Research methods
The project involves new research and synthesis of prior research. The methods for the new research will be as follows.
- Qualitative field based research involving key informant interviews, focus groups and household interviews as a means of analyzing the emergence, strategies and interactions between civil society, government and business actors in each of the regions to be studied companies. This work will be complemented with archival research (newspapers, internet based reports, organizational documents etc.). This is case study work where the case is constituted by a particular set of interactions. It allows in depth understanding of actors, and – in this case – of the strategies used, and the extent to which business and government dynamics are affected by civil society actors, and vice versa (our research shows evidence of business and state actions disarticulating civil society groups). As this work is aimed at deepening and broadening existing data sets, the methods will be based on those used in this earlier research. Research on national negotiations on free trade treaties and extractive industries will also be qualitative, with emphasis on key informant and archival research.
- Quantitative analysis of existing data sets on the regional economies of the regions to be studied. These data sets exist in the form of national survey data, base line studies of projects and organizations, and tax registers. Much of this work will involve assembling these data bases, in order to then use them for analysis of regional economic dynamics.
- Combining these two data sets, the research will trace the extent to which forms of negotiation and civil society intervention have effects in regional economic dynamics.
The method is one that works primarily at the case study level – using very similar protocols - in order to then conduct comparative case analysis. The ability to analyse relations between regional/case-based dynamics and national debates and contexts also allows the research to disentangle the local and national contexts (and international influences) that influence the nature of civil society-political economy interactions.