This book contains personal accounts of PhD researchers on doing field research in politically and otherwise difficult environments. The methodological flexibility required in development research is discussed around four themes: cultural difference; methodological style and the scale level; communication and interaction; and political and ethical legitimacy. The volume argues that the choice and deployment of methodology is an ongoing, reflexive process of "boundary work".
Caleb R.L. Wall is a freelance consultant who currently works in Kazakhstan, Russia.
Peter P. Mollinga is senior researcher at the Centre for Development Studies, Bonn, Germany since 2004