Any new doctoral researcher will arrive at their research site feeling nervous about the journey ahead. They may have spent the first year of their Phd learning research techniques, developing methodologies, mastering the art of investigative inquiry and active listening. But none of this really prepares the researcher for all the uncertainties that lie ahead during field research, particularly if it is in an unfamiliar environment.
I realised this pretty early on in my second year of my Phd, just days before I was due to leave for Nairobi. I had a year’s worth of study under my belt, which included a small research project in Brighton and several essays which examined various research methods – ethnography, life history, elite interviewing, research in conflict settings. And yet as I packed by suitcase and considered what I was about to embark on – at least 9 months of field research, on my own, in Kenya – I asked myself, ‘But what are you actually going to do there? How are you going to carry out your research? What is your starting point and where will you go from there?’
Six weeks in to my field research, and I’m still not sure I have the answers to these questions. And this comes as some surprise to me, as unlike many other doctoral researchers, I’ve returned to a place I’m relatively familiar with, to conduct research among a community whose profession I share – aid workers. My assumption had been that shortly after my arrival my research relationships would fall into my lap, much in the same way my previous relationships have with friends and colleagues when I lived and worked in Kenya, Uganda and Palestine.
But being a researcher in a foreign land is very different from being an aid worker, or anyone else in any other profession. For one thing, you are very much on your own. There is no organisation to cushion you and give you a safe landing into unfamiliar territory. No managers to guide you or structure your day with priorities and deadlines. And the only person who can really answer the sort of questions raised above is you, the researcher.
In addition, I’m realising that no matter how confident we feel in the community we are researching, we should never assume that access will be easy. Accessing research participants – identifying who exactly they may be and how we approach them – requires constant negotiation and self-reflection. As Hammersley and Atkinson note:
Not all parts of the [research] setting will be equally open to observation, and not everyone may be willing to talk…..If the data required are to be obtained, negotiation of access is therefore likely to be a recurrent preoccupation for the ethnographer.
Hammersley and Atkinson, 2007, Ethnography: Principles in Practice, 61
This may seem obvious but as so-called ‘insiders’ – those who feel ‘local’ to the community they are researching – we may often assume that we will gain immediate trust and interest from our research participants.
For me, I had gained some confidence about my research topic when talking to friends and colleagues in the aid sector. When I told them I would be investigating stress and burnout among aid workers, they were immediately enthusiastic and keen to tell me their own story or suggest others I could speak to. Yet the reality is that this topic is a sensitive one, for both individuals and organisations. Not all individuals want to recognise the personal challenges they face in doing this type of work, and not all organisations wish to address the thorny issue of why some members of staff appear to be struggling more than others. And even with those that do, I’m finding that this – perhaps understandably – is not a priority for them. We can enter our research site full of expectations around how willing people will be to talk to us about what we see as a vital and important issue affecting wider society, and find that although there may be interest, other ‘life’ situations get in the way. These may be work deadlines, family commitments, or in the case of aid workers perhaps a feeling that they should not spend too long seemingly navel-gazing when their mission is to help others. Any one of these circumstances are of course interesting research observations and findings in themselves – something we have to remember when we feel we’re not collecting the data we had wished for.
Having said that, some moving and relevant stories can come from the most unexpected of sources. Whilst I may spend some days still trying to figure out where I go next and what I ‘should’ be doing, on other occasions I’ve met with people on the pretext of simply finding out more about their work or getting to know them, and left feeling touched by some of the very personal stories they’ve revealed to me. This has taught me that we have to remain open to every new interaction, as we simply do not know where it may lead. And we must treat each relationship very much on its own terms – it may only be a fleeting exchange, but those few moments matter for connecting with people and trying to understand where they are coming from and how they feel about talking to you, as a researcher.
So whilst I try to navigate my way through the sea of humanitarian, development and human rights organisations in Nairobi – through their Directors, Human Resources Managers, programme staff and consultants – I’m doing my best to stick to what I feel are three important principles:
- Being open: to whatever opportunities arise, and to enter each situation and interaction without preconceptions or judgements
- Patience: to understand that making connections with people, particularly as a researcher, can take time. And that not every day will bring enriching data. There may be some days where little happens at all, except the opportunity to reflect on where I’m at so far and how I feel about it.
- Trust: despite the temptation to always question whether I’m doing enough or whether I’m doing things properly, I have to also see this entire process as one of learning – about myself as much as others. We have to feel our way into each day, each interaction, each space we occupy as researchers. Keeping this in mind encourages a sense of trust – that as a new researcher in the field I have to embrace the journey and be confident that each day brings with it a new lesson.
Your frank assessment of where you have reached in the high standards you have set yourself will strike a chord with many a freelance researcher, especially in radio, television and journalism. When you are working in the field you are usually answerable to nobody except yourself. That can be lonely and can lead to frustration, impatience, even despair. But it seems you have taken stock of your situation. And the honest and analytical way in which you are approaching your work will lead you towards the results you are hoping for. For sure.
Thank you. I’m sure many researchers will understand what I’m talking about. Some days are certainly frustrating and difficult, but there are also days when real progress and positive connections are made. The journey of a Phd researcher is certainly like that beyond the field research – moments of excitement and fulfilment and moments of complete panic and despair, sometimes all in the space of a few hours!