RidNet Annual Conference 2015: Conducting Fieldwork in Development Contexts
- Date
- Monday 30 November 2015, 9:00 - 17:30 followed by drinks reception
- Location
- Seminar Room 8.119, School of Earth and Environment
- Category
- RiDNet Annual Conferences
4th Annual RiDNet Conference “Conducting Fieldwork in Development Contexts: Expectations, Encounters and Entanglements”
Key note speakers
Professor Jenny Pearce, Professor of Latin American Studies, Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford
Dr Sam Spiegel, Director of Research, Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh
Dr Martin Lamb, School of Education, University of Leeds
Dr Suman Seth, University of Leeds Business School and Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative
Why this conference?
The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry Robert Burns, Scottish poet
Seasoned researchers tell us time and again that good planning will only get you so far in fieldwork. Increasingly PhD and early career researchers are expected to be reflexive and adaptive, able to cope with uncertainty, rapidly changing circumstances and unfamiliar contexts. But how to do this is a little explored area of PhD training. The 4th Annual RiDNet Conference aims to fill that gap by showcasing a range of methodologies that researchers may want to add to their fieldwork ‘toolkit’, whilst reflecting on real-life experiences of fieldwork, to help you to dynamically manage the demands of developing world research.
RidNET invites submission of talks around the following themes:
The fieldwork bag of tricks – what methodologies are drawn on for collecting and analysing data in the field? How adaptable are they to dynamic and changing contexts?
The practicalities of participation –what does participatory research mean in practice? How participatory is it?
More than data – what are the emotional aspects of research in the field? How do we manage our relationships and entanglements of fieldwork?
Hitting the ground running – how prepared can you be before you go in the field? How do we handle gatekeepers, hire research assistants, negotiate access, handle issues of transparency?
Fieldwork on the edge – how does conducting research in violent or difficult contexts add further challenges for the researcher? What are the ethical and health and safety implications for research and research participants?
Conference sponsored by White Rose Social Science Doctoral Training Centre (WRDTC) and CGD