Challenges of research in rural poverty: lessons from large field surveys

Abstract

This practical note highlights lessons learnt during the data collection of two large field surveys as part of the ongoing "Sindh Union Council and Economic Strengthening Support" (SUCCESS) programme in southern Pakistan. The experience is discussed in terms of language barriers, the educational status of households, dealing with people's expectations and non-cooperation, and the weather conditions. The note also highlights the practice of public sharing of data in real-time to improve the design and implementation of future surveys, especially those measuring poverty and quality of life.

Challenges and Opportunities in Conducting and Applying Design Research beyond Global North to the Global South

“…As such, it is a common practice for researchers from Global South countries to draft research protocols, tools used such as questionnaires and consent forms in English. However, transporting a questionnaire across national and linguistic borders means more than translating items accurately from one language to another (Rubinstein-Ávila, 2009;Cheema et al, 2018). Translation does not always ensure that the research method will convey the same pragmatic meaning, requiring further adaptation as well.…”

“…Translation does not always ensure that the research method will convey the same pragmatic meaning, requiring further adaptation as well. In Global South contexts, where several local languages exist, research teams require multilingual skills in order to make regular adjustments to the strategy to make best use of opportunities and build long-term relations with the communities (Cheema et al, 2018).…”

“…This challenge extends beyond workshops to other design research methods, such as questionnaires, as most enumerators find it difficult to fully understand and contextualise open-ended questions (Cheema et al, 2018). This coupled with language barriers and cultural hegemony results in lack of salience of concepts, the non-equivalence of concepts, and the use of levels of language not easily comprehensible to people with limited education (Casale et al, 2011).…”

“…When it comes to conducting field work involving research participants, such as rapid ethnography, observations, interviews, etc., researchers face challenges related to lack of trust and perceived security. Some of these concerns are related to providing safeguards and peace of mind to teams of enumerators and field personnel (Cheema et al, 2018) or to concerns about local social unrest at the time of the fieldwork (Mathee et al, 2010). This clearly impacts negatively on the data gathering process, as it often leaves researchers with little choice but to change their initial data sampling methods, sometimes on the fly, with implications for data analysis (Mathee et al, 2010).…”

“…It has been reported that potential participants are sometimes afraid to allow fieldworkers onto premises due to high crime rates in many participating areas (Nel et al, 2017). In other occasions entire communities had previous bad experiences of cold-callers and fake lottery schemes, where outside people came and defrauded people of their money by promising large cash and in-kind rewards (Cheema et al, 2018). These concerns coupled with cultural and social sensitivity affect trustworthiness and pose barriers to design research fieldwork in the Global South.…”