Cultural Sensitivity in Field Work

Contributing author: Yonas Asfaha.

Occasionally, researchers mention difficulties they face while engaged in educational field work in African countries. These mostly originate from a lack of knowledge of the norms and customs of the communities in the research sites. The consequences might range from a mere lack of access to informants to serious conflicts between researchers and members of the communities, which may jeopardize the study and, sometimes, the safety of the research team.

From my own research experience in rural Eritrea, I have learned that access to female informants in out-of-school contexts is much more difficult in nomadic communities than it is in settled agricultural communities. In a sociolinguistic survey of literacy attitudes in 2006, our research team’s attempt to interview female respondents in a rural community from the nomadic Bidhaawyeet (according to some, a group with links to the Bedouin of North East Africa) was faced with stiff resistance. This required a lot of negotiation between our local assistants and the community representatives to avoid potential conflict. In the end, no female respondent was included in the survey from that ethnic group.
 
 

Brooker and Halliday (2015), in a study in Kenya on the impact of a school-based malaria prevention and enhanced literacy instruction program on health and educational achievement, reported on what they called “rumours” related to blood samples taken from school children. Although little was said on how this particular problem affected their study, Brooker and Halliday (2015, p. 43) related the issue as follows: “Most of the concerns raised about the IST [intermittent screening and treatment] intervention were related to rumours about blood sample taking and covert HIV testing. Rumours, particularly those about blood, are often directly related to medical research and health interventions and are very common across Sub-Saharan Africa.”

These concerns might be alleviated with a thorough awareness of the local norms and customs of the communities under study and the involvement of members of the community in field work.

Reference

Brooker, S., & Halliday, K. (2015). Impact of malaria control and enhanced literacy instruction on educational outcomes among school children in Kenya a multi-sectoral, prospective randomised evaluation. 3ie Impact Evaluation Report, 18. New Delhi: International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie).