Researcher as the Instrument

By: Cole beiner

Prior to coming to Costa Rica, I expected my life as a researcher to mean mainly standing by farming operations and recording those farming activities through a one-way observer perspective. Still, the time I have lived and worked at farms in the Osa Peninsula region has made me understand that a qualitative study is not a spectator sport and one of the best ways it can unfold is if one of the researchers is also a participant and observer at the same time. My being there, the questions that I asked, the relationships that I formed with people, and even the way that I interpreted certain conversations will to some degree change the nature of the data that one obtains. Rather than an impartial observer, I have become one of the instruments through which data will be collected.

To be more proactive means essentially that we do the work together on purpose rather than only the documenting their work. During planting, we have worked side by side, maintained crops together, and even in the middle or end, we have talked about how each of us arrived at particular decision at that farm and how they were able to do so even while they were doing everyday work. Instead of seeing interviews as stand-alone events, I have realized that many really rich and useful insights that farmers have given rise to during our conversations actually arise through being together on farms or during food preparation/meal time. Sometimes these casual chat sessions are the only time you get to know the thinking process of a person, be it the farmer who is talking about biodiversity, what he does to preserve soil, etc. So, even if the questions are framed through a very strict lens, one’s ability to pick up these clues may be constrained.

My greatest concern so far is the difference in my scientific viewpoint and the way of seeing and interpreting things to which many farmers, that I met, have been raised as it may be, through experience or tradition in a way I know, for example, how they talk and live is quite a culture that I cannot easily understand or identify with. The main idea of the paper I reviewed a lot is, for example, to put forward functions with the environment that can be measured and that can provide clear evidence for the success of diversified farming systems like pollination, nutrient cycling processes, soil microscopic entities, water regulation, and ecosystem service. But, farmers have described the state of farm as being in harmony – a farmer listens to the earth, and the presence of certain birds or insects indicates the right time for action – the farmer relies on the guidance given by natural systems, and in fact, the farm – a place alive – is perceived by the farmer as an organism in itself, not just a production system, as most people do. Still, it turned out that there was also a difference between these two points of view as well in some ways with the academic writings. Scientists mostly measure and quantify biodiversity to describe diversity with numbers and they also present findings mainly using statistical analyses. But, sometimes their measurements do not pay much attention to the experiential knowledge and the cultural values which guide a person on the way of making management decisions. Because of this, in my opinion, through my research, it should be a matter of exploring and discovering whether these types of understanding of things can be seen as different tools or, if they can work hand in hand with one another.

Mostly, when I come up after an interview and visit to a farm or workday at farm, I keep a notebook, my field notes are quite lengthy. When possible, I note down the exact words, the environment, describe physical surroundings and the type of the practice done, and reflect on what amazed me and what made me think again after a given encounter. Apart from these, we are also categorising our notes based on the different farm features that the farmers showed as the main indicators as to their ecological knowledge of the farm e.g. a farmer talking about how biodiversity is a factor that makes the farm function well, how a farmer looks into soil aspects and how he takes care of soil health, his view of species interactions, water use strategies, wildlife elements, and the use of different plants as indicators of a good functioning ecology on farm. This is a very useful method as First a researcher will start getting to know farm features and recurring themes, and in the process he will be able to clearly differentiate farmers’ statements from his own opinions or thoughts.