Advantages and Disadvantages of Socio Economic Development
How should we approach research when we are a part of the reality being researching?
There are many ways to think about society and the people in it, when considering development research. Usually a lot of research, assumed by researchers, has taken people as subjects, examining their lives through statistics about income, housing, health, education etc. As per my experience in development field, when a research project is planned, formed and supplied by the external experts who already are the part of this society, which they are researching than it is very difficult to complete the research without any biases or their own perceptions. In this paper I am going to discuss one of the difficulties of development research which generally researchers have to face, its effects and the way which I would like to approach my study at IDS.
Preconceptions which create difficulties for researchers
Development theories and practices cannot be separated from the individual perceptions and biases and because of this biasness of researchers; sometimes the results of the research do not show the reality of particular research area. All the researchers whether they are Native or researchers from technologically advanced nations have to face problems equally because of their own perceptions and the prejudices of the people in emerging nations with whom they contact during their study. Furthermore, most of the researchers have their own social, cultural and educational orientation and this applied similarly to the respondents of the research and it affects the relationship between them (Sumner, Andy and Tribe, 2008, p.43). Generally, researchers belong to a different background and due to the preconception of respondents about their background many times respondents give wrong answers to their questions and it can change the whole purpose of research. In addition, researchers framed questions according to their interest; usually they do not have interest in their respondent’s
There are many ways to think about society and the people in it, when considering development research. Usually a lot of research, assumed by researchers, has taken people as subjects, examining their lives through statistics about income, housing, health, education etc. As per my experience in development field, when a research project is planned, formed and supplied by the external experts who already are the part of this society, which they are researching than it is very difficult to complete the research without any biases or their own perceptions. In this paper I am going to discuss one of the difficulties of development research which generally researchers have to face, its effects and the way which I would like to approach my study at IDS.
Preconceptions which create difficulties for researchers
Development theories and practices cannot be separated from the individual perceptions and biases and because of this biasness of researchers; sometimes the results of the research do not show the reality of particular research area. All the researchers whether they are Native or researchers from technologically advanced nations have to face problems equally because of their own perceptions and the prejudices of the people in emerging nations with whom they contact during their study. Furthermore, most of the researchers have their own social, cultural and educational orientation and this applied similarly to the respondents of the research and it affects the relationship between them (Sumner, Andy and Tribe, 2008, p.43). Generally, researchers belong to a different background and due to the preconception of respondents about their background many times respondents give wrong answers to their questions and it can change the whole purpose of research. In addition, researchers framed questions according to their interest; usually they do not have interest in their respondent’s
Bibliography: Sumner, Andy & Tribe, Michael (2008), International Development Studies, Ch.2, London: Sage Publications, pp.43-45