Conceptual & practical difficulties in research

Abstract Doing social science research in developing countries is always a difficult and challenging task for the researchers in this field.

Introduction

Doing social science research in developing countries is always a difficult task. While conducting a research, researchers from such countries face lot of difficulties in most of the steps of research. This paper presents the methodological challenges of doing social science research in developing countries and it is mainly based on my practical experience in conducting a research work for preparing an M. Phil thesis at the Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Norway. The title of the thesis is “Participation in Forestry: A Study of People’s participation on the Social Forestry Policy in Bangladesh: Myth or Reality?”

In graduate schools in developed countries many new graduate students from the developing countries are facing different problems. Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what they are supposed to learn. Most of the students have to complete a dissertation but they don’t know how to start?As a research student I have found that conducting research work is interesting as well as challenging. I think my practical experience will be helpful for the future research students especially from developing countries to face the different challenges in conducting research work.

Selection of the Topic

The first and the most important task in the whole process of scientific inquiry are to identify a research problem. Human societies abound with problems but all problems are not researchable and hence do not qualify as scientifically nontrivial. The choice of a research problem is not as easy as it seems. Sometimes choosing a problem is no less difficult than finding a solution for it.

In my research, I found that the selection of the topic is the first difficulty for research students like us. We who are the students from developing countries have many ideas in mind but when we are going to think about any particular topic to conduct a research, we need to give a look on whether it is possible to collect data for that topic or not. For instance, if we want to conduct a research on a particular bureaucratic organization or on sensitive policy issues, it will be very difficult for us to collect data. For that causes it is not an easy task to conduct research on those topics. But we know, in conducting a research work it is better to choose a topic that interests one.

Because one will have to spend a lot of time and energy in doing so and there’s more chance one will do a good job if it’s something that one wants to know more about. Also, it is better to tie it in with other courses or assignments if possible (http://manta.colostate.edu). Moreover, in a foreign country like Norway there is always a lack of availability of reading materials on developing countries. So we usually go for such topics that have available reading materials and relatively easy for us to collect data.

In my study, at first I was very interested to do something on the politics of agenda setting of the gas export policy of Bangladesh. Now a day it is a contentious issue in this country and almost every day it appears in the newspapers’ headlines. After thinking about the topic as a researcher I know that it is better to discuss the research interest with persons who have rich practical experience and knowledge on that topic. They can help to sharpen one’s focus of attention on specific aspects within the area. In this regard, I discussed the above mentioned topic with my supervisor. He told me from his practical experience that it is a very controversial issue and collecting data on this topic would be very difficult for me. So I had to choose another topic on social forestry where I would get the help of one official of the forest department who was familiar to me. But we know, if anyone pick a topic to conduct a research on it that he is not truly interested in then it will be difficult to stay focused and motivated. The same is true for choosing a topic because of its marketability: if he is not personally interested in the topic, he’ll have a harder time finishing and a harder time convincing other people that his research is interesting. But I had no other options without doing so.

Development of Research Design

The Relevance of Concepts

Before going to the field study we had to work on research design of our topic. In my research design, people’s participation was termed as the dependent variable. The role of bureaucrats, the patron-client relationship of the farmers with the bureaucrats and the Union Parishad  Chairman and members, the socio-economic background of the farmers, the role of NGOs were identified as the independent variables. In my design, it was found that those independent variables influenced in ensuring people’s participation. But after gaining some experience from the field, patron-client relationship seemed to me as the most important independent variable and the role of socio-economic background of the farmers seemed to me mostly useless. In this respect if I focused more on patron-client relationship than on socio-economic background of the farmers, I think the research work will be more interesting.

The role of bureaucrats was also discussed in terms of classical and political bureaucrats. It was assumed that the role of political bureaucrats is more helpful in ensuring people’s participation than the classical bureaucrats. But most of the bureaucrats tried to identify themselves as political and only in a short interview it was not possible to know the right answer. But I believed that most of them were classical in nature because in other aspects, for instance: giving interview, sharing documents; they always showed me that they were the slaves of rules. Moreover, when I asked the farmers to give their opinion about the nature of bureaucrats, I think most of them responded without understanding the terms properly’.

Operationalization

Operationalizing different concepts in a research work is one of the most challenging parts for a researcher. Not every observation among the range of observations we make in our day-to-day life does represent absolutely different things. Many have something common in them. This commonality shared by observations represents something more general than the simple content of any observation. But, there are also some concepts that cannot be observed by senses. This is because, they do not have direct empirical referents and hence cannot be easily related to the events or phenomena they stand for. It is very important that such concepts used in any research be defined precisely so that readers can know what these concepts do represent in a particular research situation. Different scholars have given different views about different concepts. Sometimes some of them are found opposite or overlapping. But a researcher should develop his own views about the concepts for his study.

 

In my study, operationalizing the concept of people’s participation was the most difficult part. Because most of the definitions are given by the western scholars and have little relevance with my study. For instance, there are two broad but different interpretations of participation i.e. a) Participation as a means and b) Participation as an End. But in my study I have found that people’s participation is a means as well as an end.

Designing of Questionnaire

Designing of questionnaire was a difficult job for me because I had to prepare it before having good ideas about the field. In my study, I used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect my data. To get data from my main target group (the farmers) I used the quantitative method. I also conducted some unstructured qualitative interviews of the farmers to get more in-depth views of them. For getting data from the bureaucrats, Union Parishad Chairman and members, NGOs personnel I used the qualitative method namely interview. At first I wished to use both this approach to collect data from all of my respondents. But inadequate time, lack of money, lack of access to situation, lack of gaining cooperation from others did not permit me to pursue such a procedure.

Preparing the quantitative questionnaire seemed to me the most challenging one because in this type of questionnaire if necessary you cannot change the format easily after going to the field. For instance, in my study after gaining some experience from the field I felt that if I could bring some changes in the quantitative questionnaire it would more appropriate to collect the necessary data. But it was not possible to bring necessary changes because the allocated time was limited. Moreover, quantifying the concepts of social science is not an easy task. I had to work hard to quantify the views of the farmers. Another thing was that when I tried to know the views of farmers about the complex concepts of public administration I found it very complicated to make them understandable to the illiterate farmers. 

When I was preparing the questionnaire one thing always had to keep in mind that the number of questions should be minimum because the respondents would not give a researcher his desired time. Preparing the qualitative questionnaire also was not easy though if necessary you can change the format by giving less effort than the quantitative questionnaire. In my study, I used an interview guide. But in the field, I had to reformulate it every time.

 Finding Respondents and Determining Sample Size

I chose the case study method for collecting my field data. Because we know, the use of case study provides us an opportunity for relating concepts with reality and helps me to learn more about the phenomenon and general condition. In staying abroad it was difficult for me to know about the different projects of social forestry. So when I went to Bangladesh for my field study I contacted with the officials of the forest department and experts in this field to have some idea about the overall condition of social forestry in Bangladesh. Social forestry projects are being implemented in various parts of Bangladesh but to get some interesting findings in my research I had no other alternative but to contact them.

We know, sampling is the process of selecting a subset of individuals from a larger group of individuals, the selection being done with a view to drawing inferences about the larger group on the basis of information obtained from the subset. But, I suffered a lot to select the sample size and relevant respondents. Because, before going to the field I had no idea about my selected two cases. So the field areas were much unknown to me. I talked with the local people and bureaucrats to fix those things. I used the simple random sampling method to choose the respondents from a list founded in the local bit office of the Forest Department. I tried to select the respondents from different villages of the Union Parishads.

Making Initial Contact and Gaining access was totally unfamiliar with my two cases. So making initial contact with the respondents and gaining access were too difficult. The important parts of my questionnaire were designed to get the ideas of the farmers about the bureaucrats’ role in ensuring their participation. At first I talked with some local people. They knew about the project but they could not help me to find out the participants of this project. Then I consulted the officials of the forest department to find out them. They informed me about the participants of the project and show me the way that how I could contact with them. Then I interviewed some farmers who were called by the officials. But I found that they only called those farmers with whom they had good personal relationship. To solve this problem I had to take other strategies.

Contacting with the bureaucrats is always a tough job in my Bangladesh. I was lucky enough that I knew one official in the head office of the Forest Department. He introduced me with lot of officials of the social forestry project from whom I got various relevant information about the project. But it is needed to mention here; some officials did not co-operate well with me in giving information although they were well known to him. Moreover, the NGOs’ personnel in the field area were very little in numbers. They contacted with me in the forest office when they heard that I came to know something related to their activities. But they were not very flexible in giving my required information about the project. They always tried to make me understand that to get any information about their activities it would be better to contact with their head offices and if that offices allowed them to talk they would feel free to express their views.

It was also not so easy for me to find out the Union Parishad Chairman and members of the respective unions. They were very busy with their different local activities.  I had to visit several times to talk with them. But when they knew that I had been working in a public university as a teacher and studying in a European university, they felt honored to talk with me.

Problems of Data Collection

Data collection for the study went through several but difficult processes. Researchers face lot of difficulties in collecting data both from primary and secondary sources. In my case, problems of data collection are enumerated below:  First, to select the project area I visited some projects with the help of the officials and experts of the forest department. The reason was lack of my knowledge about the different social forestry projects running in the country.

Second, my main target group comprised of farmers and most of them do not read and write and they were not familiar with the topic of my research questions. It was difficult to make them understand about the complex terms of public administration, for instance bureaucratic rule-orientation, bureaucratic rigidity etc. Third, farmers thought that though I was a person from the capital I could do something for them. So they were mostly interested to talk about their own problems, which were not related to my research questions. It extended the time of interviews and in filling up questionnaires.

Fourth, the farmers were afraid to share their views. They thought that if they told anything against the local elites and bureaucrats they would lose their farming land given by the project. So I had to work hard to make myself trustworthy and convinced them that I would not disclose their views.

Fifth, Carrying out the interviews requires pre-arranged schedules. In most cases the interviewees would not honor their appointments so I had to arrange and rearrange the appointments.

Sixth, when I interviewed the respondents, especially the bureaucrats and farmers they were interested to talk about the technical matters of social forestry which was not related to my research queries. They liked to discuss more about, what is Agro forestry, what is strip plantation or what kinds of trees should be selected instead of talking about people’s participation.

Seventh, I faced problems when I attempted to record the interviews. Sometimes tape recorders drew unnecessary attentions of the respondents. Most of the respondents (farmers) did not feel free to talk when their voices were recorded. They thought that this could create some problem. Most of the bureaucrats also did not give permission to record. So after some interviews I stopped to use the tape recorder and tried to take important notes in a notebook.

Eighth, some bureaucrats were more interested to know how could I manage this fellowship and what are the opportunities abroad for them or for their children instead of talking about my queries.

Ninth, the personnel of the NGOs were not local people. And they were very careful in expressing their views. 

Tenth, the study was a systematic investigation. Therefore, a time-series or longitudinal study would have been more benefiting. I could only visit a few particular sites in a given period. This has somewhat delimited the scope of the study. Data from the secondary sources and some other first hand data were used to compensate this weakness partially. 

In my interview session, I had to give more time to make the complex concepts easily understandable to farmers.  I used different examples to clarify a concept. I have tried to act with the interviewees as persons rather than merely as instruments for data collection.  Because as a researcher it is necessary to follow certain social rules that allow me to create a trustee atmosphere in order to obtain the information I seek.

Most of the respondents especially the officials of the forest department viewed that such kind of research work has no importance. Even some of them asked me directly about the significance of carrying out this. For that cause they gave little importance in answering my questions.

Access to Documents/Information Sources

Secondary data is used for the reanalysis of previously collected and analyzed data. There are some clear advantages to working with an existing body of data, including cost, time and making difficult populations accessible. However in a country like Bangladesh with the given bureaucratic culture, data collection from secondary sources particularly from the public offices is rather difficult. In this study the use of books, journals, reports, official records and documents have been some of the most important sources of the data collection. These official records and documents included organizational documents, reports etc.

In Bangladesh most government offices do not collect and record their information properly. Because of poor management system, collection of time series data is extremely difficult. In many cases only the current data are kept and rest of the previous years data is dumped in the store room for ultimate disposal as waste.

Due to the lack of popular and political accountability, public offices in Bangladesh are more or less treated as a closed system with limited access of the common people. Like other developing countries, the bureaucracy in Bangladesh treats data and information as a secret matter where only selected people with appropriate authority have the access. Moreover, it is not also permitted by the law to have access to the official documents and papers. For that cause, I faced lot of hurdles in gathering official records. When I went to use the official library of the forest department they did not co-operate with me well though I showed a letter of their top authority to them to help me in that respect. I was able to collect some official records through my personal connection with one top officer of that organization. 

Data Collection Strategy to Overcome Validity and

Reliability Problems

Earlier I mentioned that I used the case study method to collect data. In this study I took two cases not for a comparative study. The main reason is that I wanted to ensure the validity of data. Validity is referred to the extent of which an instrument measures the way it is claimed to have measured.

When I visited the field, it was difficult to come in contact with the farmers without getting help from the bureaucrats and one of the important parts of questionnaire was designed to get the ideas of the farmers about the bureaucrats’ role in ensuring their participation. Bureaucrats summoned those farmers who had good relationship with them and talked in favor of them. I realized the situation when I talked with some other farmers in the village market. Then I realized that it was very difficult to get reliable data in this way. So to ensure the validity of my data I followed a method, which was ethnographic in nature. I talked with different people of this local area, for instance, the driver of the human puller, people in the village restaurants, people in the streets etc. I talked with them in a manner that I had no intention to find out any information from them. I asked them about their opinion regarding people’s participation in SF project in the locality. Moreover, I did not rely on the information from a single interviewee. I cross checked the opinions of the respondents by asking others to ensure the validity and reliability of the data.

 

The Perception about Social Research in General and My Research Issue in our Country:

Most of the people in our country give little importance to the social science research. They thought that only the research activities running in the field of science and technology have importance. People also know that the research findings will not be taken in consideration and the situation will be the same. When I went to the field study I faced few questions in common from different parts of people that what is the significance of this study? Is it possible for me to bring any change? The present situation is so worse that people think social science research is only for getting consultancy from the donors. Moreover, general people did not believe that my research work was only to fulfill my academic purpose. They thought that only financial benefits could direct one to conduct research.

Now a day people’s participation is a hot issue in the world especially in the developing countries. Government of my country tried to incorporate it in many rural development programmes. It is a demand from the donors. But so far there is lack of research works based on empirical data to find out what is the extent of people’s participation in different governmental programmes. So I chose this issue as my research topic.   

 

Conclusion

 

Most of the people in developing countries do not understand the significance of social research and give little importance to it. Respondents are always afraid of giving their actual views because they think if they give any information against their superior or any other powerful group they will face a lot trouble. Moreover, data base system is not sufficiently developed for one to get information easily. Government office records are inaccessible.  These things make the research work very difficult for a researcher.

In conducting any research work in our country it is necessary that before designing the research framework a researcher should have some ideas about the field. Moreover, before selecting a research topic a researcher should think how far the offices and respondents would be accessible to him or her.

To know the respondents and research issue well it is better if the researcher follows the strategy of ethnographic study to some extent. Data should be cross checked and it is not wise to rely on a single source of information.  Researcher should try to make him trustworthy to the respondents. Moreover, in interviewing people, it is better not to use the recorder as it creates unusual curiosity of the respondents and some respondents do not feel free when their voices are recorded. Instead of this a researcher can take notes of all of the relevant information during the field study. Moreover, if enough time is given to a researcher in carrying out his research a lot of difficulties can be minimized. At last but not the least it can be said that a researcher in developing countries gains experience through the passing of time and this expertise will be helpful for him to overcome most of the challenges in doing social science research work.  

Tags: Conceptual and Practical Difficulties in doing Research