I can safely say that the journey from that initial jolt of culture shock that one experiences from stepping on the field for that very first time, to the final peace that a researcher makes with the fact, that obstacles are an intrinsic part of fieldwork is neither long, nor arduous when taken with the right spirit, an open mind, and the right mentors.
The first thing that I was made aware of in my work at 4th Wheel, was that for any Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)-based development activity to be truly effective, it must be aligned with stakeholder needs and these can only be understood by studying a community from close quarters and through in-depth research. Enthusiastic or lackadaisical fieldwork can either elevate or destroy a research design and subsequent research outcomes.
Armed with that little piece of crucial ‘social development and research’ wisdom and a few more equally important field etiquette tips that included proper attire, the correct way of questioning, body language, and most importantly, ‘mark of respect’ for the respondents, off I went on some my first research missions, to the less-visited and thought of rural parts of our country. To say that the initial experiences were challenging and confounding is putting it mildly.
I realised that as researchers although we define our fields, right from the context of the research to the geographic location and finally and most importantly the target group for the study, the obstacles that the field throws at you are about as diverse as the people and cultures that we study. Despite all the preliminary secondary research that goes into understanding community demographics and their cultural values, anticipating and tackling an ‘individual’ respondent required me to develop keen empathy and fuelling it with an honest desire for social change.
In a day, I came across a variety of different types of respondents; the acutely uninterested, the overtly enthusiastic, the storytellers, the severely self-conscious people, each requiring special management skills that I easily developed. The respondents that required real practice are the cynical ones that not only refuse to participate but also incite others from participating in the study, and perhaps rightly so, as many have sat through countless surveys that probably promised sweeping changes but eventually came to naught.
This brought me to my first fieldwork lesson that the most important thing that a researcher ought to do is be completely transparent with their respondents and make them aware of the purpose and ‘probability’ of the benefits, of the survey. The other thing that became obvious was that the majority of respondents were more than welcoming and had a real need to share their stories and problems and every one of them hoped that the solutions to their problems existed somewhere in the near future.
Most research begins with the presupposition that there is a lack or a problem within the community that needs to be resolved. True as that may be, this brought me to my second most potent issue; my state of mind as a researcher. In the beginning, I too looked at respondents as ‘problems to be solved’, yet, often enough what we perceive as a problem, the local community considers a way of life.
I realised that going in with that perception quickly estranges people as they feel judged and their responses become more and more defensive. Soon enough, it became apparent that to receive quality information, I had to leave my biases and preconceived notions behind and look at people as people and not as ‘problems that need to be solved’. Making efforts to truly understanding respondents went a long way in empowering them to communicate their honest opinions and view.
The variety of experiences that fieldwork offered has not been restricted to just the expansion of perception and enhanced people’s skills. As often enough the geographic location of the study, the weather conditions, dealing with field workers and maintaining their level of enthusiasm after days of monotonous research activities, time management, local problems that make reaching study sample size difficult, have all been obstacles threatening the completion of a study. But, dealing with these limitations by adapting and innovating has perhaps made me appreciate the dynamic nature of fieldwork even more, not to mention looking forward to every future fieldwork opportunity with unabated enthusiasm.
