Collecting Data in Remote or Rural Communities

by Janet Salmons, Ph.D.,Research Community Manager for Methodspace

In the 2nd quarter of 2023 the Methodspace focus is on ways to collect data. Researchers who want to collect data in rural communities, especially those in remote areas, face additional challenges. Residents might be spread out, with few locations to meet. They might also have their own cultural norms, which might include suspicious attitudes towards outsiders.

The researchers who authored this multidisciplinary collection of open-access studies found interesting and creative ways of overcoming obstacles. They used participatory action research, ethnography and metaethnography, constructivist grounded theory, focus group interviews, narrative and survey methods. They collected Wifi location and smartphone tracking data. Read their explanations to find approaches that might work in your own research projects.

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Bai, N., Nourian, P., Pereira Roders, A., Bunschoten, R., Huang, W., & Wang, L. (2023). Investigating rural public spaces with cultural significance using morphological, cognitive and behavioural data. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 50(1), 94–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083211064290

Abstract. During the rural [re]vitalization process in China, national strategies required rural public spaces with cultural significance to be identified before planning decision-making. However, places identified as culturally significant by planners and visitors can differ from the ones mostly used and valued by locals. Even if there is a growing interest in integrating local perspectives and experiences in planning, studies seldom discuss and compare openly the adequacy of spatial configuration, cognition and behaviour to support it. This study took Anyi Historic Village Cluster as a case study to empirically investigate rural public spaces with three distinct, yet related approaches: (1) Morphological: spatial network centralities based on space syntax; (2) Cognitive: Lynchian village images with semi-structured interviews; (3) Behavioural: spatiotemporal occupation patterns using Wi-Fi positioning tracking. Significant places valued and used by locals and non-locals were detected with the multi-source data. Furthermore, multivariant regression models managed to characterize the relationship among different aspects of investigated rural public spaces, which also helped diagnose places of interest to prioritize in planning, demonstrating the advantage of integrating the sources of information in practice instead of studying them apart. Results can also assist rural planning on how to identify what to preserve, what to enhance, and how to develop such spaces, without overlooking the local needs or losing the rural identity.

Bwambale, F. M., Moyer, C. A., Komakech, I., Fred-Wabwire-Mangen, & Lori, J. R. (2013). The Ten Beads Method: A Novel Way to Collect Quantitative Data in Rural Uganda. Journal of Public Health Research, 2(1), jphr.2013.e2016. https://doi.org/10.4081/jphr.2013.e6

Abstract. This paper illustrates how locally appropriate methods can be used to collect quantitative data from illiterate respondents. This method uses local beads to represent quantities, which is a novel yet potentially valuable methodological improvement over standard Western survey methods.

Daum, T., Buchwald, H., Gerlicher, A., & Birner, R. (2019). Times Have Changed: Using a Pictorial Smartphone App to Collect Time–Use Data in Rural Zambia. Field Methods, 31(1), 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822x18797303

Abstract. One challenge of collecting socioeconomic data, such as data on time-use, is recall biases. While time-use researchers have continuously developed new methods to make data collection more accurate and easy, these methods are difficult to use in developing countries, where study participants may have low literacy levels and no clock-based concepts of time. To contribute to the closing of this research gap, we developed a picture-based smartphone app called Time-Tracker that allows data recording in real time to avoid recall biases. We pilot tested the app in rural Zambia, collecting 2,790 data days. In this article, we compare the data recorded with the app to data collected with 24-hours recall questions. The results confirm the literature on recall biases, suggesting that using the app leads to valid results. We conclude that smartphone apps using visual tools provide new opportunities for researchers collecting socioeconomic data in developing countries.

Harvey, D. J. (2010). The Contribution of Qualitative Methodologies to Rural Health Research: An Analysis of the Development of a Study of the Health and Well-Being of Women in Remote Areas. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 9(1), 40–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940691000900105

Abstract. Understanding the influence of rural social determinants on health can contribute to alleviating disparities between the health of urban and rural populations. Qualitative methodologies have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of rural health issues. However, there are few published case studies of the process of designing qualitative studies which can contribute to a better understanding of how to conduct and evaluate qualitative research. This paper adds to the methodological literature by describing the process of developing a methodology for a study of how women in remote areas achieve health and well-being. In the paper the author documents the process and illustrates an individual's search for a method that would suit her research problem and her personal and professional ideology. Metaethnography, constructivist grounded theory, and dialogic/performance narrative methods are identified as a qualitative methods particularly suited to health and other areas of rural social research.

Heinonen, T., & Cheung, M. (2007). Views from the Village: Photonovella with Women in Rural China. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 6(4), 35–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690700600403

Abstract. In this article the authors provide an overview of the situation of women in rural China as a backdrop for the photonovella process and inquiry activities conducted by the first author in three rural sites in China. They describe the key themes identified through analysis of the narrative accounts and photographs presented by groups of rural women. The photonovella enabled rural women to select from their pictures several photos of significance to them to show and describe these to women from other villages and to the researcher. Concerns, interests, hardships, and achievements of the women related to their work, families, and communities were voiced as they showed their photos. This method, used in conjunction with other qualitative methods—including focus group interviews, village visits, and survey data—provided information that complemented and enriched our understanding of rural women's lives in China.

Ipe, R. (2019). Ethical tensions in designing ethnographic research with schoolchildren in rural Karnataka. Global Studies of Childhood, 9(2), 120–131. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043610619846090

Abstract. This article provides an overview of the ethical tensions of preparing for ethnographic research with children in a rural district in Karnataka, India. Such children are at the receiving end of policy and international organisation interest, which alternately frames them as both victims of poverty and conflict and as agents of potential change in their communities. Additionally, researchers must often negotiate particularly muddy ethical waters when working with Majority World children from marginalised backgrounds. A critical exploration of the various complexities is provided in order to develop a working ethical framework. Of key importance is the need for reflexivity when journeying from western higher institutions (the ‘ivory tower’) to the ‘field’, a space and time carrying different weight and implications for the participants than the researcher. This article argues for the need to critically examine and weave in the multiple discourses of power that permeate children’s lives and engage with children’s responses to these discourses. While rural Karnataka provides a case study for the ethical tensions of ethnographic research with Majority World children from marginalised backgrounds, the principles espoused here are broadly applicable to children in a variety of contexts.

Seals K, Stroope J, Freightman J, Ainsworth L, Moles A, Holston D. Empty Houses, Loose Dogs, and Engaged Citizens: Lessons Learned From Community Participatory Data Collection in Rural Areas. Health Promotion Practice. 2022;23(1_suppl):140S-148S. doi:10.1177/15248399221111181

Abstract. Rural surveys tend to oversample easy to reach populations, which can misrepresent community health needs. To achieve baseline data reflective of the communities served by the high obesity program (HOP), an innovative evaluation plan was created to prioritize equity and reflect the whole community. Principles of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) were used to guide instrument development, research protocols, and data collection. A random sample of addresses created with United States Postal Service records provided a representative list of addresses in three HOP counties in Louisiana. Local data collectors were recruited to go door to door at the selected addresses to collect in-person surveys (N = 682; response rate of 84%). Over a quarter of participants reported using the charitable food system and walking for transportation at least weekly. Collecting door to door data in rural communities presents unique challenges, including abandoned properties, inaccurate address records, loose dogs, and at times, racial tensions and houses far removed from public roads. Lessons learned include the importance of local knowledge, adapting protocols to fit local conditions, and community awareness of the survey. Health practitioners need confidence when they are making data-based decisions about interventions, and one way to provide this confidence is to collect data from a true cross-section of the community. With a plan and in partnership with community members, a probability sample is feasible to collect in rural communities.

Seresinhe, C. I., Moat, H. S., & Preis, T. (2018). Quantifying scenic areas using crowdsourced data. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 45(3), 567–582. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265813516687302

Abstract. For centuries, philosophers, policy-makers and urban planners have debated whether aesthetically pleasing surroundings can improve our wellbeing. To date, quantifying how scenic an area is has proved challenging, due to the difficulty of gathering large-scale measurements of scenicness. In this study we ask whether images uploaded to the website Flickr, combined with crowdsourced geographic data from OpenStreetMap, can help us estimate how scenic people consider an area to be. We validate our findings using crowdsourced data from Scenic-Or-Not, a website where users rate the scenicness of photos from all around Great Britain. We find that models including crowdsourced data from Flickr and OpenStreetMap can generate more accurate estimates of scenicness than models that consider only basic census measurements such as population density or whether an area is urban or rural. Our results provide evidence that by exploiting the vast quantity of data generated on the Internet, scientists and policy-makers may be able to develop a better understanding of people's subjective experience of the environment in which they live.

Sherry, K., Dabula, X., Duncan, E. M., & Reid, S. (2020). Decolonizing Qualitative Research With Rural People With Disabilities: Lessons From a Cross-Cultural Health Systems Study. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920932734

Abstract. Decolonization of research is nowhere more pressing than in post-apartheid South Africa, where cross-cultural encounters characterize every aspect of society. The health system plays a critical role in realizing the rights of marginalized populations, particularly rural communities and people with disabilities. However, cultural divides between service users and health care workers render health care provision unexpectedly complex. Such divides likewise obscure the meanings embedded in qualitative data, rendering research interpretations challenging. A study of the engagement between rural isiXhosa-speaking people with disabilities and primary health care workers was conducted by the first author, a White English-speaking female health care worker, in partnership with the second author, a Xhosa male research implementer. Ethnographic and narrative methods were used to create an embedded case study of 11 households of people with disabilities. Lessons on conducting ethical and culturally congruent research with this population are presented, important limitations in the qualitative paradigm raised, and alternative stances explored.

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