Qualitative Research Methodology - NIAS - 18 Jan 2018

Prof. Dr S.
Gregory
Director, HRDC, and SDE
Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Former Head,
Department of Anthropology, Kannur University
Email: gregorys3@gmailcom
Consciousness Studies Programme

National Institute of Advanced Studies
Indian Institute of Science Campus
Bangalore
18 January 2019
1
Three Starting Points of Any Scientific
Endeavour, particularly so, in a Social
Science Research
• What is the Research Question?
• Who is the Researcher?
• Who are the Researched?
The Relationship among them is crucial to

the Successful outcome of the research
2
• SCIENTIFIC Research is an
Effort
• To gain new KNOWLEDGE or
• To build on the Existing
knowledge
• It is a Movement/Journey from
KNOWN TO UNKNOWN
3
Scientific Research can be conceived as
• A Productive Endeavour going through a Project Cycle
• A Transition from Inputs to Outcome to Output and
to finally resulting in Impact
• Knowledge Production through A Scientific Journey
from the Known to the Unknown
• Inputs is preceded by Planning and Designing
• Outcome is preceded by Execution in the Field
• Output is preceded by Processing of the Outcome
• And Finally, the Impact is preceded by Dissemination
of the Output
4
Planning and Designing
Inputs
Execution in the Field
Outcome
Processing of the Outcome
Output
Dissemination of the Output
Impact
5
Planning and Designing
• It is a process involving Decision Making on the different
aspects of the Research through a preparation of the Research
Design and the Researcher becoming Self Prepared (through
Self-Reflexivity
Inputs
• Like in a Production endeavour, Getting Ready with the basic
inputs of the Research which would include
• Field and the People (the Researched)
• Existing Knowledge (Literature) on the Area of Research (Topic)
• Theoretical Framework/Testable Hypothesis
• Approach/Methodology/Techniques and Tools
6
Execution in the Field
• Rapport Establishment
• Recording procedures
Outcome
• Primary / Secondary Data
• Qualitative and Quantitative
•
7
Processing of the Outcome
• Data Coding:
Classification/Organization
• Data analysis and Interpretation
Output
• Insights/Concept/Theory Building
• Writing of Report / Thesis
8
Dissemination of the Output
• Publication of the Results
• Reaching out to the Public, Planners and
Executers
Impact: Action /Utilisation/Consumption
• Immediate/Long term, direct/Indirect
• Policy approach/Programme
9
Social science research aims to understand
the social reality (ontology) and generate
valid knowledge (epistemology) using
appropriate procedures and strategies or
methods (Methodology)
Two major paradigms or approaches that
underlie social science research :
Positivist and interpretivist or
quantitative and qualitative
10
• Positivist approach focused on the methods
of natural science - becoming the model of
early social sciences such as Psychology and
later Sociology
• For interpretivists: Human beings differ from
material world and the distinction should be
mirrored on the methods of investigation
• Qualitative research - critical of Natural
Science model
11
Natural Science Model
Positivism, Naturalism and Objectivism
• From 19th century onwards: Traditional and
Favoured Approach to social and behavioral
research is quantitative
• which has its base in the positivist and early
natural science paradigm, influencing social
science throughout 19th and the first half of the
20th century
12
• Positivism – An approach to science, based on belief in
universal laws and insistence on objectivity and neutrality
• Positivists follow natural science approach by testing
theories and hypotheses
• Methods of natural/physical science stem from 17th, 18th
19th centuries
• Comte coined the term Positivism and Sociology and
insisted on the natural science approach in the study of
society 13
• One of the Traits: Quest for objectivity & distancing
between the researcher and the researched to avoid biases
• Searched for patterns and regularities on the belief that
universal laws and rules or law-like generalities exist for
human action, findings generalisable and be haviour
predicted
• Believe that numerical measurement, statistical analysis
and search for cause and effect lie at the heart of all research
14
• Positivist approach develops from a theoretical perspective;
very often research begins with a hypothesis
• The model of science adopted is hypothetico-deductive;
moves from general to specific; main aim: to test theories
• Danger of this approach: Perception of social world treated
as objective or absolute and everyday subjective
interpretations and the context of the research neglected
• But the truth is that science, natural or social, cannot be
totally value-free, much more so in social science
15
Paradigm Shift
• In the 1960’s, traditional view of science criticised for its
aims and methods by both natural and social scientists,
• Going beyond the simplistic positivist approach and
undergoing a paradigm shift
• Positivist stance in social science attacked for its emphasis
on reality as being ‘out there’ separate from the individual
and maintained that there was no objective reality
independent of the people under study
• Quantitative research criticised for its neglect of the
participants’ perspectives within the context of their lives
16
Interpretive/Descriptive Approach
• Has its roots in philosophy and human sciences, particularly,
in anthropology, history and philosophy
• Approaches people not as individuals existing in
vacuum but exploring their world in their life contexts
• Believe that understanding human experience as
important as focusing on explanation/ prediction/
control
• Has a long history, with its roots in 19th century to
Dilthey’s philosophy, Weberian sociology and GH
Mead’s social psychology
17
• Interpretive view can be linked to Weber’s verstehen
approach
• Verstehen – understanding something in its context –
having the elements of empathy in the sense of reflective
reconstruction and interpretation of action of others
• Weber argued: understanding in social sciences different
from explanation in natural sciences; differentiated
between nomothetic rule-governed methods and
idiographic methods that are linked not to the general
laws of nature but to the actions of human beings
• Stressed on Qualitative approach in social sciences
18
• Qualitative approach stresses on the context-bound
nature of people’s experiences
• To understand socially-constructed nature of the world
• Complete objectivity/neutrality impossible to achieve
• Researchers cannot be divorced from the phenomenon
under study and hence reflexivity a must
• Replication impossible
• Human beings do not always act logically and predictably
• The social world not orderly and systematic; hence SSR,
all the more important to be structured and systematic
Qualitative Research
 A form of social enquiry, focusing on the way people
interpret and make sense of their experiences and the
world in which they live
 An umbrella Term with different approaches with
same aim:
 To understand the social reality of individuals,
groups and cultures
 To explore the behaviour, perspectives, feelings,
and experiences of people and what lies at the core
of their lives
 Also to explore change and conflict
20
 Covers a variety of disciplines – Sociology,
Social Cultural Anthropology, Social
Psychology, Economics, Education, Political
Science, Law ….
 Concerns with
 Meanings and the way people understand
things (Human activity as a product of
symbols and meanings)
 Patterns of Behaviour (regularities in the
activities of social group; Expressed as
patterns of behaviour)
21
Historical Background
 Has its roots in Anthropology, Philosophy and
Sociology
 First used by Anthropologists and Sociologists in the
early decades of 20th century, though existed in non-
structured form earlier –describing the stories of
peoples and cultures – but relatively unsystematic and
journalistic and much of it seen today as unscientific
 1920’s and 1030’s: Malinowski – 1922; Park and Burgess,
(Sociologists of Chicago School) 1925; Margaret Mead:
1935; Adopting more focused approaches – Field-based
researches
22
Historical Background
 Since 1960’s, steady growth, starting with the
emergence of approaches from symbolic
interactionist perspective (Blumer after GH mead
and CH Cooley) and development of grounded
theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967)
 In Psychology, towards the end of 1970’s and in the
1980’s: Phenomenological research approaches
rooted in the ideas of Husserl
 Educational Sociology in the 70’s and 80’s
23
 Different terms/labels to refer to Qualitative
Research:
 Naturalistic enquiry
 Field Research
 Case study Approaches
 Interpretive (or interpretative) Research
 Ethnography
 All focusing on the lived experience, interaction, and
language of human beings
24
 Variety of approaches and procedures available to
achieve the aims of QR
 Ethnography
 Grounded Theory
 Phenomenology
 Conversational Analysis
 Discourse Analysis
 Cooperative Enquiry
 Action Research, etc.
 Many have common characteristics and use similar
procedures while differences exist in data collection
analysis
25
 Ethnographers focus on cultures and customs
 Grounded Theorists investigate social processes
and interaction
 Phenomenologists consider the meanings of
experience and describe the life world
 Covers a variety of disciplines – Sociology, Social
Cultural Anthropology, Social Psychology ….
 Basis lies in the interpretative approach to social
reality and in the description of lived experience of
human beings
26
Characteristics
 Primacy of Data – rich/indepth data – basis for
theorising – inductive – moving from specific to
general - not static but dynamic; Focus on process as
well as outcome
 Context-bound
 Immersed in the natural setting
 Emic perspective – native’s perceptions
 Thick description – describe, analyse and interpret
 Research relationship – close / position of equality
 Data Collection and analysis proceed together
27
Ethnographic Research
 Qualitative Research Par Excellence
 Literally – Description of peoples or
cultures
 Origin as a research strategy in the
works of social anthropologists
 To provide detailed and holistic acount of
the culture and lives of small isolated
tribes, as the endangered species – natives
in the remote and exotic regions –
Malinowski, Margaret Mead
28
 Spent considerable time in the field
 Observe from the position of Attached
detachment (A dichotomous position)
 Journey of discovery
 Meanings and explanations emerge as a result
 Routine and normal aspects of everyday life
become worthy of consideration
 The mundane and ordinary as valid as special
events and ceremonies
29
How people see their world
How the ‘natives’ understand
things
The meanings they attach
To grasp the native’s point of view
Looking into the inter-linkages
30
 It is field-based
 It is conducted in the settings in which real people actually live,
rather than in laboratories where the researcher controls the
elements of the behaviour to be observed or measured.
 It is personalized
 It is conducted by researchers who are in day-to day, face-to-
face contact with the people they are studying and who are
thus both participants in and observers of the lives under
study.
 It is multifactoral
 It is conducted through the use of two or more data collection
techniques - which may be qualitative or quantitative in nature
- in order to get a conclusion
31
 It requires a long term commitment
 i.e. it is conducted by researcher who intends to interact with
people they are studying for an extended period of time
 It is inductive
 It is conducted in such a way to use an accumulation of
descriptive detail to build toward general patterns or
explanatory theories rather than structured to test hypotheses
derived from existing theories or models
 It is holistic
 It is conducted so as to yield the fullest possible portrait
of the group under study
32
Ethnography as a Topic:
Lifestyle Meanings
Studying other cultures: Exotic and
Routine
 Malinowski: The Argonauts of Western
Pacific
 Mead: Coming of Age in Samoa: A study of
Adolescence and Sex in Primitive Societies
33
Ethnography as a description:
 Depth and detail, accuracy crucial
 To provide detailed pictures of events
or cultures
 Idiographic approach to ethnography
 Naturalism, key concern of
ethnography;
34
Ethnography and Theory (Ethnology):
 Idiographic approach and the Nomethetic approach
(Generalising, comparative, theoretical)
 is directed to produce theoretical, analytical, and ‘thick’
descriptions
 Further on , as a test-bed of theory
 A continuum with two extreme poles
 Both these approaches not mutually exclusive
 Locating it in the natural setting as well as in a
theoretical context
 Comparative study of ethnographic accounts
(communities) is ethnology
35
Ethnography and Theory (Ethnology):
 Holistic approach, stressing
relationships, connections,
interdependency among parts
 Whole is more than sum of its parts
 It is more than a description
 A construction, not a reproduction, not a
literal photograph of the situation
 Involves writing and personal skills
36
Research Context: the Field
 A methodological orientation, central to
ethnography is to Study ‘at first hand what people do
and say in particular contexts’
 Multiple Perception of its End Point
 Inscription (Salvage Ethnography)
 Thick description (Geertz)
 Cultural translation; Texualisation (translating
experience into text) – Clifford and Marcus
 It involves Field work and Participant Observation
37
Methods and Techniques
 Variety of Research Methods and Techniques
 Important Ones: Interview and Observation
 Interview draws on the inherent skill of the researcher - the
ability to conduct a conversation – but is more than a casual
conversation in that it involves a set of assumptions and
understandings
 Observation does not rely on what people say they do but is
more direct than that
 Draws on the direct evidence of the eye; based on the premise that
for certain purposes, it is best to observe what actually happens
 Ideal/Actual; Native/Researcher Perspective; Recording
Variations
38
Interview
 Interview takes place when there is consent on the part of
someone to take part in the interview – Informed Consent
– Not by secret recording – the research purpose is
understood and agreed upon
 Interviewee’s words treated as ‘on the record’ and for the
record; it is to be taken seriously
 The Agenda is set by the researcher – right to control and
the direction of the discussion - Degree varies as per the
style
 How detailed the required information
 How many informants to be contacted, etc.
39
Interview
Types of Interview
 Structured Interviews (tight control over the format
(Quantification) – Interview schedule/Questionnaire
 Semi-structured – still has a clear list of issues but flexible
in the order of the topics and more open-ended
 Unstructured – Here role of researcher as unintrusive as
possible
 As if in a continuum; distinguished by the degree of control
exercised by the researcher over the nature of the responses
and the length of the answers by the respondent
40
Interview
Types of Interview
 One-to-One Interview – Face to Face - between one
researcher and one informant
 Group Interview – involving about four to five people –
helps to reveal consensus views – challenging one another’s
views – may generate richer responses – to cross-check –
verify - validate – enhances the reliability – Negatively,
might drown out certain views – only those views that are
acceptable might emerge
41
Interview
Types of Interview
 Focus Group Interview – between six and nine –
along with a moderator – to explore attitudes and
perceptions, feelings and ideas about a topic (non-
sensitive, non-controversial)
 Useful to explore attitudes and perceptions, feelings and
ideas about a topic on sensitive, non-controversial topics
 Discussion focused and revolves on an idea introduced
by the moderator
 Emphasis on collective rather on aggregate view
 Might lead to insights, otherwise not possible
42
Interview
Interviewer Effect
 Personal identity: Differential response based on
perception of the interviewer – sex, age, and ethnic origins;
makes a difference in rapport building; also based on the
nature of topic; a right climate is to be created
 Self-presentation – Adopt a passive and neutral stance –
non-antagonistic – remaining neutral and non-committal -
Helps to open up and not to provoke and make the other
defensive - Listening skill
 Personal involvement
43
Observation
Two Kinds of Methods
 Systematic Observation – origin traced to Social
Psychology – for quantitative data
 Participant Observation – Social Anthropology; to
infiltrate situations – to understand culture and processes
 Both rely on Direct Observation
 Fieldwork: collecting data in real life situations – the
world out there – involving observation as an empirical
method of data collection
 Natural settings - Without altering by presence
 Issues of Perception, recognised as a problem to be
addressed
44
Observation
Participant Observation
 The method in which the observer participates in the daily life
of the people under study, either openly as a researcher or
covertly in some disguised role – observing things that happen
– listening to what is said – Questioning people over some
length of time
 Helps to preserve the naturalness of the setting by minimising
disruption
 Outsider In – as an insider – Capturing the meanings of action
from the participant’s point of view (emic)
 Emphasis on depth rather than breadth of data – detailed
study – intricate details and on the routine – holistic –
analysing relationships
45
Observation
 Participation means, being there and in the middle of the
action
 Another variety: To hang up with the group rather than
becoming a member
 Three Possibilities:
 Total participation (researcher’s role hidden);
 Participation in Normal Setting (Role known to the
‘gatekeepers’ but not to the majority;
 Participation as Observer - Role openly recognised – Having
the advantage of gaining informed consent from those
involved – Shadowing the person through normal life – first
hand witness in intimate detail
46
Observation
 Starting Fieldwork: purpose – to learn about the situation –
hence no pre-established hypothesis to be tested – Longer in
the site better - Not a Hit and Run Method – Time needed to
gain trust – to establish rapport – foster insights;
 What to observe – Better to be fairly non-selective – to begin
with, to get an overall feel of the situation – for this holistic
observation a must – Overall feel, a valuable background and a
prelude to more focused observation – moving from broad
canvas to the specific – strange and unusual demands closer
scrutiny – Moving further to things unexpected or
contradictory – Atypical – Finally to identify issues and
problems from insider’s perspective – their views, beliefs and
experiences 47
Observation
Participation and Observation
 Systematic Record of Field Notes - Field Diary, Filed Jotting, Field
Log Field Notes – Human memory not only selective but also frail –
Easy to forget things – ‘Don’t sleep over the data’ is the dictum – Field
notes is the urgent business; Taking field notes while engaging in the
action as a participant – disrupts naturalness of the setting – discloses
the researcher’s role as observer (but no rule of thumb)
 Ethics – if total participation (covert research), Informant Consent
not possible – Ensuring none of the involved suffer – or Identities of
Informant not revealed – possibility of confidential material (most
likely in this method than in others ,owing to closeness and intimacy;
might be inadvertently disclosed or as a result of trust and raport);
ethical question: whether to use such material and if so how to use;
Ensured that none suffers; use should avoid disclosure of identities;
48
Researcher as a Participant and as an Observer
 To describe the social world in which one is part of
 To be part of and yet to be at a distance
 The extent to be a participant and an Observer –
relates to one’s proximity to the Researched
 Attached Detachment/Detached Attachment
 To have the Insider (Emic) view and to develop an
outsider (Etic) view Dialoguing between the two; A
balancing Act
 Strictly, interview & observation represent two
views: Emic/Etic; Need to blend both
49
Researcher as a Participant and as an Observer
 Could the Researcher become immersed in Field?
 Immersion helps to experience the inside reality –
ordinary routines and conditions as well as the
constraints and pressures – To get at the meaning
behind their behavior
 Yet, researcher is researcher, never could become a
total insider; hence always an outsider, a ‘cultural
alien’ except for the purpose of data collection
(ethnographic Participation)
50
Intimacy and Rapport Establishment
 Undertaking Field research by ‘doing and becoming’
whetever they are interested about, to the extent possible
 Need to establish rapport through some degree of intimacy
for successful qualitative research
 Debate occurs, however, over the degree of intimacy that
is appropriate in a study, and over the impact that intimacy
has on the study's findings
 Even with intensive resocialisation, never become a
member in the same sense as the native.
 MNS - An ethnographer is thrice-born
51
Observation
Self, Identity and PO
 Self: Researcher as a person – Key instrument – hence, little by way of entry
or equipment cost – Training cost nil – Self, altogether a straight forward
advantage
 Access to Settings: Need to gain access – if taking a role, necessary to have
the credentials – Being under cover, cannot be a sore thumb – Age and sex
factor – need of necessary skill and qualification – many roles that could
not be adopted
 Selecting Topic: constraints for choice – age, sex, ethnicity, qualification,
skill, social background, life style; though most revealing and sensitive
method, most demanding – not a soft option – deep commitment –
limitations of total PO – lead to participation in the setting and
participation as observer -
52
Observation
Self, Identity and PO
 Going Native: Walking a tight rope between involvement and
passion – participation and obseration – attachment and
detachment; Participant as observer (Insider out -
Detachment) and Observer as Participant (Outsider in -
Attachment) – Not to lose the twin perspective
 Dangers of Fieldwork: Physical danger – doing research on
drug – might look well-suited – physical danger – danger
posed by lifestyle itself – impact on health of a changed diet
and accommodation; legal prosecution for having been a part
in the scene – no researcher immunity; might jeopardise social
well being ; incompatibility of sustaining two life styles;
Psychological danger
53
Observation
 Advantages: Self as basic equipment – non-
interference, retaining naturalness – gain rich
insights about complex realities – Context sensitive –
offer Holistic explanation – subjects’ point of view to
get into the meaning of behaviour
 Disadvantages: Confusion regarding the role to be
taken – Demanding – danger – Relibaility is open to
doubt – Problem of generalising, representativeness
– ethical problems
54
The Role of Self and Reflexivity
 Self/personal Equation Plays significant role
in production and interpretation of data
 Identity, values and beliefs cannot be
entirely eliminated
 In contrast to positivistic approach to social
science research
 Self, inevitably an integral part of analysis
55
 Personal Equation; Need for Self-reflexivity (Controls
and Experiments – Oscar Lewis)
 Scientific approach insists on Objectivity
 If unable to control subjectivity, declare it open – Nadel
 The requirement of an ethnographer to make a ‘public
account of the self’
 As the researcher’s identity, values and beliefs become part of
the equation and cannot be eliminated as an influence on the
findings of the project
 Celebrate the subjectivity – New ethnography (Post-
modernism)
56
 Meaning attached to things and language we
use to describe
 Product of our own culture, background and
experience
 Can describe only as we see, shaped by our
culture
 Seen as a creative work of one’s own
 A partial account
57
 Distance between occurrence and presentation
 How representative
 Has to traverse this distance
 Dichotomy between naturalism and reflexivity
 Between being where the action is and
constructing the social world
 Representation or construction?
58
 Putting Researcher’s Self
 Calls for a degree of introspection, a private act
 Presenting the self and its possible influence to the
public
 Varies based on topic, method used and the possible
audience; personal beliefs, interests, experience ,
expertise which could have a bearing on the findings
 personal details: age, sex, social background,
ethnicity, education, work experience
59
 Could be dealt with in two ways:
 Being on One’s guard to distance
themselves from their subjective reality;
Suspend judgments during the period of
research
 Though aware of the role, proceeding on
the basis of exercising control; Allowing
them to operate in a detached manner so
that the study not clouded by prejudice
60
 Being aware of the role of self, coming clean about
the way the research has been shaped by their
personal experience and social background
 In other words, celebrating the role; not
considering it as a limitation; rather as
something that provides a privileged insight –
Feminists, Black researchers
 Several opinions lie in between
 Ultimately, it is a question of the need for Attached
detachment and Detached Attachment
61
Access to Field Work settings
 Covert as against overt research
 Total Participation
 Adopting a role that fits in with normal situation
 Going undercover, doing research in a
clandestine manner
 Preserves naturalness
 No authorisation required
 Cannot have informant consent, raising ethical
problems
62
Access to Field Work settings
Overt Research via Gatekeepers
 Openness about the role of the researcher
 Overcoming concerns with ethical problem
 Guarenters to the bonafide status of the researcher; to
help gaining access to field settings
 Facilitating both contact and trust between the
researcher and the researched
 May exercise continued influence, a kind of access
relationship, influencing even the outcome of the
research
63
Advantages
 Direct observation via FW
 Grounded in empirical research thro’ direct contact
 Link with theory: to develop as well as to test theory
 Detailed and in-depth data about the reality possible
 Holistic explanation possible on processes and
relationship
 Contrast and comparison with own & other culture
 insider’s perception: Emic view over etic
 reflexivity – self- awareness inherent in the process
 Naturalness – Retaining; Little impact on the setting
64
Role and Identity of the Researcher
 Researcher Identities affect / influence the
relationship between the Researcher and the
Researched
 Ascribed and Achieved: Age, Gender, Caste/
Community, Religion, Occupation, Nation
(political)
 The relationships which evolve during the
research process are influenced by the
identities and histories of those involved,
including those of gender
65
Role and Identity of the Researcher
 For Instance, the importance of researcher’s gender in
the in-depth interview
 E.g., Study 1)
of women by men, 2) of women by other
women; 3) of men by other men and 4) of men by other
women
 Historical exploitation of women subjects, and the
silencing of their voices by andro-centric research
methods, patriarchal assumptions, and an uncritical
acceptance of women’s subordinate status, and alleged
difference – typical topics of discussion
 To break down the power relationship between the
researcher and the researched
66
Researcher Identity: Insider vs Outsider
Phase of Outsider
Research Advantages Disadvantages
 Otherness and  Requires longer time to
Initial Entry maintaining establish repport
curiosity
 Stranger Value  Requires longer period
Data  Rich and  Even the ordinary looks
Collection Indepth Data extra-ordinary
Data Analysis  Possibility of  Difficult to fill the gaps
Interpretation greater Insights
67
Phase of Insider
Research Advantages Disadvantages
 Familiarity makes Difficult to take
Initial Entry the entry easier independent Role
 Less Culture Shock
 No Free Mobility
 Easy to comprehend
 Familiarity breeds contempt
Data  Easy to fill the gaps
 Routine Data as
Collection insignificant
 subjective and biased
Data Analysis  Data gap could be  Might cost objectivity and
Interpretation easily filled neutrality
68
 Both have advantages and Disadvantages in terms of
Outcome
 Goal should be to maximise the Advantages and
Minimise the Disadvantages
 But then Who is an Insider and who is an Outsider?
 It is a Question of Relativity – The case of MNS
 No researcher is a total insider or total outsider
 The Researcher identity could fall anywhere in
between the two extremes
 Self-Reflexivity, to a certain extent could help locating
one’s identity
69
Researcher-Researched Relationship
 Much qualitative research has produced a colonizing
discourse of the "Other,“
 Classical/celebrated Ethnographies – study of the
other – ‘colonized by the coloniser’
 Involves Power relations
 Discovering how the researched feel about the
researcher and why they had agreed to participate in
focus groups
 Perception is a two way Process
 By the Researcher of the Researched and
 By the Researched of the Researcher
70
Positionality of the Researcher
 It is in terms of the relationship between the
researcher, research question and participants
 Contributing to the success of the Research
 It is a factor, common to most qualitative data
collection processes
 The test of a successful research is one that
enhances current understandings within a
particular field; To disseminate the findings
71
Positionality of the Researcher
 How to determine the wider context, and how to gain the
knowledge needed
 Generalisation vs particularization (Contexualising)
 Observer/Scientist - participant/Native – Etic/Emic
 Descriptive/Analytic – Ideal and actual – What is observed and
what is expected
 Friendly ethnographer vs Fair ethnographer
 Crucial to the Ethnographer is the Tension between Analytic
perspective and participant perspectives
 Context: Methodological Uniqueness – Studying
‘other’cultures’
72
Power Relations
There is bound to be inherent power variance
Four principles:
 Respect for autonomy : to recognize and make
structural allowances that take the independence
and desires of the participant into consideration
 Nonmaleficence: research should not cause
distress or harm to those who have chosen to
participate
 Beneficence (Personal agenda vs community
advancement): Not only should researchers refrain
from doing harm but should also strive to work for
the benefit of those involved
73
Power Relations
 Justice (commitment to equitably
distributing responsibilities and rewards
between researcher and participant)
 A commitment to justice means that the
researchers do not use the study to benefit
themselves to the detriment of others,
resulting in an imbalance of responsibility
for the participant and reward for the
researcher
74
Power Relations
Learning to listen
 Ethical Considerations in the Field and Post-Field
Scenario
 Honesty of Purpose and Sense of Humour - Herskovits
(Ethnographer’s Laboratory)
 Suppression of the voices of the silent majority
 Rural Development Tourism (Robert chambers)
 New Ethnography
 Action Research/Engaging with society
 From conventional to Participatory Research
75
Should ensure that
• There is no exploitation
• There is no misuse of information
• There is no breach of trust or creation
of mistrust
• There is no cheating
• There is no secret policing
76
Should also ensure that
• There is scope for greater understanding
• There is scope for knowledge creation for the community
• There is scope for growing self Awareness and self-
realisation
• There is scope for community action towards
advancement
• There is scope for community empowerment
• There is scope for social dynamics and cultural
enrichment
• There is scope for better livelihood for the people
involved
77
WHOSE APPRAIASAL?
WHOSE KNOWLEDGE?
WHOSE CRITERIA
WHOSE ANALYSIS
WHOSE PRIORITIES?
WHOSE PLANNING?
WHOSE ACTION?
WHOSE MONITORING AND EVALUATION?
OURS? THEIRS?
WHO PARTICIPATES IN WHOSE PROJECT? 78

• Robert Chambers: RDT as one of the factors for
under perception of Rural reality
• Brief Rural visits, surrounded by series of biases
• Spatial bias
• Project bias
• Person – gender, elite, able bodied bias
• Seasonal bias
• Professional bias
• Biases of timidity, politeness, and courtesy
(Preparedness to receive; Showcasing/Putting a
cosmetic smile/ Distorting and Hiding the reality
79
Participation: An alternative
Paradigm
• Basic to humanization, democratization,
development and the dynamism that
reinforces human rights, social justice and
environmental sustainability.
• It is the activity of acquiring “Right,
Control and Ownership” by the people
(stakeholders) over the PROCESS of
producing knowledge and the PRODUCT
i.e., “KNOWLEDGE” itself.
80
VISION
KNOWLEDGE
INFORMATION
DATA
81
• Production of knowledge from the life situation
by the people/stakeholders is the foundation of
participation.
• Use of produced knowledge for decision making,

planning and policy formulation and application
of these decisions, plans and policies into
concrete actions are the “knowledge-
reinforcement” dynamics through which the
knowledge is experimented, validated and
tested.
82
Knowledge reinforcement process brings about real
empowerment of the people/stakeholders as
“knowledge is power”.
Empowerment denotes the intensity of such

“knowledge-reinforcement” processes undergone
by an individual, community, organization,
institution, government etc…
It is the range of knowledge acquired and applied by

the individuals, community, organization,
institution, government etc… become the indicators
of participation. 83
All episodes (problems, issues, projects,
programmes, changes, achievements,
etc…) in the life situation are experiences
for creating stakeholder knowledge base.
It is this knowledge base that instigates
further actions and production of
knowledge and constitutes the
substratum of democratic and
development processes
84
The bedrock of democracy
is citizen’s knowledge-
base and hence
Participation facilitates
democratic process
85
Participatory
Action –
Reflection
Research
Agro-Eco
Field Research System
in Farming From Analysis
Systems RRA to
PRA/PLA
Applied/Devel Rapid Rural

opment Appraisal
Anthropology
86
BEHAVIO METHOD
UR/ATTIT S
UDES
SHARING
87
Right Attitude
Right Behaviour
Flexibility and Innovation
Seeking Diversity
Triangulation
Critical Self Awareness and Responsibility
Optimal Ignorance
Appropriate Precision
88
Offsetting biases (spatial, project, person -
gender, elite etc, seasonal, professional,
courtesy…)
Progressive learning - flexible, exploratory,
interactive, inventive
Reversals - learning from, with and by local
people, eliciting and using their criteria and
categories
Not finding out more than is needed, not
measuring more accurately than needed,
and not trying to measure what does not
need to be measured.
89
Triangulation - using different methods,
sources and disciplines, and a range of
informants in a range of places, and cross-
checking to get closer to the truth through
successive approximations
Direct contact, face to face, in the field

Seeking diversity and differences
90
•Critical self-awareness about attitudes,
behaviour and relationships;
•Embracing and learning from error; continuously
trying to do better;
•Building learning and improvement into every
experience;
•Taking personal responsibility.
•Changing behaviour and attitudes, from
dominating to facilitating,
•Gaining rapport, asking people, often “lowers”, to
teach us,
•Respecting them, having confidence that they
can do it,
91
•Handing over the stick,
•Empowering and enabling them to conduct their
own analysis
•Culture of sharing - of information, of
methods, of food, of field experiences (between
NGOs, Government and local people)....
•Commitment to equity,
•Empowering those who are marginalized,
deprived, excluded and regarded as not capable,
often especially women, children and those who
are poorer.
92
• Not rushing the learning process
• Not lecturing instead of listening,
watching and learning
• Not going for interrupting and
interviewing people, and suggesting things
to them, when they are trying to
concentrate of learning by applying tools
• Not going for imposing "our" ideas,
categories, values,…
93
• Not being with gender biases with
male teams and neglect of women
• Not being reluctant to spend time in
the field or to stay overnight in
villages
• Not going for large-scale
implementation of "PRA" in a
blueprint mode, demanded by
funding agencies and Governments
94
COMMON TOOLS
Review of Secondary sources
Semi structured Interview
Focus Group Discussions
Direct Observation
95
OTHER TOOLS - THREE
DIMENSIONAL
SPATIAL DIMENSION
TIME DIMENSION
RELATIONSHIP/FORCE DIMENSION
96
Mapping – Social, Resource, Watershed,
Mobility, Historical and other Thematic
Mapping
Farm Profiles
Transect Walk – Vertical, Horizontal,
Combing, Zigzag etc.
Modeling
97
Farm Profile of a Mixed Rubber Plot
Prepared by Facilitated by
Farm profile of an exclusive Rubber Plot
Prepared by Facilitated by
Time Line
Local History
Ethno History
Thematic Time Lines
Seasonality Calendar
Daily Routine Analysis
100
101
Seasonality of Income and Employment
30
25
20
15
10
0
Jan Worker
Quarry Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Carpentar Jul Aug Sep
MasonOct Nov Dec
Estate Tapper Private Tapper Casual Work
FIGURE 7,2: EXPENDITURE PATTERN TO
INCOME BY MONTH
200.0
180.0
P
160.0
E
R 140.0
C
120.0
E
N 100.0
T 80.0
A
G 60.0
E 40.0
20.0
0.0
Y
ST
R
ER
Y
L
H
R
Y
Y
E
IL
ER
L
E
N
C
E
A
R
L
PR
A
B
B
R
JU
JU
A
B
G
M
O
A
U
M
U
T
M
E
R
E
N
C
A
C
B
JA
PT
E
O
FE
D
SE
N
MONTH
CASE - 1 CASE - 2 CASE - 3

103
Figure 7.1 DAILY ROUTINE: PERCENTAGE OF WORK
HOURS BY SEX
60.0
PERCENT
40.0
20.0
0.0
DOMESTIC PERSONAL / WORK-
LEISURE SLEEPING
WORK FOOD INTAKE PRODUCTIVE
FEMALE 29.2 11.2 11.5 17.2 31.0
MALE 2.5 11.7 43.3 11.3 31.3
ROUTINES
FEMALE MALE
104
DAILY ROUTINE FEMALE MALE
1. Hygiene - Personal 3.9 4.2
2. Hygiene - Domestic 4.7 0.4
3. Washing 3.9 0.0
4. Water Fetching 2.6 1.3
5. Other Works 2.9 0.0
6. Food Preparation/Serving 15.1 0.8
7. Food Consumption 7.3 7.5
8.Work - Productive 11.5 43.3
9.TV Viewing/Rest 17.2 11.3
10.sleeping 31.0 31.3
DAILY ROUTINE-FEMALE
DAILY ROUTINE - MALE
DOMESTI DOMESTIC PERSONAL
SLEEPING, C WORK, WORK, 2.5 / FOOD
31.0 29.2 INTAKE,
11.7
SLEEPING,
31.3
PERSONA
WORK-
L / FOOD
WORK- INTAKE, PRODUCTI
LEISURE,
17.2
PRODUCTIV 11.2 LEISURE, VE, 43.3
E, 11.5
11.3
DAILY ROUTINE – CASE ILLUSTRATIONS
Saji, 28 Years, PDC, Tailoring, F.Size-4 Personal hygiene/Food Intake
Saji's Husband
10% Care of Child, Aged, Help Study 16.7
21%
6% Domestic Work 29.2
0.0
Self-Employed
11% Outside Work
8%
0% Shopping
Communication
8% 4.2
0% Leisure 37.5
36%
8.3
Sleeping
4.2
Syamala, 45 years, B.Com, F.Size-5 Personal hygiene/Food
Syamala's husbandIntake
10.4 Care of Child, Aged, Help Study 10%
0.0 0%
27.1 Domestic Work
33%
Self-Employed
Outside Work
Shopping 38%
37.5
Communication
16.7
Leisure 15% 4%
0%
0.0 8.3
Sleeping
DAILY ROUTINE - ACTIVITIES
1. Hygiene – Personal 16.Conversing
28. Playing with child
2. Hygiene – Domestic 17.Listening to Radio
29. Kudumbashree
3. Washing Clothes 18.Visiting Akshaya Centre
Accounts
4. Washing Vessels 19. Carrying Milk to the Society
30. Diary Writing
5. Water Fetching 20.Assisting Children's Study
31. Visiting relative's
6. Child Care 21.Stitching House
7. Care of the Aged 22.Prayer 32. Tuition
8. Food Preparation 23.Irrigating vegetable garden
33. Rice pounding
9. Food Serving 24.Bringing Fishes
34. Preparing Hotel
10. Food Consumption 25.Exercise-Walking food
11. Work – Productive 26.Shopping 35. Bank collection
12. TV Viewing 27.Sending the Children to Tuition 36. Animal Husbandry
13. Resting 37. Sleeping
14. Reading magazines
15. Reading News Paper
• House: Concrete, Tiled, Incomplete,
mud/thatched
• Number of old Dependents
• Family Size
• Chronically ill persons
• Home appliances: Radio, TV, Phone, Tape,
Mixie, Gas, Cable connection,
• External Assets
• Occupation: Fish Vending, Carpentry,
Construction, Beedi rolling, etc
108
• Socio Economic Dimension Ranking
• Wealth Ranking
• Resource Access and Control Matrix
• Food Path Analysis
• Pair wise Ranking
• Matrix Ranking
• Venn Diagram
• Instituto-gram
• Livelihood Analysis
• Decision Matrix
• Participation Matrix
• Flow Diagram
• Resource Inflow and Outflow analysis
• Impact Diagram
109
FIGURE 7.3: EXPENDITURE PATTERN OF A MOTHER-SON FAMILY
LOAN-REPAY
M ISC
6%
2%
ELECTRICITY
2%
TRAVEL
10 %
GIFT FOOD
17% 54 %
CLOTH
3%
HEALTH
6%
110
FIGURE 7.3: EXPENDITURE PATTERN OF A MOTHER-SON FAMILY
LOAN-REPAY
M ISC
6%
2%
ELECTRICITY
2%
TRAVEL
10 %
GIFT FOOD
17% 54 %
CLOTH
3%
HEALTH
6%
111
Problem Tree Analysis
Force Field Analysis
Fish Bone Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Environment Impact Analysis
Gender Impact Analysis
112

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Prof. Dr S.

Consciousness Studies Programme

• Who is the Researcher?

• Who are the Researched?

The Relationship among them is crucial to

WHO PARTICIPATES IN WHOSE PROJECT? 78

• Use of produced knowledge for decision making,

Empowerment denotes the intensity of such

It is the range of knowledge acquired and applied by

Applied/Devel Rapid Rural

Direct contact, face to face, in the field

CASE - 1 CASE - 2 CASE - 3

1. Hygiene - Personal 3.9 4.2

2. Hygiene - Domestic 4.7 0.4

3. Washing 3.9 0.0

4. Water Fetching 2.6 1.3

5. Other Works 2.9 0.0

6. Food Preparation/Serving 15.1 0.8

7. Food Consumption 7.3 7.5

8.Work - Productive 11.5 43.3

9.TV Viewing/Rest 17.2 11.3

10.sleeping 31.0 31.3

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