This semester I have the great pleasure to
assist Dr. J.P. Singh with an on-going research project on international
development that will result in a book publication. Through the help of two
other research assistants, Corina Solorzano and Salimatou Ouedraogo, we are coding
several World Bank projects, looking for deliberation and participation
practices.
What I actually do on a weekly basis is quiet
complex and very intriguing. I, along with the other two RAs, collect and summarize
documents and material from World Bank projects and then use a sophisticated
coding scheme that was also designed with our help to measure different factors
about each project with a focus on information technologies and development. This
process involves great detail and precise intercoder reliability, which is
being effectively met with the importance on dialogue and calibration amongst
each other.
I discovered that measuring
participation is more complex then it seems. It not only requires looking at
many stages of a project and really analyzing the importance of each part of
the process but also looking at the post operations and implications of it on a
certain population.
This is related to
my long-term goals in many ways. The first thing is that this opportunity has
led my exposure to research in the field of international development. I have
also through this experience been able to construct and use a coding scheme
that really helps better analyze a document succinctly. These are all things that
will be very useful when looking to do my own research for my masters and
eventually doctorate, which will examine and probe literature and content of
the same nature. I am very thankful to OSCAR for giving me this opportunity and
exposure that will be extremely helpful in my future ventures.
