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Empowering Market Researchers in Lebanon

In the wake of the devastating Beirut Port explosion on August 4th, 2020, ESOMAR Foundation stepped up to aid Lebanon’s research community by creating the Lebanon Relief Fund. ESOMAR Foundation has collaborated with the University of Georgia and MRII to launch an initiative, aimed at supporting researchers and students in Lebanon.

Through their joint efforts, they offered 20 free online market research courses tailored to equip researchers and students with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the field effectively.

The courses offered covered a wide range of topics essential to Market Research.

Applicants were provided with detailed descriptions of each course, enabling them to make informed decisions based on their individual interests and needs.

Witnessing the impact it has had on our community has been truly inspiring. The knowledge and skills acquired through these courses have empowered individuals to navigate their professional paths more effectively.

To provide a glimpse of the impact firsthand, we are pleased to share feedback from some of the successful learners:

“I am delighted to share that the course was indeed enriching and has significantly impacted both my professional and personal life. The comprehensive content and interactive learning approach have enhanced my understanding of quantitative data collection methods, equipping me with practical skills applicable to my work. The real-world examples and case studies provided valuable insights, allowing me to apply the concepts learned directly to my role.” – Abir Richani on Quantitative Data Collection Methods

“Analyzing large datasets can reveal hidden patterns and trends in various aspects of society, economics, and human behavior. This could enhance my understanding of the world around and spark curiosity about social issues and global challenges. I think this course will have a significant and positive impact on my professional and personal life by equipping me with valuable skills, enhancing my knowledge, and empowering me to make informed decisions and contributions to the world”. – Chadi Daou on Working with Secondary Data: Syndicated and Big Data.

“The course was highly interesting and informative; I thoroughly enjoyed it and found the flow to be very smooth. I believe the course was exceptionally well-prepared.”- Ghiwa Mouawad on Communicating Research Results

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course. The content was insightful, and the instructors demonstrated a deep understanding of the subject matter. The course not only expanded my knowledge of working with secondary data but also provided practical insights that I have already started applying in my professional role. The real-world examples and case studies were particularly beneficial in bridging the gap between theory and practice.”- Hassan Idriss on Working with Secondary Data: Syndicated and Big Data

It was great training, and I benefited from it professionally and academically” – Hala ElZein on Advanced Analytic Techniques.

In conclusion, we extend our deepest gratitude to the ESOMAR Foundation, the University of Georgia, and MRII for their unwavering commitment to supporting Lebanon’s research community. Your collaboration has not only provided educational opportunities but has also fostered hope and resilience in the face of adversity.

Tarek Ammar, ESOMAR Representative for Lebanon, Regional Director at ARA Research and Consultancy

 

 

 

Community support to our Turkish and Syrian peers

 

ESOMAR community will support Syrian and Turkish insights and analytics professionals and their families through ESOMAR Foundation Researchers in Need Programme.

A great tragedy occurred in Turkey and Syria on February 6th when a massive earthquake shook the vast southeast region of these two countries, impacting dozens of cities, collapsing more than thousands of buildings, and killing hundreds of thousands of people. Earthquakes are still shaking the region, at higher magnitudes than 5.0, contributing to more ruin and fatalities.

Now, more than a month later, the impacted communities are still living in the streets, with no access to water or electricity, and trying to rebuild some semblance of normalcy for themselves. Our research community has many field agents in the region who have been impacted. We want to help them now, as the outcry has stopped and the world has moved on, and we can utilize our connections with the international research community to help our fellow humans.

This is where the ESOMAR Community, can come in to assist and raise the necessary funds to help colleagues survive this disaster. Every day, contributions run scarcer and attention from the global media disappears, but these people are still homeless, hungry, and have no access to basic human resources.

Express your solidarity with your Turkish and Syrian colleagues

You may be looking to find a practical way to show your solidarity. If you wish to support your Turkish and Syrian peers and colleagues, please consider donating to the solidarity fund to boost the solidarity bridge’s capacity further.

 Donate Now

 

Myanmar

The Digital Youth will not succumb to Military Rule in Myanmar

Just as the fight against Covid Pandemic seemed to be almost over, a political crisis has drawn Myanmar’s economy close to collapse- but there is a capable, smart and ambitious young Generation willing to give everything to save it and they need our support.

When people in Myanmar woke up on the morning of February 1st, their life radically changed. Just days before, I had discussed with Myanmar friends and colleagues the likelihood of a military coup d’etat, as rumors were spreading of a hostile takeover before the newly elected Parliament took oath. At the same time, our industry, certainly bruised by the devastating effects of the pandemic was feeling optimistic with infection rates in clear decline for weeks and we were hopeful that the restrictions on travel and gatherings would be lifted very soon.

At that point, my colleagues and I concluded that a power grab by the military was unlikely, given that the military already wielded political and economic power in the country. According to the 2008 Constitution, they held a quarter of the seats in Parliament and the right to appoint 3 key Ministers. The military also controls large parts of the economy as they own huge business conglomerates that stretch from ICT, extractive industries, banks to consumer goods providing enormous wealth to senior army leaders. Seizing power, we felt, would have no point as it would clearly endanger the economic progress of the past decade initiated by liberalization and democratic reforms. At the same time, the Covid-19 pandemic had increased the number of households living under the UN poverty threshold by nearly 30% and about 75% of households had reduced income during the many months of lockdown.

Still, the Military took over and revived the nation’s collective trauma of 50 years of authoritarian and autarchic rule, resulting in widespread anger and a broad consensus: a return to military rule would no longer be accepted. At the forefront of the movement against dictatorship are the youth from Generation Z. They did not spend their adolescence under the military rule but still experienced its disastrous effects of bad education, low living standards and underdevelopment. They had the chance to taste freedom and democracy, growing up with relatively free media, access to internet, the freedom to travel within the country and abroad, career opportunities – and suddenly saw their dreams and future taken away from them overnight.

First flashmobs organized by Gen Z grew within days into thousands of people protesting nationwide and ignoring the newly implemented state of emergency that prohibits any assembly of groups. Like in Myanmar’s past, when students lead the uprising in 1988, it was the many young people who drew crowds to the streets, joined by their parents and grandparents who participated to fight for a better future for their children. Yet, this time the movement is different:  Six years ago, most Myanmar people had never been online as internet access was restricted, expensive and slow. These days, the protest movement quelled within a few days to every corner of the country driven by young adults who organized rallies via Facebook.

The pandemic has quasi helped the protest movement as people adopted a more digital lifestyle during the lockdown

Messages to boycott brands owned or in a JV with the military spread fast across social media. Apps that showed maps with increased police activity during protests circulated online along with guides on how to protect oneself on the street and from tear gas. Many of these guides were shared by young activists from other Asian countries who have come together under the Milk Tea Alliance, being united in their quest for democracy.

During the long stay-at-home orders people in Myanmar became even more tech-savvy, learning how to download streaming apps, had a go with online shopping and how to communicate via Zoom – preparing them to adopt fast to a new digital toolbox to brave the army in an unprecedented way.

Digital technology allowed people not just to organize activities quickly, but also to document the events and share the news with the world. While state-owned TV channels only showed pro-military propaganda, the peaceful protests- and later also the many human rights violations committed by the security forces- were filmed and shared by brave citizens simply using their smartphones. At the same time, Facebook helped to disseminate accurate information: posts of re-known independent media triggered nearly 15 million likes and up to 30,000 shares within hours. Hashtags such as #whatshappeninginmyanmar trended both on FB and Twitter.

In an attempt to dominate the narrative around the coup, the military soon blocked Facebook, Twitter and even Wikipedia.  The digitally literate youngsters quickly found ways to circumvent those restrictions by using VPNs and encrypted chat apps- easily outsmarting the old generation of army generals. The Military reacted by shutting down the mobile internet and public wifi for an indefinite time. Yet, youngsters found Bluetooth chat apps and other possibilities in the dark net to stay in touch and share with the world what is happening in Myanmar. Fiber connections at homes still work, though these are mainly owned by few affluent people in urban areas.

“You messed with the wrong Generation”

After months in lockdown, the initial protests had a carnival-feel to it. People were less scared about the virus than the prospect of returning to military rule. The objective of the protests was not just to show the disagreement with the military takeover but also to attract (international) media attention since many hoped for foreign help.

Again, the young generation showed creativity, boldness and humor in their costumes and banners all on display during the protests. Walking side to side with teachers, doctors, lawyers and other civil servants in their uniforms, we saw illustrious groups like pet lovers who came with their trimmed poodles, body builders, women in bridal dresses and even a person in a superman costume – a powerful way to create media attention.

The common goal to prevent military rule has united Myanmar society more than ever before. The different religious groups and ethnic people marched alongside with members from the LGBT community or punks. More recently, people have even publicly apologized to the Rohingya minority for not speaking out at the time when they were prosecuted by the military- breaking what was a big taboo in the country thus far. The coup further emboldened and encouraged individuals to show their ‘true’ identity, finding a voice and experiencing a feeling of togetherness in their common quest.

For several weeks now, the jolly happy atmosphere of the first protest weeks has turned into an endless nightmare. Security forces indiscriminately executed protestors by shooting them in the head and provoking widespread fear among the population through indiscriminate arrests, dragging people from their homes at night, beating them up, looting homes and shops and destroying any civilian property they find on their way.

When 19-year-old Kyal Sin, also called by her nickname Angel, left her home in Mandalay to join the protest one day she wore a black t-shirt with a front print reading ‘Everything will be OK’. That day she was shot in the head while taking cover from security forces who were firing live rounds on peaceful protesters. Her picture went viral globally. She epitomized this new generation, a brave young female who in the November 2020 elections had voted for the first time in her life, who dreamt of a better future and didn’t want to accept that her freedom could be taken away in a blink.

Many Myanmar people say they have nothing to lose as they are poor already and would rather die than to live again under military rule

 Most of us experience such uprisings as a 30-seconds-clip in the evening news. There are millions of courageous and determined people like Angel in Myanmar – and some of them also in our Industry. There are many young talents who are excited to do research, to discuss and monitor the social and economic changes happening in their country. Many (young) people are incredibly brave to risk their lives so they can go back to what this new Myanmar generation enjoyed so much –being safely with their friends and family, having freedom to say what they think and to express who they are, traveling, having fun, gaming, shopping, pursuing a career … you name it. Their future is at stake.

The objective of the Civil Disobedience Movement is to block the economy and make the country ungovernable to force the military out of politics. This is also affecting our industry as most research came to a halt due to security reasons. How long can agencies pay their staff’s salaries when they are no longer able to generate any incomes?

There is no fast solution to this crisis on the horizon. The World Food Program has already pointed to alarming effects on food security. The Research Industry that was built during the last decade is at the edge of a dangerous cliff. When I moved to Myanmar 9 years ago marketing and research talent was hardly existing. Young people worked hard to acquire necessary skills and absorbed all the trainings given to them – incl by the ESOMAR Foundation. All of us, including our clients, should stay committed to them and show that they have a future economy to believe in, that we stand with them.  One important way to do so is to keep Myanmar researchers connected to the outside world.  Let’s share industry developments, let’s keep our networks, our community and our discussions alive- young people thrive with food for thought, this is something we can easily provide- perhaps they even surprise us back with creative ideas and opportunities.

Once the situation allows, I am certainly committed to be back to help continue where we left it, building on the young talent we grew. I hope that the ESOMAR family will join me in that and, in the meantime, stand with the many brave people in Myanmar who just want to live a peaceful and prosperous life in freedom and democracy.

Marita Schimpl, ESOMAR Representative Myanmar, Managing Director, Myanmar Survey Research, Marketing Research

This article was first published on Research World on 31 March 2021

Audience research in the time of COVID-19

At BBC Media Action, audiences are the centrepiece of everyday work. This key BBC value is also vital for creating effective communication for development. To understand their audiences and assess the impact, their work begins and ends with research – and this remains true even in a time of crisis.

Sonia Whitehead, Head of Research at BBC Media Action and ESOMAR Foundation board member shared some insights on the work done by her team during the Covid-19 outbreak. In the following piece, we will get an idea of the tremendous value that research brings to charities and not-for-profits from a media and communication standpoint. We will understand the international work done by her team with similarities and differences between countries and learn what her research teams are doing in getting to the heart of a problem.

Research helps BBC Media Action to understand our audiences’ perceptions and concerns relating to the disease, as well as what information they need to make decisions and keep their families safe. This in turn enables our production teams to produce trusted, clear and actionable media and communication content that reaches people – including vulnerable communities – at scale, stands out in a sea of competing information (not all of which is true or helpful), and ultimately saves lives.

But how can research teams continue their vital work when they’re working at a distance from production colleagues, when the pace of production is so fast, and when face-to-face field work is out of the question?

Adapting our pre-testing methods

It can be difficult to keep pace with the need for rapid programme development when it comes to producing COVID-19 communications content. But it’s not good enough to say ‘we don’t have time to test’. You might get a piece of content on air or online more quickly – but the impact may be lost if the tone isn’t culturally appropriate, language about physical distancing too confusing, or your call to action is not clear enough for audiences.

So our message is simple: wherever possible, ‘pre-test, pre-test, pre-test’.

There are ways of gaining quick feedback under lockdown. Whilst working from home, our research team in Myanmar conducted some pre-testing of one of the new BBC Media Action COVID-19 public service announcements (PSA) with their friends and families. They found that respondents could recall the key information points from the PSA – about washing your hands and covering your face when coughing – and felt it was particularly engaging because of the traditional music and lively delivery, making it unique from more serious PSAs they had seen on other media platforms. They recommended that the production team continue with this positive, encouraging tone to engage audiences.

A scene from one of the COVID-19 public service announcements in Myanmar

Inspired by this example, our research team in Indonesia were testing content with friends and family via telephone and social media, as well as getting back in touch with a group of young people who recently took part in qualitative research about climate change. They’re setting up closed Facebook groups through which they can pre-test content, such as short new radio dramas tackling COVID-19 misinformation and rumours, to receive rapid feedback. It’s a similar story in Afghanistan, where we’re using social media to recruit volunteers for online focus group discussions. They have used different ways to pre-test, such as contacting respondents and playing content via mobile.

Utilising local networks and contacts

With field work limited by local restrictions on movement, we’re relying on our wide-reaching networks and contacts nurtured over the years to help us access respondents and continue our vital research – to ensure programming reflects people’s changing needs.

For example, in Zambia, we’re working closely with our national network of community journalists – developed through years of work strengthening community radio in the country – to help us understand the needs and concerns of hard-to-reach audiences. We’re looking to set up simple, safe and physically distant mobile surveys for them to run in their communities to help us understand how perceptions of, and concerns about, the pandemic differ across rural and urban areas.

Similarly, in Bangladesh, where access to Cox’s Bazar refugee camp is now restricted, our researchers are making regular phone calls to our network of Rohingya volunteers to continue taking the pulse of the community. We’re sharing the insights gained – including persistent, widely circulating COVID-19 rumours and how to counter them – through our longstanding What Matters?’ bulletin in partnership with Translators Without Borders.

And in Cambodia, where our researchers had been in the midst of a panel evaluation for our popular youth project Klahan9 (Brave 9), we’re pivoting the focus of our research to include perceptions on COVID-19. The team is also exploring how to draw upon our network of Klahan9 youth ambassadors to tell us more about how they and their communities are experiencing the pandemic.

The BBC Media Action Data Portal – an open source portal containing a wealth of our existing audience research

Revisiting our existing data and building partnerships

To respect our audiences, it’s important that we use our existing insights relevant to COVID-19 and not conduct research for the sake of it.

Many of our teams around the world have been looking carefully at our wealth of existing audience research (much of which is open source and available on our website and Data Portal), re-analysing the data to draw out new insights around media access and usage among vulnerable audiences such as older people or people with disabilities. We’re also pulling out useful data from previous projects around health and hygiene – for instance, barriers to, and enablers of, good water, sanitation and hygiene practices in NepalKenya and Ethiopia.

Externally, we are building relationships with organisations across key sectors (including market research, academic and humanitarian) which are producing surveys and collecting useful insights on COVID-19 – such as ACAPsInnovations for Poverty ActionKantar and the International Survey on Coronavirus, for information relevant to our projects.

Cross-country collaboration

Despite restrictions around freedom of movement, researchers at our London headquarters and across our network of country offices are working more closely than ever before – sharing expertise, exchanging COVID-19 research tips and tricks, and comparing cultural insights through regular calls and online forums. And we’re supporting our country offices virtually from London to better analyse their digital performance and monitor online chatter about the pandemic – using tools such as Crowdtangle’s COVID-19 tracking to help production teams fine-tune their outputs.

Encouragingly, there are early signs that our work is paying off. Some of the COVID-19 PSAs produced by our Myanmar team, for instance, are achieving record levels of online engagement. The Ministry of Health has even asked to make this PSA (watched nearly 3 million times and shared by 46,000+ people) official, for broadcast through national TV partners.

The situation is always changing. But we will continue to innovate and review research methodologies to ensure we’re providing essential insights to production colleagues, and best serving our audiences.

 

About the Author: Sonia Whitehead, Head of Research at BBC Media Action and ESOMAR Foundation board member.

(Originally posted in BBC Media Action Blog)

The science of imagination: how System 3 offers a new way for NGOs to change minds and raise money

I’d like you to start this article by imagining a different world. Imagine the planet, and the society, you’d like to be living in – is it different to the one we inhabit right now? How does it make you feel to picture that new world?

What your mind is doing right now, as it creates the outline of a possible world, is the key to a major scientific breakthrough. A new development in behavioural science is starting to shape how market research will be done in the coming years. This emerging field brings together how people imagine the future, how they empathize with others and how they plan out their choices. All of these processes take place using brain functions separate from the “System 1 and 2” model that is often used to describe immediate decision-making: it has therefore been labelled System 3.

We live in a world where the attitudes and beliefs of the public are in greater focus, and at greater question, than ever before. Five years ago many of us (including me) assumed the arc of human politics and society was bending towards greater compassion, inclusion, equality and understanding. Now we are not so sure.

In some ways, this moment brings new urgency to the role of NGOs in the public conversation. Climate change presents an immediate and obvious priority; many dimensions of inequality have come into sharp clarity in this political environment; an increase in conflict-driven migration has created new tensions in Europe and North America; and the environmental, welfare and development campaigns that have animated global charity work for decades continue to matter just as much.

A personal example: I support a small charity that helps immigration detainees in the UK. AVID provides resources and advice to volunteers who visit asylum applicants and other migrants during the long periods of detention while a decision is made on whether they can stay in the UK. In the last ten years, AVID has faced the tough challenge of unsympathetic public opinion and media narratives. Between the Brexit referendum and recent UK election results, it could feel as if charities like this are fighting a hopeless battle.

If you work in an NGO that campaigns to influence public views, a new tool to change minds might be very useful around now. And if your job is to raise money, you might also be seeking something to strengthen your case. Fortunately, a new area of behavioural science may offer exactly what you need.

Many readers will know of the behavioural science work that has become prominent in recent years. Summarised in Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow and Thaler & Sunstein’s Nudge, the behavioural economics world tells us about human “irrationality”, cognitive biases, and how to influence decisions in-the-moment. Researchers have responded by incorporating implicit testing into their research approaches to understand respondents’ unconscious thinking. New nudges have been designed: anchoring techniques to increase donations and opt-out defaults to change behaviour.

These approaches are good for influencing what people do, but they barely affect what people think or how they feel. Lasting impact requires changing minds, not just behaviour. In the last ten years a new body of scientific research has emerged to fill this gap.

Psychologists have explored prospection, the capability of humans to imagine and plan the future. They have investigated mental simulation, which allows us to think about the alternative outcomes our choices might bring about, and the different worlds we could possibly live in. Neuroscientists have discovered the default mode network, a set of systems in the brain that are activated when our minds are not focused on immediate tasks – for instance when we are daydreaming; or watching TV and absorbing ourselves in the world on-screen. And these processes have been linked to empathy: when we think about how life is for other people, we use the same brain regions that we use for planning our own future.

These research activities are even influencing the latest thinking in artificial intelligence and machine learning: some AI experts are starting to give computers the power of mental stimulation, to help them make better, more human decisions.

Why does this work matter? Because imagination governs how people see, shape, and choose, their future lives. The decisions we make today are motivated by the world we want to live in tomorrow.

On a small scale, this means the products we buy when we visit the supermarket to buy next weekend’s lunch. On a larger scale it translates the choices we each make, into a world that we will all share in the coming decades. The values that we live by are a manifestation of the future we want to be part of. Change how people imagine that future, and you can influence their values today.

Leaders who brought about great changes in society have often started with a call to the imagination. “I have a dream…” said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all people will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities…it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” Nelson Mandela’s words during his 1964 trial described an ideal that, at the time, could exist for black South Africans only in the imagination. Emmeline Pankhurst’s speech in Connecticut in 1913 called on the listener to put themselves in the place of – to imagine – the women and men engaged in the political, legal and physical battle for women’s votes in the UK.

So how can you use this new science of imagination? There are three steps you can follow to take advantage of these new discoveries.

About the Author: 

Leigh Caldwell, Founding Partner, Irrational Agency

The science of imagination: 3 steps to follow

In the previous article, I discussed how the imagination of your supporters – also called the “System 3” part of their brain – is the key to changing minds and changing behaviour. If you understand how people perceive the world they live in – which may or may not correspond to reality! – you can influence them, and give yourself the chance to reshape that world.

Here are three steps you can follow to take advantage of these new discoveries.

First, measure how your supporters and your broader audience imagine the world. A new set of research tools are emerging to measure System 3– the brain’s capability for imagining, and the counterpart to the System 1 and 2 distinction explained in Kahneman’s book. By measuring System 3 thinking, you can find out how people think about the world of the future. This might take the form of an “imagination map” (see Figure 1) and is the baseline you are working with.

Figure 1: An example of an imagination map. This would be drawn by measuring an audience’s implicit attitudes towards refugees.

Second, design the world you want them to see. You can create a new imagination map that represents your vision of the future. This is probably different from the way your audience sees things now – that’s only natural, and it gives you a guide to what to do next.

Third, create interventions to redraw your audience’s imagination – to make it more like the world you want to create. Those interventions take one form above all others: stories. Your audience’s imagination is made up of the stories they tell themselves about the future. Your job is to create new stories that are compelling enough to become a part of their internal narrative. Connect the things they already care about to the things you want them to care about, through personal examples, life stories and ideas that they can’t resist; those stories will change their view of the world.

Stories by authors from Harriet Beecher Stowe to George Orwell to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn have created new understanding in their readers. They led the reader to see the world as their fictional characters did; and on emerging from the world of the novel, to think about reality in a new way. The science of imagination sheds light on how they did that. It shows how a mental model of cause and effect shapes our interpretation of the world, and how stories create new beliefs about causality and change that interpretation.

This new body of scientific work offers a deeper form of understanding of your audiences, supporters and donors. The old style of behavioural economics was about changing people’s behaviour. This new field, sometimes called cognitive economics, is about changing how they think. It offers a powerful set of tools to influence the future via the public’s mind.

Remember that new world you imagined at the beginning of this article? You have the power to create that world. Share your vision, through stories and imagination, and you really can invent the future.

About the Author: 

Leigh Caldwell, Founding Partner, Irrational Agency

Research Now SSI Establishes Tax-Deductible Fund To Benefit Families of Davao Fire Victims

The ESOMAR Foundation Inaugurates the Giving With €10,000 Donation

Dallas, Texas, (February 15, 2018) – Research Now SSI, the global leader in digital market research data and marketing services, announces that it has established a tax-deductible fund to collect donations for the families of its 37 employees who perished in the Dec. 23, 2017 NCCC Mall fire in Davao, Philippines, where the company had a call center.  The company is pleased also to announce that the ESOMAR Foundation has made the first donation to the fund for €10,000.

The ESOMAR Foundation affiliated with ESOMAR, the global insights community founded 70 years ago to promote the value of market, opinion, and social research and data analytics — has among its stated goals the mission to “help families that face economic hardships as a result of their family member having worked in the field of market, social, and opinion research.”

Gary S. Laben, CEO of Research Now SSI, states, “The concern, strong sense of community and enormous generosity of ESOMAR offers great comfort in what has been a devastating time for the families of those who died and for Research Now SSI. I want to acknowledge the foundation’s having proactively reached out to us in a heartfelt gesture of professional solidarity to see how they could help alleviate suffering in the aftermath of this terrible event.”

John Kearon, President of the ESOMAR Foundation, says, “Together with ESOMAR President Niels Schillewaert and our entire ESOMAR team, we offer our deep condolences to the families affected by this tragedy, as well as to all of Research Now SSI around the world. Each and every member of our organization was eager to show our sympathies and support in a way that would directly benefit the families of those who perished.”

Research Now SSI previously launched a fundraising effort on Go Fund Me, which raised over $119,000 which is being distributed among the Davao families. Research Now established the latest, tax-deductible fund on the Allegro platform, which allows for U.S. tax-deductible 501(c)3 status and issues an annual statement. Laben notes, “We created this fund for our investors, the industry at large, and organizations such as the ESOMAR Foundation in response to their concern for the families and offers of help.” Donations can be made by going to Allegro’s website, https://allegrosolutions.org/ and entering the code Phil-RNSSI-Davao.001.

About Research Now SSI Research Now SSI is the global leader in digital market research data for better insights and business decisions. The company provides world-class research data solutions that enable better results for more than 4,000 market research, consulting, media, healthcare, and corporate clients, and is recognized as the quality, scale, and customer satisfaction leader in the market research industry. For more information, please go to www.researchnow.com and www.surveysampling.com.

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Editors, for more information, contact:

Kate Brunkhorst

Research Now SSI

Kate.brunkhorst@surveysampling.com

 

afghanistan

Social Science Research and Field Work in Afghanistan

Many researchers around the world were shocked and appalled when Rafiq Ullah Kakar presented the case study on doing research in Afghanistan below. This article appeared in Research World in September 2012 further increasing the call from the industry to put a mechanism in place that could help the families of researchers facing these kinds of circumstances. In a sense this was the beginning of the ESOMAR Foundation.
Social Science Research and Field Work in Afghanistan
Danger, Courage and Creativity
By Rafiq Ullah Kakar

Afghanistan has faced continuous conflict, occupation and civil war since 1979. The aftermath has deeply affected the socio-political dynamics of the country. In this article we try to understand the meaning and nature of that everyday violence; investigate dangers in field work; highlight real-life examples of courage and creativity in the field, and explore how those can offer hope for a better future in this war-weary country.

Dangers in the Field

The security situation in Afghanistan is unstable and volatile. This causes many problems in the field. Access to participants and protecting researchers have been the main concerns of ORCA, the Opinion Research Center of Afghanistan. Gaining access to reliable and consistent data is difficult, due both to the complexity of the current political situation, and the reality of a mobile, displaced population. Nonetheless, researchers are trusted and well received by the community. Afghan hospitality ensures a guest is welcomed, and researchers are often local and known by  community elders and tribal leaders.

But recruiting researchers from within the community, and thereby building trust and reputation, take time and effort, expended in the face of constant threats of violence at the hands of the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

ORCA’s staff is well versed in these realities, and trained to counter any problems that might arise in the field. Still, in the last few years, the security situation has become worse, and ORCA’S field staff and monitoring supervisors have come under increasing threat. To date, a total of 91 armed attacks have taken place; these have resulted in 50 kidnappings, physical injury to 153 people, and the killing of 16 field staff. Additionally, there has been a rise in the number of physical harassments, warnings and beatings – they are now almost routine for the field team.

afghanistan

Table 2: Threats to ORCA Field Workers

The Sociopolitical Context in Afghanistan Today

The Taliban is still a viable political force in many parts of Afghanistan. During the mid 1990s, they institutionalised violence in the sociopolitical order. Afghans are somewhat familiar with violence, but never before had violence been used as a tool to abuse, punish and coerce ordinary citizens. The revival of the Taliban is a very dangerous prospect, not only for the future of research, but for the future of the country as well.

This article is about ORCA field workers who were lost due to Taliban attacks. As such, exploring the space that the Taliban occupies in the current sociopolitical context of Afghanistan is essential. According to the 2011 ORCA Nationwide Survey (N= 8,250), 47% of respondents reported that security issues like terrorism, suicide bombings and explosions are major problems in Afghanistan.

Table 3: The Most Important Problems in Afghanistan

Respondents varied in their perceptions of personal safety. More than half of the population feared for their personal safety, with 58% saying they often feared for their lives, and 27% saying they sometimes feared for their personal safety (or that of their families).

Table 4: Fear for Personal Safety

Courage and Bravery in the Field

Given the prevalence of violence in Afghanistan currently, fieldwork poses immense dangers. Following are two case studies:

Case Study 1, Kandahar Province

In 2010, armed insurgents from the Taliban killed Hosay Sahibzada, a brave 19-year-old ORCA interviewer from Kandahar. Ms. Sahibzada was known for her commitment to public opinion polling, and was one of the best interviewers ORCA had in Kandahar city. The Taliban had already warned her twice not to work for ORCA, but she continued with her work undeterred. On April 14,2010, the Taliban stopped the vehicle she was travelling in and killed her on the main road in the 2nd Nahia of Kandahar City. She died for a better future for Afghanistan.

Case Study 2, Baghlan Province

Hashmat Ullah received the ORCA “Best Field Supervisor of the Year” award on April 22, 2010.  He participated in a briefing session at ORCA HQ on Aug. 26, 2010, and left for his province the following day. He conducted a training session for his interviewers and launched field work on Aug. 28th. On the same afternoon, he was killed by the Taliban. They had warned him to stop doing research (the Taliban perceive doing research as spying for the Americans). Hundreds of people, including ORCA representatives, attended his funeral. He was buried at the age of 32, in front of his home, on Aug. 29, 2010.

Author

Rafiq Ullah Kakar is co-founder of ORCA in Afghanistan

The Opinion Research Center of Afghanistan (ORCA) was established in 2007. It strives to establish a culture of research in a country that has gone through prolonged conflict, factional fighting and trauma.