RESEARCH AND EVALUATION METHODS

HCRI60170
Semester 1 & 2
2020-21

Course Convener: Dr Jessica Hawkins

[email protected]

Convener’s Office Hours: Office hours via Zoom: Mondays 10-11, Tuesdays 16-17

Co-lecturers: Professor Mandy Turner ([email protected])

Dr Rubina Jasani ([email protected])
Professor Duncan Shaw ([email protected])
Discussion TA: Margot Tudor ([email protected])
Credits: 15
Level: 7
Semester 1: Asynchronous classes and Q&A sessions after some lectures:
Tuesdays 11-12 or 13-14:00
Semester 2: Asynchronous classes and Q&A sessions after some lectures:
Tuesdays 11-12 or 13-14:00

You should also consult the module guide for HCRI60000 Dissertation in tandem with this
guide.

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Course Introduction
Your Masters at HCRI is a fantastic opportunity for you to carry out research that is innovative
and makes a clear contribution to knowledge. The ability to carry out research is also one of
the key skills often necessary if entering academic or policy work in the fields that the HCRI
specialises e.g. disaster management, global health, humanitarianism or peacebuilding.
Therefore, we have designed this course to directly support you in developing your own
research proposal for your final dissertation project, which begins in semester 2. It is a really
important module for you to refine, hone and learn more about how to design a robust
research project and what methods are most appropriate for you. The course is
chronologically designed to help you develop your research proposal. We will look at how to
develop a literature review, which is often seen as one of the most challenging, but one of
the most critical elements of any research project. There is also time spent on thinking about
how to develop research questions, and questions that are designed to contribute new
knowledge. We look at what we mean when we say “theory” and “theoretical framework”,
and how we use theory in research. The module explores different research methods in the
social sciences, including quantitative and qualitative methods, and we will talk about ethical
issues and questions of positionality that can arise when conducting research on topics such
as disasters, humanitarianism, refugees, conflict and related issues. You will also gain the
skills and knowledge to interrogate the academic research and methods used in the literature
that will form the basis for your dissertation, and helping you to develop critical analysis
which you can apply across all of your modules.

Aims
 Provide students with an overview of three central methods (both academic and
those used in policy and practitioner environments) that are available for conducting
research and evaluation in relation to humanitarian, disaster, and peacebuilding
interventions.
 Provide students with a foundation for research design which will be useful in terms
of preparing them for their dissertations and for equipping them with tools that can
also be used following the completion of their MA in their professional lives.
 Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the strengths and limitations of a range of
methods which can be used to research and evaluate humanitarian, disaster and
peacebuilding interventions

Learning Outcomes
 Formulate a clear research question and select an appropriate methodology to
answer said question.
 Develop a research proposal.
 Provide analytical critiques of studies and evaluations based on methodological
choices made by authors of such documents (both academic and non-academic)
 Compare and contrast the utility of different methodological/evaluation approaches
in relation to both academic and policy problems

Assessment
You will be asked to submit a proposed title / topic for your dissertation via Turnitin at
midday Monday 8th February 2021. This is not assessed and does not bind you to your chosen
dissertation title, however, it will be used to allocate you to a supervisor who will mark your
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research proposal and help you with the ethics process and supervise your dissertation
project. In addition to the dissertation title, you will be required to submit two pieces of
assessment for this module.

Assessment task Length Weighting within the Deadline

unit
Project title N/A N/A Midday 8th
February 2021
Research Proposal 2000 words 50% Midday Thursday
maximum 18th February
2021
Essay 2000 words 50% Midday Thursday
maximum 11th March 2021

Research Proposal

Write a dissertation proposal of 2000 words on a topic of your choice. Your proposal should
include:
Title –this should reflect your research problem
Introduction –this sets the background and context of your research and states your
research question.
Literature Review –this provides theoretical rationale for your research problem
based on the existing literature and the arguments in that body of literature.
Methodology –this should describe your proposed research methodology. It should
address data collection and analysis, it should be clear how you plan to sort and
process your data.
Ethics and positionality – outline any ethical issues you may encounter and how these
will be dealt with. Also include how your positionality may shape the research
process.
Timetable –this should outline when you plan to undertake different activities and for
how long, from start to finish.
Bibliography –use a reference system, e.g. Harvard.

Submission date is 18th FEBRUARY 2021 AT MIDDAY via Turnitin. Guidance on this
assessment will be provided in week 1.

Ideally, this should be the proposal you will use as the basis for your Masters dissertation.
Your proposal will go on to your supervisor and will be the first thing they read before your
first supervisory meeting. You can of course, change your proposal after your meeting; this
will not affect your mark for this module.

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Essay

MINI CRITICAL ESSAY (2000 words) Critically discuss the methodological boundaries, ethical
issues and particular challenges of using one research method when conducting research on
HCRI’s taught and research themes. This is an opportunity to engage with a method in more
depth and connect this methodological understanding to area of interest. You may draw on
case studies or a single case study to illustrate your ideas. Please submit via Turnitin on 11th
March 2021 midday.

Communication
 This is a very large course, therefore students are encouraged to talk to their
academic advisor about their assessments prior to submission (during office hours or
by appointment)
 Virtual Q&A sessions will take place for some lectures
 Discussion board topics and open forum will also be monitored by the course
lecturers
 Written feedback on individual essay that will be returned to students according to
SALC guidelines and time limits
 Additional one-to-one feedback (during office hours or by appointment) with the
module convenor, lecturers or dissertation supervisors.

Approaches to Learning of the Course

In our new Covid-19 environment, this course will be taught asynchronously with virtual Q&A
sessions on Tuesdays (see times above). You will be expected to take part in virtual discussion
boards and activities, sometimes through Blackboard, other times through other tools. There
may also be exercises to complete in each week’s session. As per the HCRI staff-student
partnership, we expect students to prepare and participate in discussions. Students on this
course are from a very diverse professional background and so it is important and enriching
for you to share your perspectives and experiences. Readings form an important component
of each session. One lecture document will useually have the core readings embedded within
it, therefore, you should expect to spend roughly three-five hours one each one. This is in
addition to the Q&A session and assessment preparation. For more details on what’s
expected in terms of time management per PG module, please see the School Programme
handbook, p. 28.
The module follows the process of writing a dissertation, from the beginning, starting with
the research proposal and writing a literature review, to the conceptual framework to the
analysis chapters where you will apply your chosen methodologies. All of the lectures on
methods help you to not only know how to conduct that form of research, but also give you
the tools to analyse research conducted by scholars and assess whether the research is
“good”. The final lecture sets the ball rolling for your dissertation
HCRI is committed to ensuring that our teaching environments (including all lectures,
tutorials and seminars) are safe spaces for discussing difficult and controversial topics.

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Safe spaces are not about limiting critical engagement with ideas, but about ensuring that
students and staff from marginalized groups know that their existence will be respected in
our classrooms. It is not designed to restrict people from sharing their views, but about
ensuring that students know that the expression of openly discriminatory views will be
challenged.

If you are concerned about how particular topics are being discussed during a teaching
session, or how certain people are expressing them, you can approach your lecturer in the
first instance, confidentially, either at the time or after. If you feel that you cannot approach
your lecturer, or that your lecturer has not taken your concerns seriously, you can contact
the course convener or your academic advisor, then the programme director.

Furthermore, on occasion, we will be engaging with potentially distressing issues and images.
This is in the nature of our topics of research and teaching. These are not shown or discussed
for gratuitous effect but in order to enhance understanding in the belief and desire that
knowledge can help us work towards creating a world without violence and oppression. We
will flag up potentially distressing issues and images before and during our teaching so that
students can either opt out or prepare themselves. You can, if you would like to, absent
yourself from a specific topic, lecture or teaching session because of potential distress over
its content. You can approach your lecturer in the first instance, either in person or on email
to discuss this. All communications between you and your lecturer are confidential.

These structures and mechanisms are designed to ensure that all students feel supported
during their learning experience. HCRI is committed to building a collegial and safe
environment for teaching and research.

Initial Readings
All readings here and under the syllabus can be found on the Reading Lists online.

These two books are very good introductions to how to undertake research as well as many
of the individual issues we cover in each session. We recommend you read as much of both
as you can. Both are available as ebooks in the library.

 Luker, Kristin. Salsa Dancing into the Social Sciences: Research in an Age of Inflo-Glut.
(London: Harvard, 2008).
 MacGinty, Roger, Brett, Roddy, & Vogel, Birte. (eds) The Companion to Peace and
Conflict Fieldwork. (Basingstoke: PalgraveMacmillan, 2020)

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 Timetable
Q&A Lecture Topic Tutor

24th Lecture 1 Introduction to the course: the research process. Jessica

Nov
Constructing research questions, writing a research
proposal, and starting your literature review.

1st Dec Lecture 2 Using theory to develop a dissertation framework. The Jessica
difference between your theoretical framework and
literature review.

8th Dec Lecture 3 The purpose of the case study Jessica

15th Lecture 4 Ethics and positionality Mandy

Dec

Christmas break

5th Jan Lecture 5 Evaluating and conducting desk-based research – Jessica

using the literature & data as your sources

12th Jan Lecture 6 Evaluating and conducting interviews Mandy

19th Jan Lecture 7 Evaluating and conducting quantitative data collection Duncan
and analysis

Exams break – no teaching

Dissertation topic form due Monday 8th Feb midday

9th Feb Lecture 8 Using discourse analysis in your dissertation Mandy

16th Lecture 9 Evaluating ethnographic methods Rubina

Feb

Dissertation proposal due Thursday 18th Feb midday

23rd Lecture 10 Reflections from the field Mandy

Feb

2nd HCRI6000 The postgrad dissertation and the next steps – the Jessica
March 0 ground rules for the supervision process
Essay due Thursday 11th March midday

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Syllabus
Lecture 1: Part 1 -Introduction to the course: the research process.

Here we will introduce the course, the purpose of the course, and an introduction to what
research is, how we go about it and what makes for a good dissertation topic. We will then
have a brief introduction to what a dissertation 'looks like'. The session then considers
research paradigms. Social research uses a wide variety of research methods to improve
knowledge, theory, practice, and policy in the field. We explore key concepts in research,
including ontology and epistemology, and examine different research paradigms (from
positivism to interpretivism), and how they relate to quantitative and qualitative research
methodologies.

Part 2 - Constructing research questions, writing a research proposal, and starting your
literature review.
This lecture continues to discuss what a literature review is, how to conduct one and what is
a good
research question. We want to encourage you to start thinking about what may be a feasible
research question for a dissertation research project and what methods may be appropriate
to
choose. It will also interrogate where research questions come from and how they direct
your
research.

Recommended readings:
Hawkins, J. (2020) http://www.blog.hcri.ac.uk/how-to-choose-a-dissertation-topic-in-
international-disaster-management-humanitarian-response-and-global-health/
Bell, J. (1999): Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-time Researchers in
Education & Social Science, (Oxford University Press, Oxford).
How To Write A Research Proposal? 11 Things To Include In A Thesis Proposal,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNkws0x0W0o
ONWUEGBUZIE, Anthony J. Writing a research proposal: The role of library
anxiety, statistics anxiety, and composition anxiety. Library & Information Science
Research, 1997, vol. 19, no 1, p. 5-33.
The Atlantic. The needless complexity of academic writing:
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/complex-academicwriting/
412255/
Jesson, J. and Lacey, F. (2006) How to do or not to do a literature review Pharmacy
Education 6(2):139–148. Available at:
http://publications.aston.ac.uk/id/eprint/3431/1/Jesson_and_lacey2006.pdf
University of Kent Literature Review Student Learning Advisory Centre Available at:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/learning/resources/studyguides/literaturereviews.pdf
Chapter 12: Research Proposal” in Elizabeth Wentz , How to Design, Write, and
Present a Successful Dissertation Proposal (SAGE: 2014).
https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781506374710
Denscombe, M., Research Proposals: a practical guide (Open University Press: 2012)
(This book is a great resource for ideas on how to write a good research proposal. You
are NOT expected to read the whole book before the lecture!)

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 See also the Manchester University Resource Guides:
https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/using-the-library/students/training-and-skills-
support/my-learning-essentials/online-
resources/?level=3&level1Link=2&level2Links=being%20critical

Lecture 2: Using theory to develop a dissertation framework. The difference between your
theoretical framework and literature review.
People often get scared when we mention theory/ theoretical framework / conceptual
framework! This session is here to demystify these terms and to show you how you can identify
the most useful theoretical lens for your research. This week you will explore what we mean
by theory and how to develop a theoretical framework that is appropriate for your research
project.

Recommended readings:
Grix J. (2002). Introducing students to the generic terminology of social research.
Politics, Vol. 22 (3), pp. 175-186.
Bendassolli P. F. (2013). Theory building in qualitative research: reconsidering the
problem of induction. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, Vol 14 (1), art. 25.
Jabareen Y. (2009). Building a conceptual framework: philosophy, definitions, and
procedure. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, Vol. 8 (4), pp. 49-62.
Naughton L. (2014). Geographical narratives of social capital: Telling different stories
about the socio-economy with context, space, place, power and agency. Progress in
Human Geography, Vol. 38 (1), pp. 3.21.

Lecture 3: The purpose of the case study

This week we will think about the purpose of the case study. Is a case study always about
location? Can it be a network or an archive or a year in time? What we construct as a case
study shapes the type of research we can achieve. In this lecture we will reflect on how to
choose the most appropriate case study for the questions you have and how a case study
speaks to a theoretical framework.
Recommended readings:
Yin, Robert, K. (2014) Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Los Angeles: Sage.
Thomas, G. (2011) ‘A Typology for the Case Study in Social Science Following a
Review of Definition, Discourse, and Structure’, Qualitative Inquiry, 17,6, 511-521.
Thomas, G. (2011) How to do your case study: A guide for students and researchers,
Los Angeles: Sage.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989) Building Theories from Case Study Research, The Academy
of Management Review, 14:4, 532-550
Baxter, P. & Jack, S. (2008) Qualitative Case Study Methodology: Study Design and
Implementation for Novice Researchers, The Qualitative Report.
Baskarada, S. (2014) ‘Qualitative Case Study Guidelines’, The Qualitative Report.
Denscombe, M. (2014) The good research guide : for small-scale research projects,
McGraw-Hill Education.

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Lecture 4: Ethics and positionality

This session will explore ethical issues that can arise when conducting research on topics
such as disasters, humanitarianism, conflict, and related issues. It will cover issues such as
privilege, positionality, working with vulnerable communities, emotions, and duty of care.
You do not need to read all of these, but each of them cover one or more aspect of interest in
this topic. They are in alphabetical order, not in order of preference or recommendation.

Recommended readings:
Al-Hardan, Anaheed (2014) Decolonising Research on Palestinians: Towards Critical
Epistemologies and Research Practices. Qualitative Inquiry, 20(1), pp. 61–71. DOI:
10.1177/1077800413508534
Ali Nayel, Moe. (2013) Palestinian Refugees Are Not At Your Service. Electronic Intifada. 17
May. [open access] https://electronicintifada.net/content/palestinian-refugees-are-
not-your-service/12464. (very short)
Bourke, Brian. (2014) Positionality: Reflecting on the Research Process. The Qualitative
Report, 19(33), pp.1-9.
Campbell, Susanna, P. (2017) Ethics of Research in Conflict Environments. Journal of
Global Security Studies, 2(1), pp. 89–101. DOI: 10.1093/jogss/ogw024
Dery, Isaac. (2020) Negotiating Positionality, Reflexivity and Power Relations in Research
on Men and Masculinities in Ghana, Gender, Place & Culture,
DOI: 10.1080/0966369X.2020.1748578
Hume, Mo. (2020) Secrecy and Silence in Fieldwork: Reflections on Feminist Research on
Violence in Latin America, pp.305-320. In MacGinty, Roger, Roddy Brett & Birte Vogel.
(eds). The Companion to Peace and Conflict Fieldwork. Basingstoke: PalgraveMacmillan.
Also see chapters 10, 29, & 33.
Jafar, Anisa. (2018) What is Positionality and Should it be Expressed in Quantitative
Studies?, Emergency Medicine Journal. 35, pp.323–324. DOI: 10.1136/emermed-2017-
207158 (very short)

Lecture 5: Evaluating and conducting desk-based research – using the literature & data as
your sources
It is a misunderstanding that the best dissertations contain what we may refer to as “primary
research”. Most undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation students do not conduct
interviews, focus groups or surveys. Indeed, some of the most ground-breaking work involves
using the resources available to us, identifying gaps and drawing new theories and
conclusions. This session will therefore provide students with the skills to conduct a thorough
desk-based dissertation. It will explain how this technique (using the literature as your
sources) is different to a literature review and will also examine the technique of discourse
analysis.
Recommended readings:
Bhasker, R. (1975) A Realist Theory of Science, Leeds: Leeds Books.
Mac Ginty, Roger, Brett, Roddy, & Vogel, Birte. (eds) The Companion to Peace and
Conflict Fieldwork. (Basingstoke: PalgraveMacmillan, 2020)

9
 Thorne, S. (1998) ‘Ethical and Representational Issues in Qualitative Secondary
Analysis’, Qualitative Health Research, 8:4.
Heaton, J. (2008) ‘Secondary Analysis of Qualitative Data: An Overview’, Historical
Social Research, 33, 3.
Luker, Kristin. Salsa Dancing into the Social Sciences: Research in an Age of Inflo-Glut.
(London: Harvard, 2008).
Desai, Vandana & Potter, Robert (eds), (2006) Doing Development Research, Los
Angeles: Sage.

Lecture 6: Evaluating and conducting interviews

This session explores using interviews in your research, the difference between structured
and semi-structured interviews, and how to use them in your writing. Interviews are used in
a variety of occupations, not just academia; but also in aid and humanitarian agencies,
thinktanks, and the media. It will cover: Who do we ask, what do we ask, and what
challenges and issues do we face when conducting interviews?

Recommended readings:
Alsaawi, Ali. (2014) A Critical Review of Qualitative Interviews, European Journal of
Business and Social Sciences, 3(4), pp. 149-156. (short)
de Guevara, Berit Bliesemann, & Birgit Poopuu. Preparing for Fieldwork Interviews, pp.65-
84, in MacGinty, Roger, Roddy Brett & Birte Vogel. (eds). (2020) The Companion to
Peace and Conflict Fieldwork. Basingstoke: PalgraveMacmillan. Chapters 7, 19 & 20 are
also of interest.
Edwards, Rosiland, & Janet Holland. (2013) What is Qualitative Interviewing? London:
Bloomsbury. The whole book is useful, but particularly chapters 1, 6, 7 & 8.
Luker, Kristin (2008) Salsa Dancing into the Social Sciences: Research in an Age of Inflo-
Glut. London: Harvard, pp.167-180.
Mason-Bish, Hannah (2019) The Elite Delusion: Reflexivity, Identity and Positionality in
Qualitative Research. Qualitative Research, 19(3). pp. 263-276.
McGrath, Cormac, Per J. Palmgren, & Matilda Liljedahl. (2019). Twelve Tips for Conducting
Qualitative Research Interviews, Medical Teacher, 41(9), pp.1002-1006. (very short)

Lecture 7: Evaluating and conducting quantitative data collection and analysis

This lectorial explores how to collect quantitative data. It will concentrate on surveys and
think about how to design the process of data collection by confronting questions such as:
Who do we ask? What do we ask? What issues and challenges do we face? Duncan will use
his recent research on Covid-19 to analyse these questions.
Recommended readings

Collecting primary data using questionnaires. Pages 360 - 413. In SAUNDERS, Mark;
LEWIS, Philip; THORNHILL, Adrian. Research methods for business students. Pearson
education, 2009.
https://eclass.teicrete.gr/modules/document/file.php/DLH105/Research%20Methods
%20for%20Business%20Students%2C%205th%20Edition.pdf

10
 Analysing quantitative data. Pages 414 - 479. In SAUNDERS, Mark; LEWIS, Philip;
THORNHILL, Adrian. Research methods for business students. Pearson education,
2009.
https://eclass.teicrete.gr/modules/document/file.php/DLH105/Research%20Methods
%20for%20Business%20Students%2C%205th%20Edition.pdf
Lecture 8: Using discourse analysis in your dissertation
Discourse analysis covers a number of approaches to analyzing written and spoken language,
particularly by focusing on how it is understood, developed and used within a social
context. This session will cover the principles of discourse analysis and explore its application
in research, drawing on a couple of examples of its application. You do not need to read all of
these, but each of them cover one or more aspect of interest in this topic. They are in
alphabetical order, not in order of preference or recommendation.
Recommended readings:
Amer, Mohammadwesan. (2017) Critical Discourse Analysis of War Reporting in the
International Press: The Case of the Gaza War of 2008–2009. Humanities and Social
Sciences Communications 3(13), pp.1-11. DOI: 10.1057/s41599-017-0015-2 [open
access] A good example of the application of CDA.
Blommaert, Jan, & Chris Balcaen. (2000) Critical Discourse Analysis. Annual Review of
Anthropology 29, pp.447–66. DOI: 0084-6570/00/1015-0447
Chiluwa, Innocent. (2019) Discourse Analysis and Conflict Studies. Sage Research Methods
Cases in Political Science and International Relations. London: Sage. DOI:
10.4135/9781526468208
Hewitt, Sally. (2009) Discourse Analysis and Public Policy Research, Centre for Rural Economy
Discussion Paper Series No. 24, Newcastle University, Open source available at:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.467.9426&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Hodges, Brian David, Ayelet Kuper & Scott Reeves. (2008) Qualitative Research: Discourse
Analysis, British Medical Journal 337(7669), Sep. 6, pp. 570-572. DOI:
10.1136/bmj.a879 (very short)
Paltridge, Brian. (2012) Discourse Analysis: An Introduction. London: Bloomsbury.
Turner, Mandy. (2019) Fanning the Flames or a Troubling Truth? The Politics of
Comparison in the Israel-Palestine Conflict, Civil Wars, 21(4), pp. 489-513. DOI:
10.1080/13698249.2019.1642612 A good example of the application of CDA.

Lecture 9: Evaluating ethnographic methods

In this session, students will consider ethnographic methods of data collection both in the
context of conflict and post-conflict humanitarian settings. The strengths and weaknesses of
the method will be assessed and some practical elements of ‘doing’ ethnography will be
discussed.
With participant observation being the primary tool of ethnographic methods, what does it
mean to be a scribe to memories of pain and suffering? At what time does the researcher
become an ‘insider’ and when are they ‘outsiders’? What kind of responsibility do
researchers and aid workers have towards the subjects they study? Do they take sides or do

11
they stick to the rules of ‘objectivity’ as social science research understands it? This is the
main problem posed by applied anthropologists who argue that the discipline should be
politically engaged and should directly benefit those we study.
How can researchers and aid workers avoid becoming ‘pornographers of violence’? What
happens when the lines between reality and rhetoric get blurred? These are some of the
questions this session will deal with. We will also look at how does one evaluate
ethnographic research and what happens to the method and knowledge production when
conventional methods of fieldwork are suspended.
Recommended readings:
Agar, M. (1980) The Professional Stranger. An Informal Introduction to Ethnography.
(Academic Press, Inc. 1980)
Das, V. (1987) 'The Anthropology of Violence and the Speech of victims.'
Anthropology Today 3(4). [Article available online through library].
Feldman, A. (1995) 'Ethnographic States of Emergency.' In Carolyn Nordstrom and
Antonius Robben (eds) Fieldwork Under Fire: Contemporary Studies of Violence and
Survival. University of California Press, 1995) [In main library].
Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. (eds) (1989) Ethnography. Principles in Practice.
(Routledge, 1989)
Fine. G and Abrahamson, C. (2020) Ethnography in times of Covid 19: Vectors and
the Vulnerable. Ethnografia. May-August pp. 165-174
Jasani. R. (2009). “Scribing dhamaal (chaos): Emotions and ethics in the field”, in
Hannah Bradby and Gillian Hunt (eds), Global Perspectives on War, Gender and
Health: The Sociology and Anthropology of Suffering. Anthem: London.
Jeff. B. et.al (2007). The Medecins Sans Frontieres intervention in the Marburg
Hemorrhagic Fever, Uiege, Angola. 2005.I. Lessons learned in the Hopital. The
Journal of Infectious disease. 196. Pp 154 -161
Löfving, S (2005) 'Silence and the Politics of Representing Rebellion: On the
Emergence of the Neutral Maya in Guatemala.' In Paul Richards (ed) No Peace, No
War: An Anthropology of Contemporary Armed Conflicts.(Oxford, 1
C & Robben, A (1995) 'The Anthropology and Ethnography of Violence and
Sociopolitical conflict.' In Carolyn Nordstrom and Antonius Robben (eds) Fieldwork
Under Fire: Contemporary Studies of Violence and Survival. (University of California
Press, 1995).
Jones, G. and Roger. D. (2019) Ethnography and of Violence. Ethnography. 1-23
https://www.lse.ac.uk/lacc/publications/PDFs/Jones-Rodgers-Ethnography-2019.pdf

Lecture 10: Reflections from the field

In this session we will critically explore the concept of “field work” and look at some of
practical and ethical issues that face researchers in conflict and humanitarian studies. You do
not need to read all of these, but each of them cover one or more aspect of interest in this
topic. They are in alphabetical order, not in order of preference or recommendation. The
literature from the week on positionality and ethics is also of relevance here.

Recommended readings:

12
Browne, Brendan Ciaran & Ruari-Santiago McBride. (2015) Politically Sensitive Encounters:
Ethnography, Access and the Benefits of “Hanging Out”. Qualitative Sociology Review
11(1), pp.34-48.
Caretta, Martina Angela & Johanna Carolina Jokinen. (2017) Conflating Privilege and
Vulnerability: A Reflexive Analysis of Emotions and Positionality in Postgraduate Fieldwork,
The Professional Geographer, 69(2), pp.275-283. DOI: 10.1080/00330124.2016.1252268
Polanska, Malgorzata. (2020) From the Field Back to Academia, pp. 433-444. In MacGinty,
Roger, Roddy Brett & Birte Vogel. (eds). The Companion to Peace and Conflict Fieldwork.
Basingstoke: PalgraveMacmillan. Chapters 8, 11, 13, 18 & 30 are also of interest.
Routley, Laura & Katherine A.M Wright. (2020) Being Indiana Jones in IR: The Pressure to do
“Real” Fieldwork, pp.85-100. In MacGinty, Roger, Roddy Brett & Birte Vogel. The
Companion to Peace and Conflict Fieldwork. Basingstoke: PalgraveMacmillan.

Final session – introducing HCRI60000: The postgrad dissertation and the next steps – the
ground rules for the supervision process

In advance of this session, you will receive the postgraduate dissertation handbook and
watch a presentation on the postgraduate dissertation. The Q&A will be used to respond to
queries regarding the dissertation process.

For extra study support and plaigiarism guidelines

13
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