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Tomiak,Kerstin
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Researchereffectsinsurvey‐basedresearch:
InsightsfromresearchinSouthSudan
DevelopmentPolicyReview
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SuggestedCitation:Tomiak,Kerstin(2022):Researchereffectsinsurvey‐basedresearch:
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Received:26October2021 | Accepted:21February2022
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ARTICLE
Researchereffectsinsurvey-basedresearch:
InsightsfromresearchinSouthSudan
KerstinTomiak
CODEUniversityofAppliedScience,
Science,Technology,andSociety-Summary
programme,Berlin,GermanyMotivation:Inpolicy-relevantandappliedresearchininternational
development,theevidence-basedturnhasledtoincreasingdonor
Correspondencedemandforevidencethatisneutral,objective,andvalue-
KerstinTomiak,CODEUniversityofAppliedthanthispositivistunderstanding,thearticlearguesforreflexivity
Science,Science,Technology,andSociety-andacknowledgementofpositionalitytohelpovercomepotentialre-
programme,Berlin,.
Email:kerstin.******@:DrawingontheexampleofsurveyresearchinSouthSudan,
thearticlearguesthatsocialrelationsbetweentheresearcher,sur-
veyors,andparticipantsshapetheresearchprocessandhenceknowl-
similarcircumstancesledtodistinctivedatasets.
Methodsandapproach:Theargumentisbasedoncomparingsurvey
datagatheredbytwogroupsoflocallyhiredsurveyorsinSouthSudan
andsubsequentsemi-structuredinterviewswiththem.
Findings:Thedatashowthattheresearcher'spositionality,broadly
conceived,-
veyorsperceivedtheleadresearcherandtheeconomicallychalleng-
ingenvironmentofSouthSudan—acountryseverelyembroiledin
violentconflict—affectedthedatathatweregatheredwithasocial
survey,andconsequentlyaffectedknowledgeproduction.
Policyimplications:Thearticlecontributestotheliteraturethatar-
showsthatinpolicy-relevantresearchreflexivityisnecessaryto
-affected,
impoverishedenvironments,anddonorsrequestingevaluationand
measurement,shouldbeencouragedtotakepositionalityintoac-
countandtoaskquestionsaboutresearchpractices.
KEYWORDS
evaluation,intervieweffects,positivism,quantitativeresearch,
reflexivity,socialsurveys,SouthSudan
ThisisanopenaccessarticleunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercialLicense,whichpermits
use,distributionandreproductioninanymedium,providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycitedandisnotusedforcommercial
purposes.
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1 | INTRODUCTION
Thisarticleexamineswhetherandtowhatextentknowledgeproducedforpolicydecisionsinconflict-riddenand
.
Often,suchresearchisconcernedwithissuesrelatedtoviolentconflictandtheassociatedproblemsofpoverty
-relevantanddonetoplanandevaluateprojectsthatareconductedto
endpoverty,improvehealthcare,,suchresearchisdirectlyaffectingpeople's
,whetherresearchresultsareinfluencedbyresearchpractices,
doesnotarisebecauseoftheenvironmentinwhichittakesplaceorthepeopleandissueswithwhichitiscon-
-affectedandlow-incomecountriesoftenpresentsparticularchallenges,including
,inrecentyears,thedangersofon-the-
groundresearchinconflict-affectedenvironmentshaveincreased,whichhasresultedinamovetowardsremote
data-gathering(Perera,2017a).Theseareseriouschallenges;still,thequestionoftheaccuracyofresearchresults
arisesbecauseofhowpolicy-relevantresearchwithregardstopeacebuildingandinternationaldevelopmentis
conducted,
understanddatatobeobservable,scientificinquiryasbeingmarkedbyobjectivity,andtherigorousapplication
factscanbegathered,togetherwithpolicy-makers'wishesforobjectiveandclearlyorganizedandpresentedan-
swerstothequestionofwhetherapolicyworks,potentiallyleadstoflawedresearchresults.
Scholarsworkingincriticaltheoryhaveshedlightonthenumerouswaysinwhichsocialrelationscanplayout
intheresearchprocessandinfluenceresults(Behl,2017;Gallagher,2016;Mahé,2019),andincriticalandmostly
qualitativeresearch,reflexivityandawarenessofresearchereffectsarethusclosetostandardpractice(Alveson&
Skoeldberg,2009;Attia&Edge,2017;Patnaik,2013).Reflexivity,theconstant“examininghowone'spositionality,
perspective,backgrounds,andinsightsinfluenceallaspectsofthestudy”(Vagle,2018,),hasbeennamed“a
crucialstrategyintheprocessofgeneratingknowledgebymeansofqualitativeresearch”(Berger,2015,).
Still,reflexivityandconsiderationsoftheresearcher'spositionalityare,forthemostpart,absentfromquantitative
research,withsomenotableexceptions,forexampleLouiseRyan'sandAnneGolden'sthoughtsonthevalueof
reflexivitywhenconductingsurveyresearch(Ryan&Golden,2006)andtheworkbyBradyWestandAnnelies
Blomoninterviewereffectsonsurveydatacollectionprocesses(West&Blom,2016).Drawingonthis,thisarticle
exploresthequestionsofwhetherandhowresearcherpositionalityaffectsdatagatheringthroughadiscussion
researchconductedinthecountry'scapital,Juba,andsubsequentsemi-structuredinterviewswiththelocally
hiredsurveyors,shedlightontheunder-researchedareaoftherelationshipbetweeninternationalresearchers
andlocallyhiredsurveyorsinaconflict-affected,impoverishedcountry,andtheserelationships'effectsonre-
peacebuildingrestsonapositivistworldviewandthatthispreventstheacknowledgementofresearchereffects,
,ontheotherhand,wouldstrengthen,
notweaken,researchresults;areflexiveapproachandawarenessofresearcherpositionalityarevitalnotonlyin
,includ-
ingtheenvironment,power,andsocialrelations,regardlessofwhetherthedataisqualitativeorquantitative,and
themethodsusedarebasedoninterviews,
researchasanindependentorneutraldata-gatheringexerciseisnotvalid;researchereffectsarepresentbothin
qualitativeandinquantitativeresearch.
Toexplicatetheargumentthatdataarenotgatheredinanindependentlyexistingrealityandthatdata(and
thus,knowledge)areinsteadproducedbytheactorsparticipatingintheresearchandtheirrelationshipsand
dynamics,,Section2providesanoverviewoftheprin-
ciplesunderpinningresearchininternationaldevelopment,:.
TOMIAK | 3of15
inSection3byabriefexplorationofthesocialsurveyasapreferredmethodandtheproblemswhenconducting
socialsurveysinconflict-,thecasestudy—datagatheringin
SouthSudan—isintroduced,followedinSection5byadescriptionofthetwosurveysandsubsequentinterviews
withthesurveyorsandanelaborationoftherecruitmentofthestudent-
,Ielaborateontheresearchenvi-
ronmentaspartoftheresearchcontext,beforeofferingsomethoughtsinSection8onhowtomanageresearcher
-
nairesandanalysingtheinterviewsitarguesthattheresearcher'spositionality,howtheresearcherisperceived
bythelocallyhiredsurveyors,
intothepracticeofsurveyresearchthatspotlightstheideathatresearchgroundedinpositivismanditsbeliefin
anddemandforvalue-free,,theseinsights
,andthisenviron-
ment,togetherwithhowlocalsurveyorsperceivedtheresearcher,
problematicenvironment,however,isnotuniquetoSouthSudanbutispresentinmanycountriesinwhichinter-
,reflexivityandawarenessofpositionality
,thearticlearguesfortheneedtoconsider
positionalityandreflexivityinpolicy-relevantresearchconductedinpoverty-riddenandconflict-affectedregions
inordertobetterunderstandtheissuesunderinvestigation.
2 | AGROUNDINGINPOSITIVISM
Theargumentputforwardhereisthatresearchingeneralanddatacollectionmorespecificallyarehappeningin
-
tiveresearch,andthisinsightissignificantforresearchconductedincountriesaffectedbyviolentconflictand
,aresearchermightbeunawareofsocial,economic,andpoliticalcircumstances
thathavetheabilitytoaffectdatagathering;itisallthemoreessentialtoconsideranyinfluencesandtheirpo-
developmentandpolicy-relevantresearch(Sushantetal.,2018),evenifqualitativemethodssuchasfocusgroups
andinterviewsarementionedinmanualsandpublications(Gudda,2011;Nuguti,2015;Wholeyetal.,2010;
Zarinpoush,2006).Fieldexperimentsarealsoconducted(John,2017).Whatthesemethodshaveincommon
inthepracticeofpolicy-relevantresearchisagroundinginpositivismandthecommonnotionthat“evaluations
mustbeindependent,impartialandcredible”andthattheyconstitute“anobjectiveassessmentofasubjectfree
fromundueinfluencesthatdistortorbiastheconductorfindings”(UnitedNations,2019,).Thisisanexample
ofexplicitpositivistlanguage,andthepositivistunderpinningofpolicy-
evaluationpolicy,theUnitedStatesAgencyforInternationalDevelopment(USAID)pointsoutthat“evaluations
willbeundertakeninamannerthatensurescredibility,unbiasedness,transparency,andthegenerationofhigh-
qualityinformationandknowledge”(USAID,2016