An Ethnographic Examination of Innovations in the VBDC

Innovationsin the VBDC

Karen Greenough, PhDV5 Coordination & Change

Social Anthropologist

An Ethnographic Examination of

Contents Who am I?

Why ethnographicinnovation research?

Ethnographic methodology

Some anthropological principles

What does this have to do with Innovation Research?

What is innovation and how do wefind it?

Will we find innovations?

Where are we?

Where do we want to go?

Where we hope to end up …

Who am I?

I joined the Peace Corps in 1985 ... ... and I’ve lived off and on in Niger for 15+ years ...

living in villages, on the range, and conducting ethnographic research.

Because “Management” said so?

Because Funke decided that “ethnography” sounded good?

Through ethnographic methodology, the researcher understands another “life world” by experiencing that world together with the research subjects.

http://aloxecorton.wordpress

http://stirling.kent.ac.uk

Why Innovation Research?Why Ethnography?

Why Innovation Research?Why Ethnography? This understanding by experience

leads to a unique form of story-telling: Narrative structure Native point of view (researcher, villager, extension agent) … With information about the ethnographer’s position, relationships to

subjects, etc. Focus on everyday life as lived in real time Context and background in terms of the literature, history, theory, etc.

End goal: A story of VBDC research and innovation that encompasses the whole program.

http://aloxecorton.wordpress

http://stirling.kent.ac.uk

Adapted from Carole McGranahan’s Savage Minds blog post, 31May 2012

Methodology: Gathering Data

Talking to people In-depth interviews Surveys: semi-structured &

structured Conversations

Gathering histories

Participation-Observation

Mapping

Participatory Methodology

Reading

Documentation

Coding

Statistics

Networks

Maps

Charting: e.g. household budgets

Depends on the research: research question, data collected, results obtained, and the presentation desired

Methodology: AnalysisA

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Some Anthropological Principles Cultural Relativity

~ what people believe and domakes sense within their culture ~

Holistic Approach

~ looking at as much of thewhole picture as possible ~

Processual Perspective

~ examining the evolution– changes over time –

of artifacts, practices, societies, cultures ~

Entrée

~ becoming mutually familiar with research subjects so that they are comfortable enough

to tell what they know ~

Scientific Research on/withPeople:

Rigor & Validity People can only tell us what

they know

Their information will be limited by (at least): what questions we ask how we ask/present the questions the amount of time they have to answer those

questions the people who are around them

when they are asked the questions

They may also, for various reasons give us only answers that they think

we want to hear and/or purposely mislead us

Scientific Research on/with People:

Rigor & Validity

Some of the information that we obtain may be some of the truth;none of it will be the whole truth.

To obtain more complete data wetriangulate:

~ gather data from different sources,using different methods ~

We probe for more and better data

We constantly question the datathat we’ve collected.

What does this have to do with …

Innovation Research in the VBDC To carry out rigorous research & collect valid data:

Interviews: semi-structured Conversations Reading: reports, etc. Participation-Observation

Meetings & workshops Researchers’ work Stakeholders’ work

Charting and networking : e.g. data on stakeholders Mapping Documentation

Most of this must be carried out “in the field”

What is innovation? Someone takes information and/or technology and …

Changes their practices Creates something new:

New practice New technology New organization

What does innovationmean to you?

How do we find innovation? Talking to people: local stakeholders, researchers, research partners at

all levels Observing & participating in (experiencing) practices Talking to more people

How do we find innovation?

Rigor & Validity Careful interviewing

Talking to people individually,where they feel comfortable

Using a translator who is not part of the project Probing

Triangulation Seeing what people are talking about Participation when possible Talking to other people: Verifying information Understanding the context, background

& history Reports, papers Meetings/workshops Asking about village histories

Will we find innovations?

Opportunities

Null hypothesis? Assume that they are out there?

Challenges There are many project

sites and stakeholders Too many places Too many people All widely dispersed

Need entrée Will people stretch the

truth?

There are many project sites and stakeholders

Many places to look Many people to talk to

Most people like to talk about and show their project orlivelihood work

Where are we? So far we know who many of

you are and what you do … Background information on all

of the projects Proposals & semi-annual reports Some activity reports Observation & limited participation at meetings/workshops

Limited information on stakeholders Many questions remaining, e.g.: Who are they all? How are they linked to project partners? How do you define “end user”, “next user”, “boundary partner”?

Entrée with some local researchers

But we have a long way to go …

Where we want to go … Interviews with team

researchers at all levels

Interviews with key stakeholders

Observation-participation: Seeing and “experiencing”

various project interventions Conversations Measuring, mapping &

documentation

Next spring, possible innovation workshops with key stakeholders from different levels

Analysis & writing

Need help from project leaders and researchers

Conversations Identifying key project

stakeholders at all levels for further investigation

Entrée to key stakeholders Participation-observation of

project work Activity reports … more! Information about possible

innovations Corrections, filling holes, etc.

Where we hopeto end up A story about change and

innovation as a result of VBDC research & interventions

More than a “Most Significant Change Story”

An analysis of the process of particular changes and innovations:

What happened where? Who was involved? How did the change or innovation come about? Why did it come about? How does it correlate with past and current changes happening in

the same milieu? What does it mean for the future?

Thank you! Merci!