Research methods

Scaling-up local innovations in natural resource management (NRM) involves learning that is centred around three themes: promoting local-level innovation, understanding why local innovations work in specific contexts, and reflecting on their relevance in other geographical and social contexts. Successful scaling-up depends in part upon the relationships among multiple stakeholders at different levels around this learning. […]

Better use of research-based evidence in development policy and practice can help save lives, reduce poverty, and improve the quality of life. But for this to happen more effectively researchers need to do three things. First, they need to develop a detailed understanding of (a) the policy-making process; what are the key influencing factors, and […]

This article looks at lessons that emerge from one specific approach to bridging activism and scholarship and the collaborative research partnership between scholars and activists. What these lessons share is a focus on recognising difference in order to bring people together. This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis.

This paper reports on a collaborative research project that shows how participatory social research can be used as a strategy for combating social exclusion. The Crime Prevention Partnership Project brought together dominant and disempowered groups to explore social issues of mutual concern and identify potential solutions. Indigenous Australian undergraduate students played a central role in […]

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has long been used as a methodology for understanding organisational learning and change. This paper discusses its applications to interview-based field research within the development context. While AI begins by looking at the best of an organisation or individual’s experience, it can help researchers to gain a textured and detailed understanding of […]

Since March 2000, in partnership with the Women’s Centre of Montreal and other units at Montreal universities, McGill’s Centre for Developing-Area Studies has carried out an action-research programme on gender and human security issues in the context of war and reconstruction. Our interdisciplinary team of researchers and activists has been working locally with women refugees, […]

Based on ‘Understanding the informal sector using sub-sector analysis’. The author describes the sub-sector analysis method and applies it to tailors working in the informal sector in Kenya. The results of the analysis allow the author to discuss the factors which influence the success, or otherwise, of micro-enterprise in this sector; he also advocates the […]