area (1996) – special issue on focus groups, Vol. 28, pp. 113-149
Bradshaw, M. (2001) ‘Contracts and member checks in qualitative research in human
geography: reason for caution?’, Area, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 202-211
Barbour, R and Kitzinger, J (eds) 1999, Developing Focus Group Research, Sage
Publications
Hopkins, P. (2007) ‘Thinking critically and creatively about focus groups’, Area Vol.
39, No .4, pp. 528-535.
Analysing Texts & Images: representation, content and discourse analysis
Agyeman, J. and Evans, B. (2004). Just sustainability: the emerging discourse of
environmental justice in Britain? in Geographical Journal, 170, 155 - 164.
Aitkin, Stuart (1997) ‘Analysis of texts: Armchair theory and couch-potato
geography’, in Robin Flowerdew and David Martin (eds.) Methods in Human
Geography London: Longman, pp. 197-212.
Atkinson, P. (1999) ‘ Representations of conflict in the western media: the
manufacture of a barbaric periphery’, in T. Skelton and T. Allen (eds.) Culture
and Global Change. Routledge: London and New York
Banks, Marcus (2001) Visual Methods in Social Research London: Sage.
Bell, Morag (1994) ‘Images, myths and alternative geographies of the Third World’,
in Derek Gregory, Ron Martin & Graham Smith (eds.) Human Geography:
Society, Space and Social Science Macmillan, pp. 174-199.
Belsey, C. (2002). Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short
Introductions, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 117 pp.
Bickerstaff, K. and Walker, G. (2002). Risk, responsibility and blame: an analysis of
vocabularies of motive in air-pollution(ing) discourses in Environment and
Planning A, 34, 2175 - 2192.
Byrne, J.; Glover, L. and Martinez, C. (2002). The Production of Unequal Nature in:
Environmental Justice: Discourse in International Political Economy (Eds
Byrne, J.; Glover, L. and Martinez, C.), Transaction Publishers, Piscataway,
261 - 291.
Cleasby, Adrian (1995) What in the World is Going On?: British Television and Global
Affairs London: Third World and Environment Broadcasting Project
Chouliaraki, L. and Fairclough, N. (1999). Discourse in Late Modernity: ReThinking
Critical Discourse Analysis. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Cosgrove, Dennis (1994) ‘Contested global visions: One-World, While-Earth and
the Apollo space photographs’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers
84:2, pp. 270-294.
Dorling, Daniel & David Fairbairn (1997) Mapping: Ways of Representing the World
46
London: Longman.
Doy, G. (1996) "Out of Africa: Orientalism, 'Race' and the Female Body". Body and
Society, 2 (4), pp.17-44.
Edwards, Elizabeth (2001) Raw Histories: Photographs, Anthropology and Museums
Oxford: Berg.
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analyzing Discourse and Text: Textual Analysis for Social
Research. Routledge, London.
Fairclough, N. (2007). Strategy and discourse in globalization and development. In:
Globalization and Policies of Development (Eds Dobrescu, P.; Taranu, A. and
Bargaoanu, A.), National School of Political Science and Public Administration,
Bucharest.
Frow, J. (1985). Discourse and Power in Economy and Society, 14, 192 - 214.
Gamson, W. and Modigliani, A. (1989). Media discourse and public opinion on
nuclear power: a constructionist approach in American Journal of Sociology, 95, 1
- 37.
Gilbert, N. and Mulkay, M. (1984). Opening Pandora's Box: A Sociological Analysis
of Scientists' Discourse. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hajer, M. A. (Ed), (1995). The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological
Modernization and the Policy Process Oxford University Press, Pages pp.
Harley, J.B. (1992) ‘Deconstructing the map’, in T. Barnes & J.S. Duncan (eds.)
Writing Worlds: Discourse, Text and Metaphor in the Representation of Landscape
London: Routledge.
Howarth, D. (2000). Discourse. Open University Press, Buckingham.
Jarosz, L. (1992) ‘Constructing the dark continent: metaphor as geographic
representation of Africa’, Geografiska Annaler, Series B Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 105-
116.
Jeanrenaud, S. (2002). Changing people/nature representations in international
conservation discourses in Institute of Development Studies Bulletin, 33, 111.
Journal of Geography in Higher Education (2004) Symposium on ‘Geography &
representation’. 28:2.
Lidchi, H. (1999) ‘Finding the right image: British development NGOs and the
regulation of imagery’, in T. Skelton and T. Allen (eds.) Culture and Global
Change. Routledge: London and New York
Livingstone, D. (1991) ‘The moral discourse of climate: historical considerations on
race, place and virtue’. Journal of Historical Geography, 17, 413-34.
Loomba, A. (1998) Colonialism/Postcolonialism. Routledge: London and New York
Lutz, C.A. and Collins, J.L. (1993) Reading ‘National Geographic’. University of
Chicago Press: Chicago.
Mills, S. (1997). Discourse. The New Critical Idiom, Routledge, London, 177 pp.
Mulkay, M. (1981). Action, belief or scientific discourse? A possible way of ending
intellectual vassalage in social studies in science in Philosophy of the Social
Sciences, 11, 163 - 171.
Myers, Garth Andrew (2001) ‘Introductory human geography textbook
representations of Africa’, Professional Geographer 53:4, pp. 522-532.
Neuendorf, K. (2002). The Content Analysis Guidebook. Sage, California
New Internationalist (1988) ‘The Strange World of Photography’.
Parker, I. (1992). Discourse Dynamics: Critical Analysis for Social and Individual
Psychology. Routledge, London.
Rocha, D. and Deusdara, B. (2006). Content analysis and discourse analysis: the
linguistic and its surroundings in Delta, 22, 29 - 52.
Rose, Gillian (1996) ‘Teaching visualised geographies: Towards a methodology for
the interpretation of visual materials’, Journal of Geography in Higher
47
Education 20:3, pp. 281-294.
Rose, G. (2007) Visual Methodologies Second Edition London: Sage.
Said, E. (1978) Orientalism. Penguin: London.
Silverman, D. (2001) Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Text
and Interaction. London: Sage
Stott, R. (1989) 'The Dark Continent: Africa as female body in Haggard's adventure
fiction', Feminist Review, 32, pp.69-89.
Taylor, D. E. (2000). The rise of the environmental justice paradigm: injustice
framing and the social construction of environmental discourses in American
Behavioral Scientist, 43, 508 - 580.
Titscher, S. et al (2000) Methods of text and discourse analysis. London: Sage.
Wetherell, M. et al (eds) (2001) Discourse as data: A guide for analysis. London:
Sage
Williams, S. J. (2003). Beyond meaning, discourse and the empirical world: critical
realist reflections on health in Social Theory and Health, 1, 42 - 71.
Vujakovic, Peter (1989) ‘Mapping for world development’, Geography 74:2, pp. 97-
105.
Wodak, R. and Meyer, M. (2001). Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. Sage,
London.
Participatory Methods:
Abbot, Jo (1999) ‘Beyond tools and methods: Reviewing developments in
participatory learning and action’, Environment and Urbanization 11:1, pp.
231-234.
Chambers, R. (1991) ‘Short cut and participatory methods for gaining social
information for projects’, in Cernea, M. (ed) Putting People First: Sociological
Variables in Rural Development. Oxford: OUP.
Chambers, R. (1992) Rural Appraisal: Rapid, Relaxed and Participatory. IDS
Discussion Paper 311. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies.
Chambers, Robert (1994) ‘The origins and practice of participatory rural appraisal’,
World Development 22:7, pp. 953-969.
Chambers, Robert (1994) ‘Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): Analysis and
experience’, World Development 22:9, pp. 1253-1268.
Chambers, Robert (1994) ‘Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): Challenges, potentials
and paradigm’, World Development 22:10, pp. 1437-1454
Chambers, Robert (1997) Whose Reality Counts: Putting the Last First. London: IT
Publications.
Chambers, Robert (2002) Participatory Workshops: A sourcebook of 21 sets of ideas and
activities London: Earthscan
Cornwall, Andrea, Samuel Musyoki & Garett Pratt (2001) 'In search of a new
impetus: Practitioners' reflections on PRA and participation in Kenya'. IDS
Working Paper NO. 131. (www.ids.ac.uk)
Goebel, A. (1998) ‘Process, perception and power: Notes from ‘participatory’
research in a Zimbabwean resettlement area’, Development and Change 29, pp.
277-305.
Hinton, R. (1996) ‘Using participatory methods for gender and health research’.
Anthropology in Action, 3, (1).
Holland, J. & J. Blackburn (eds.) (1998) Whose Voice? Participatory Research and Policy
Change London: IT Publications.
Kapila, S. and Lyon, F. (1994) Expedition Field Techniques: People Oriented
48
Research. Expedition Advisory Centre: Royal Geographical Society.
Kindon, Sarah, Rachel Pain & Mike Kesby (eds) (2007) Participatory action Research
Approaches and Methods, London: Routledge
Kumar, Somesh (2002) Methods for Community Participation: A Complete Guide for
Practitioners London: ITDG Publishing
Linney, B. (1995) Pictures, people and power: people-centered visual aids for
development.
Mahiri, I. O. (1998) The Environmental Knowledge Frontier: Transects with
Experts and Villagers. Journal of International Development, 10, pp.527-537.
McCracken, J.A., Pretty, J. N. and Conway, G.R. (1988) An Introduction to Rapid
Rural Appraisal for Agricultural Development. London: IIED.
Mohan, Giles (1999) ‘Not so distant, not so strange: The personal and the political in
participatory research’, Ethics, Place and Environment 2:1, pp. 41-54.
Moser, Caroline & Cathy McIlwaine (1999) ‘Participatory urban appraisal and its
application for research on violence’, Environment and Urbanization 11:2, pp.
203-226.
Mosse, D. (1994) ‘Authority, gender and knowledge: Theoretical reflections on the
practice of participatory rural appraisal’, Development and Change 25, pp. 497-
526.
Nelson, N. and S. Wright (eds.) (1995) Power and Participatory Development London:
IT Publications.
Oakley, P. et al (1991) Projects with People: The Practice of Participation in Rural
Development.
O'Reilly, K. (2005) Ethnographic Methods, London: Routledge
Pratt, Garett (2001) 'Practitioners' critical reflections on PRA and participation in
Nepal'. IDS Working Paper 122. (www.ids.ac.uk)
Shah, P. (1995) "Farmers as Analysts, Facilitators and Decision-Makers" in N.
Nelson and S. Wright (eds.) Power and Participatory Development: Theory and
Practice.
Uphoff, N.T. (1992) Learning from Gal Oya: Possibilities for Participatory
Development and Post-Newtonian Science.
Welbourn, A. (1992) ‘Rapid rural appraisal, gender and health – alternative ways of
listening to needs’, IDS Bulletin 23:1, pp. 8-18.
Participant Observation & Ethnography :
Cloke, Paul et al. (2004) ‘Doing ethnographies’, in Paul Cloke et al. (eds) Practising
Human Geography, London: Sage, pp. 169-205.
Cook, I. and Crang, M. (1995) Doing Ethnographies.
Emerson, Robert M. (1995) Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
Fetterman, D. (1989) Ethnography: Step by Step London: Sage.
Hammersley, Martyn (1992) What’s Wrong With Ethnography? London: Routledge.
Hammersley, Martyn & Paul Atkinson (2007) Ethnography: Principles in Practice
Third Edition. London: Routledge.
Herbert, S. (2000) ‘For ethnography,’ Progress in Human Geography, 24, pp. 550-568.
Johnson, Jeffrey C. (1990) Selecting Ethnographic Informants London: Sage.
Jorgensen, Danny L. (1989) Participant Observation London: Sage
Katz, Cindi (1992) ‘All the world is staged: Intellectuals and the projects of
ethnography’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 10, pp. 495-510.
Katz, Cindi (1996) ‘The expeditions of conjurers: Ethnography, power and pretense’,
49
in Diane Wolf (eds.) Feminist Dilemmas in Fieldwork Oxford: Westview, pp.
170-184.
LeCompte, Margaret D. & Jean J. Schensul (1999) Analyzing and Interpreting
Ethnographic Data London: Altamira Press.
Schensul, Jean J., Margaret D. LeCompte, Bonnie K. Nastasi & Stephen P. Borgatti
(1999) Enhanced Ethnographic Methods London: Altamira Press
Silvey, Rachel (2003) ‘Gender and mobility: Critical ethnographies of migration in
Indonesia’, in Alison Blunt et al. (eds) Cultural Geography in Practice, London:
Arnold, pp. 91-102.
Questionnaires and surveys:
Bulmer, M. & Warwick, D. (eds.) (1993) Social Research in Developing Countries:
Surveys and Censuses in the Third World London: UCL Press.
Converse, J. (1986) Survey Questionnaire: Handcrafting the Standardised Questionnaire
London: Sage.
De Vaus, D 2002 Surveys in Social Research London: Routledge. Not based around doing
research in the global South, but a very comprehensive text on the design and use of
questionnaire surveys in general. Don’t get lost in the detail – there’s enough here for a
whole masters-level methods course – but use this to think about how questionnaires fit
within an overall research process.
Fink, A. (1995) The Survey Handbook London: Sage.
Foddy, W. (1993) Constructing Questions for Interviews and Questionnaires:
Theory and Practice in Social Research.
Frazer, L. & Lawley, M. (2000) Questionnaire Design and Administration Brisbane:
Wiley.
Mikkelsen, B. (1995) Methods for Development Work and Research: A Guide for
Practitioners London: Sage.
Oppenheim, A.N. (1992) Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement
London: Pinter Publishers
Overton, J and van Dierman, P 2003 “Using Quantitative Techniques” in R
Scheyvens and D Storey (eds.) Development Fieldwork: a practical guide.
London: Sage. pp. 37-56. Again, a brief chapter, but has some examples of data analysis,
and the section on ‘pitfalls’ towards the end of the chapter raises some important issues for
any quantitative-based development research.
Simon, D 2006 “Your Questions Answered? Conducting Questionnaire Surveys” in
V Desai and R Potter (eds.) Doing Development Research. London: Sage.
pp.163-172. A much shorter reference, so doesn’t have nearly the breadth of coverage of
De Vaus, but has useful information on the actual conduct of questionnaires in the field.
Wilson, N. (1994) Questionnaire Design: A Practical Introduction Newtonabbey:
University of Ulster.
Other Topics:
Bennett, K (2004) Emotionally intelligent research, Area, Vol. 36.4, pp 414 – 422.
Booth, W., Colomb, G. & Williams J. (1995) The Craft of Research (Chicago,
University of Chicago Press.
Dodman, D (2003) Shooting in the city: an autophotographic exploration of the
urban environment in Kingston, Jamaica, Area 35.3, pp 293 – 304.
Kennedy, B (1992) ‘First catch your hare…Research designs for individual projects’
in Rogers, A, Viles H and Goudie A (eds) The Student’s Companion to Geography,
50
First Edition (Oxford, Blackwell) 128-134
Kesby, M (2000) Participatory diagramming: deploying qualitative methods through
an action research epistemology, Area, Vol. 32.4, pp 423 – 435.
Mawdsley, E (2006) Using the world wide web for development research, in Desai,
V and Potter, R (eds) Doing Development Research, Sage.
Meth, P (2003) “Entries and Omissions: using solicited diaries in Geographical
Research”. Area, Vol 35.2 pp 195 – 205.
Muller, M (2007) “What’s in a word? Problematizing translation between
languages”, Area, vol 39.2, pp 206 – 213.
Nash, David (2000) ‘Doing independent overseas fieldwork 2: Getting funding’,
Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 24:2, pp. 425-433.
Rose, G (2001) Visual methodologies: An introduction to the interpretation of visual
materials, London, Sage.
Smith, F.M. (1996) Problematising Language: limitations and possibilities in 'foreign
language' research. Area, 28 (2)
Smith, F (2003) Working in Different Cultures, in Clifford, N and Valentine, G (eds)
Key Methods in Geography, Sage, London.
Thomas, F. 2007 Eliciting emotions in HIV / AIDS research: a diary-based
approach, Area, 39, 74 - 82.
Watson, E (2004) ‘What a dolt one is’: Language learning and fieldwork in
Geography, Area, Vol. 36 (1), pp 59 – 68.
Young, L and Barrett, H (2001) Adapting visual methods: action research with
Kampala street children, Area, Vol. 33.2, pp 141 – 152.
51
Methodology texts and websites
http://writing.colostate.edu/references/research/content/
http://academic.csuohio.edu/kneuendorf/content/resources/flowc.htm
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Sections/textan.html
Useful Websites
http://home.developmentgateway.org/ Development Gateway. Good starting point
for information about current development issues, volunteering opportunities etc.
www.fco.gov.uk Foreign and Commonwealth Office
www.latinamericabureau.org/ Latin American Bureau. British-based organisation
which seeks to promote understanding and interest in Latin America. Includes
information about volunteering in Latin America.
www.oecd.org Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Useful for
secondary economic data.
www.iied.org/sarl/pla_notes/ Participatory Learning and Action. Information
about PRA and other participatory methods.
www.ibt.org.uk/3WE/ 3WE Organisation. Campaigns for better reporting on
international issues by the British media.
http://www.oneworld.net One World site. Umbrella site for development
organisations and NGOs/ community organisations in the Global South.
www.roughguide-betterworld.com/ Rough Guide to a Better World.
www.undp.org United Nations Development Programme. Useful for secondary data
on development indicators.
www.worldbank.org World Bank. Useful for secondary economic data.
52
DEVELOPING AREAS RESEARCH GROUP
Membership form
A. Name ………………………………………………………
Address ………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
E-mail: ………………………………………………………
Please tick as appropriate
□ I wish to receive news of DARG events and activities, and agree to DARG using
my e-mail to inform me of these. DARG will not release my contact information to
any other parties.
□ I do not have access to the internet, and would like to receive information posted
on the DARG website by hard copy at my postal address
B. To be completed by those wishing to start paying by Standing Order
I would like to pay by Standing Order. Please send me details to set up a standing
order (or e-mail request to p.j.meth@sheffield.ac.uk)
……………………………………………………….
Signature
C. To be completed by those paying by cheque (made payable to ‘Developing
Areas Research Group)
I wish to join DARG and enclose (please tick appropriate box):
□Annual membership fee of £5
□Annual membership fee of £2 for unwaged/ student
□5 year membership fee of £20
□Life membership fee of £50
……………………………………………………….
Signature
When completed, please send this form to:
Dr Paula Meth
Department of Town and Regional Planning
University of Sheffield
Winter Street
Sheffield S10 2TN