This article details the challenges we faced in collecting sensitive information in an ethnically and religiously divided community that has experienced recent violence. The discussion is based on a summer 2016 survey experiment we conducted in Jos, Nigeria, to gather information regarding residents' perceptions of local communal violence. We discuss the challenges of such research and our approach to randomized sampling, constructing treatments that minimize the stress to respondents, debriefing to lower the possibility of spreading rumors of conflict, and utilizing computer tablets to increase access to the study for respondents with varying languages and levels of literacy. In particular, we discuss a geographic sampling method used for randomization, which we hope will prove useful to others facing similar randomization challenges.
AdidaClaire L., 2012. “Do African Voters Favor Co-ethnics? A New Identification Strategy.” Accessed February 1, 2020. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2054853.
2.
AdidaClaire L.GottliebJessicaKramonEricMcClendonGwyneth. 2017a. “Breaking the Clientelistic Voting Equilibrium: The Joint Importance of Salience and Coordination.” AidData, Working Paper No. 48, AidData at William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA.
3.
AdidaClaireGottliebJessicaKramonEricMcClendonGwyneth. 2017b. “Reducing or Reinforcing In-group Preferences? An Experiment on Information and Ethnic Voting.” Quarterly Journal of Political Science12(4):437–77.
4.
BassDaniel. 2008. “Paper Tigers on the Prowl: Rumors, Violence and Agency in the Up-country of Sri Lanka,” Anthropological Quarterly81(1):269–95.
5.
BauerJohannes J.2014. “Selection Errors of Random Route Samples.” Sociological Methods & Research43(3):519–44.
6.
BauerJohannes J.2016. “Biases in Random Route Surveys.” Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology4(2): 263–87.
7.
BestShedrack Gaya, ed. 2008. Causes and Effects of Conflicts in the Southern Zone of Plateau State, Nigeria. University of Jos, Nigeria: Centre for Conflict Management and Peace Studies.
8.
BhavnaniRaviFindleyMichael G.KuklinskiJames H.. 2009. “Rumor Dynamics in Ethnic Violence,” Journal of Politics71(3): 876–92.
9.
BlairRobert A.RoesslerPhilip. 2018. “The Effects of Chinese Aid on State Legitimacy in Africa: Cross-national and Sub-national Evidence from Surveys, Survey Experiments, and Behavioral Games.”AidData, Working Paper No. 59, AidData at William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA.
10.
BrowneBrendanMoffettLuke. 2014. “Finding Your Feet in the Field: Critical Reflections of Early Career Researchers on Field Research in Transitional Societies.” Journal of Human Rights Practice6(2): 223–37.
11.
BubantNils. 2008. “Rumors, Pamphlets, and the Politics of Paranoia in Indonesia.” Journal of Asian Studies67 (3): 876–92.
12.
CampbellSusan P.2017. “Ethics of Research in Conflict Environments.” Journal of Global Security Studies2(1): 89–101.
13.
CohenNissimArieliTammar. 2011. “Field Research in Conflict Environments: Methodological Challenges and Snowball Sampling.” Journal of Peace Research48(4): 423–35.
14.
Conroy-KrutzJeffrey. 2013. “Information and Ethnic Politics in Africa.” British Journal of Political Science43(2): 345–73.
15.
Cronin-FurmanKate. 2018. “Ethics Abroad: Fieldwork in Fragile and Violent Contexts.” PS: Political Science & Politics51(3): 607–14.
16.
DugganColleenBushKenneth. 2014. “The Ethical Tipping Points of Evaluators in Conflict Zones.” American Journal of Evaluation35(4): 485–506.
17.
EckKristine. 2011. “Survey Research in Conflict and Post-conflict Societies.” Pp. 165–82 in Understanding Peace Research: Methods and Challenges, edited by HöglundKristineÖbergMagnus. New York: Routledge.
18.
EspelandRume Hjalmar. 2011. “Autochtony, Rumor Dynamic, and Communal Violence in Western Uganda.” Social Analysis55(3):18–34.
19.
FinkelSteven E.HorowitzJeremyRojo-MendozaReynaldo T.. 2012. “Civic Education and Democratic Backsliding in the Wake of Kenya’s post-2007 Election Violence.” Journal of Politics74(1):52–65.
20.
FujiiLee Ann. 2008. “Ethical Challenges of Micro-level Fieldwork.” Paper presented at the workshop on Field Research and Ethics in Post-Conflict Environments, December 4-5, Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
21.
GerharzEva. 2017. “Navigating Unpredictable Sites: Methodological Implications of Positioning during and after Fieldwork in Conflict Zones.” Social Analysis61(3):1–18.
GreenhillKelly M.OppenheimBen. 2017. “Rumor Has It: The Adoption of Unverified Information in Conflict Zones,” International Studies Quarterly61(3):660–76.
24.
GreenwaldDiania B.2009. “Political Science Research in Settings of Intractable Conflict.” PS: Political Science & Politics52(3):498–502.
25.
HelbardtSaschaHellmann-RajanayagamDagmarKorffRudiger. 2010. “War’s Dark Glamour: Ethics of Research in War and Conflict Zones.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs23(2):349–36.
26.
HöglundKristineÖbergMagnus, eds. 2011. Understanding Peace Research: Methods and Challenges. New York: Routledge.
27.
HumphreysMacartanWeinsteinJeremy. 2012. “Policing Politicians: Citizen Empowerment and Political Accountability in Uganda Preliminary Analysis.” Columbia Universities. Unpublished manuscript.
28.
Kovats-BernatJ. Christopher. 2002. “Negotiating Dangerous Fields: Pragmatic Strategies for Fieldwork Amind Violence and Terror.” American Anthropologist104(1):208–22.
KrauseJana. 2018. Resilient Communities: Non-violence and Civilian Agency in Communal War. New York: Cambridge University Press.
31.
KwajaChris. 2011. Nigeria’s Pernicious Drivers of Ethno-religious Conflict. Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
32.
LarsonJennifer M.LewisJanet I.. 2018. “Rumors, Kinship Networks, and Rebel Group Formation,” International Organization72(4):871–903.
33.
LinkeAndrew M.O’LoughlinJohnTerrence McCabeJ.TirJaroslavWitmerFrank D. W.. 2015. “Rainfall Variability and Violence in Rural Kenya: Investigating the Effects of Drought and the Role of Local Institutions with Survey Data.” Global Environmental Change34:35–47.
34.
LongmanTimothy. 2013. “Conducting Research in Conflict Zones: Lessons from the African Great Lakes Region.” Pp. 254–74in Research Methods in Conflict Settings: A View From Below, edited by JacobsenKarenMazuranaDyan E.GaleLacey Andrews. New York: Cambridge University Press.
35.
LupuNoamKristinMichelitch. 2018. “Advances in Survey Methods for the Developing World.” Annual Review of Political Science21:195–214.
36.
MaduekeKingsley L.2018. “From Neighbours to Deadly Enemies: Excavating Landscapes of Territoriality and Ethnic Violence in Jos, Nigeria.” Journal of Contemporary African Studies36(1):87–102.
37.
MazuranaDyanGaleLacey AndrewsJacobsenKaren. 2013. “A View from Below: Conducting Research in Conflict Zones.” Pp. 3–23in Research Methods in Conflict Settings: A View from Below, edited by DyanMazuranaJacobsenKarenGaleLacey Andrews. New York: Cambridge University Press.
38.
MazuranaDyanJacobsenKarenGaleLacey Andrews, eds. 2013. Research Methods in Conflict Settings: A View from Below. New York: Cambridge University Press.
39.
MilliganMaren. 2013. “Fighting for the Right to Exist: Institutions, Identity, and Conflict in Jos, Nigeria.” Comparative Politics45(3):313–34.
40.
MossSigrun MarieMelisÖzdenAcarYasemin Gülsüm. 2019. “Doing Research in Conflict Contexts: Practical and Ethical Challenges for Researchers When Conducting Fieldwork.” Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology25(1):86–99.
41.
MutzDiana C.2011. Population-based Survey Experiments. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
42.
NakrayKeertyAlstonMargaretWhittenburyKerri. 2016. Social Science Research Ethics for a Globalizing World: Interdisciplinary and Cross-cultural Perspectives. New York: Routledge.
OsaretinIdahosaAkovEmmanuel. 2013. “Ethno-religious Conflict and Peace Building in Nigeria: The Case of Jos, Plateau State.” Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies2(1):349–60.
PaluckElizabeth Levy. 2009. “Methods and Ethics with Research Teams and NGOs: Comparing Experiences across the Border of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.” Pp. 38–56 in Surviving Field Research: Working in Violent and Difficult Situations, edited by SriramChandra LekhaMertusJulieMartin-OrtegaOlgaHermanJohannaKingJohn C.. New York: Routledge.
49.
QGIS Development Team. 2016. “QGIS Geographic Information System. Open Source Geospatial Foundation Project.” Accessed April 16, 2016. http://www.qgis.org/.
50.
ShesterininaAnastasia. 2018. “Ethics, Empathy, and Fear in Research on Violent Conflict.” Journal of Peace Research56(2):190–202.
51.
SlukaJeffrey. 2012. “Staying Alive While Conducting Primary Research: Fieldwork on Political Violence.” Pp. 301–28in Ashgate Research Companion to Political Violence, edited by Breen-SmythMarie. New York: Routledge.
52.
SriramChandra LekhaKingJohn C.MertusJulie A.Martin-OrtegaOlgaHermanJohanna, eds. 2009. Surviving Field Research: Working in Violent and Difficult Situations. New York: Routledge.
53.
ThomsonSusan M. 2009. “‘That Is Not What We Authorised You to Do…’: Access and Government Interference in Highly Politicised Research Environments.” Pp. 108–124 in Surviving Field Research: Working in Violent and Difficult Situations, edited by SriramChandra LekhaKingJohn C.MertusJulie A.Martin-OrtegaOlgaHermanJohanna. New York: Routledge.
54.
VinsonLaura Thaut. 2017. Religion, Violence, and Local Power-Sharing in Nigeria. New York: Cambridge University Press.
55.
VinsonLaura Thaut. 2020. “Disaggregating Ethnicity and Conflict Patterns: Evidence from Religious and Tribal Violence in Nigeria.” Ethnopolitics19(1): 19–44.
56.
VinsonLaura ThautRudloffPeter. forthcoming. “Ethnicities and Conflict: A Survey Experiment on the Effect of Narrative Framing on Perceptions in Jos, Nigeria.” Ethnopolitics.
57.
WoodElisabeth Jean. 2006. “The Ethical Challenges of Field Research in Conflict Zones.” Qualitative Sociology29(3):373–86.
58.
WoodElisabeth Jean. 2013. “Reflections on the Challenges, Dilemmas, and Rewards of Research in Conflict Zones.” Pp. 295–308in Research Methods in Conflict Settings: A View from Below, edited by DyanMazuranaJacobsenKarenGaleLacey Andrews. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
