“Democracy” in Afghanistan - the Afghanistan Research and ...

AREU Synthesis Paper Series
Nangarhar, Ghazni and Nimroz. These provinces
were purposefully selected for the contrast that
their ethnic populations (Pashtun and Baluch) would
provide against the majority Tajik areas in the first
phase, and also for the added variable of insecurity.
Nimroz was selected in particular for its remoteness
from the centre, providing a direct comparison with
those provinces near to Kabul or with their own large
cities or trade routes.
A total of 120 interviews were conducted in the
second phase—40 in each province, comprised
primarily of individual interviews. More interviews
were needed in the second phase to collect not only
perspectives on democracy, but to get a sense of the
specific context in which the interviews were taking
place. In a further measure designed to increase
understanding of the contexts as well as mitigating
security risks, partner organisations were contracted
to collect data in these areas using research staff
native to each province. 40 This allowed for valuable
mid-project and final debriefing sessions in which
the data gathered in interviews was checked against
the knowledge of the research staff themselves. In
each province, interviews were conducted in one
urban and one rural (or “semi-urban” where security
restricted travel to fully rural areas) location.
Respondents in the second phase were selected
according to the same criteria as the first, and
comprised a mixture of men and women, young
and old, and rural and urban inhabitants. Teachers,
students, religious elders, local leaders and
government officials were interviewed along with
shopkeepers, taxi drivers, housewives and farmers.
A wide spectrum of educational levels was
represented.
Methods of data collection
Research teams in both phases were entirely
comprised of Afghan researchers. In the first
phase, the AREU research team conducted the data
collection themselves, and in the second phase this
was done through partner organisations with AREU
team members providing continuous feedback on
transcripts. Staff from partner organisations were
40 In Ghazni and Nangarhar, the partner was the Organisation for
Sustainable Development and Research (OSDR). In Nimroz, the partner
organisation was Relief International (RI).
trained in qualitative research methodologies
by AREU research staff in Kabul both before data
collection began and at a mid-point during the
project. AREU research staff also visited the field
sites (with the exception of Nimroz) during the data
collection to assist and support the research teams. 41
In phase one, qualitative semi-structured interviews
were conducted as informal conversations with
individuals, and FGDs were conducted as group
discussions within similar demographic sectors (for
example in classes of secondary school students).
While these discussions were useful, it was felt that
more substantive information was gained through
individual conversation and thus in the second
phase, interviews with individuals were prioritised
with few FGDs conducted. In both phases, openended
questions were used that began with the
subject of the last elections, so as to draw on more
concrete experiences to begin with.
Limitations
The research made every effort to ensure that the
methodology used for this project was sound and
reliable. There remain some limitations, however,
which are readily acknowledged:
1. The data is not representative of Afghanistan
as a whole. It merely reflects the views of a
broad range of diverse opinions in six different
provinces across the country.
2. It was not possible to interview as many women
as men, especially in rural areas. This was due
to limited access and limited time to build
enough trust among the communities that
were not familiar with the research teams. Of
a total of 209 interviews and FGDs, 82 were
with women. Although not as numerous as the
interviews with men, however, many of the
conversations with women were longer and
gathered more contextual information since
they tended to take place inside the home and
were thus more informal in nature.
3. Due to security concerns, the districts selected
in insecure provinces were not as remote as
41 A visit to Nimroz was planned, but cancelled due to the lack of air
travel available to the province following a plane crash in May 2010.
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