McCormick+Schmitz Handbook for value chain research on - PACA

In answering the first question, the <strong>research</strong>er might note that during the rainy season,
Maria’s sons miss school on average once a week and that Maria also must spend extra
money to buy the plastic <strong>for</strong> wrapping her goods. She might also note that Maria must
watch her young children while she works. She might deduce that the fact that the
workroom is also the family’s sitting-cum-dining room means that Maria must have to
clear away the work every evening and set up again in the morning. Finally, she might
observe that the darkness of the room means that Maria must burn electricity throughout
the day.
Since the presence of an outsider often changes people’s behaviour, <strong>research</strong>ers tend to
look at observation in terms of the extent to which the observer is inside or outside of the
group. Some observers are totally outside the group or situation, as in the case of the
social psychologist watching through a one-way window. At the other end of the spectrum
is the participant observer who is or has become a member of the group being studied. A
<strong>value</strong> <strong>chain</strong> <strong>research</strong>er could, <strong>for</strong> example, work <strong>for</strong> a time in a garment factory or as an
outworker in order to observe first hand the conditions of work and the interactions within
the <strong>chain</strong>. Alternatively, workers could be trained to observe and record their observations
on certain variables.
A.5 Questionnaire surveys
The premise of the questionnaire survey technique is a simple one: if you want to know
something about people, why not ask them? We learn about the finances of the household
by asking a member of the household; we learn about a person’s hopes <strong>for</strong> her children’s
future by asking her. Of course there are other methods of learning about household
finances or a mother’s hopes and dreams, but the advantage of the survey is that it can
provide direct answers relatively cheaply from a large number of people.
Yet if the basic premise of the survey method is simple, the operations involved in using a
sample survey <strong>research</strong> design are not. Sampling, writing a questionnaire, and
administering it to respondents are complex processes that must be handled very
carefully. Failure to do so puts the <strong>research</strong>er in danger of obtaining misleading or useless
results. We will, in this section, lay out the basic elements of the survey method. At the
same time, we remind you that, unless you are an experienced <strong>research</strong>er, you would be
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