Abstract
Research Data Collection in Challenging Environments: Barriers to Studying the Performance of Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Constituency Information Centres (PCICs)
Highlights
UNESCO (2009) has highlighted problems of research data collection due to cultural practices in certain settings
The data collection challenges outlined in this article, in the Zimbabwean context, provide lessons that can potentially be of value to other researchers working in developing-country contexts
Perhaps the most important lesson learned was that in order to carry out data collection successfully in rural Zimbabwe, the researcher has to have—or develop, or get access to via others—strong connections with people based in the local environments in which the data collection takes place
Summary
UNESCO (2009) has highlighted problems of research data collection due to cultural practices in certain settings. De Vrieze and Murupa (2012), during their visits to collect data for evaluation of the operation of the PCICs, found that political partisanship was retarding public participation at the centres They recommended education and awareness campaigns to improve PCIC operations. They noted lack of clear understanding of the PCIC project's objectives, as implemented by the central government and development partners (De Vrieze & Murupa, 2012). It was during my study of the PCICs that I encountered the particular set of data collection challenges that are the focus of this article. This article is not, focused on the performance of the PCICs, but, rather, on the difficulties encountered in seeking to collect research data on PCICs’performance
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