SIRCA Workshop 1
Date: 3rd – 4th July 2009
Venue: Nanyang Executive Center, Singapore
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Objectives:
The SIRCA Workshop 1 aims to:
- Equip Principal Investigators (PIs) with a clearer understanding of literature and methodological issues with regards to their projects;
- Equip PIs with a clearer understanding of how their project relates and contributes to the broader ICTD discipline;
- Provide PIs with necessary information to adhere to the SIRCA Secretariat compliance;
- Highlight practical issues and challenges in fieldwork.
Desired Outcomes:
PIs should achieve the following objectives:
Objective 1
- Obtain feedback on literature review, theory and methodology in order to refine their research questions and hypothesis with:
- A theoretical framework
- Tighter focus
- The aim of filling gaps in discipline
- Understand various research methods and choose the appropriate method/s for their project based on:
- Benefits/appropriateness
- Drawbacks and limitations
- Ethical issues
- Validity
Objective 2
- Understand the positioning of their project in relation to the larger field ICTD research;
- Be informed about the opportunities and challenges within the field; therefore positioning project for the future to fill research gaps and for longevity;
- Understand the multidisciplinary nature of the ICTD field;
- Learn about the breadth and depth of the various projects through peer sharing and interaction;
- Know the various dissemination opportunities:
- Conferences
- Networking
- Publication
- Marketing
Objective 3
- Understand the required format and expectations of various documentation (reports/forms);
- Learn to prepare a financial report and about the common pitfalls of budgeting and tracking of spending;
- Understand process to apply for further grants.
Objective 4
- How to conduct rigorous fieldwork in difficult situations:
- Access to field sites and participants
- Interview skills
- Training
- Pre-tests
- Test/control
- Translation
- Transcripts
- Review Board
- Ethics
Workshop Programme:
Participants at the Workshop will take part in various capacity activities including two panel sessions where issues of ICTD research theories and ethics will be discussed. These panel sessions will be chaired by the SIRCA Assistant Director and Trainer, Dr. Arul Chib.
Day 1: The workshop will focus on the theorising aspect of ICTD research. A seminar will be conducted by Dr. Alexander Flor. This will be followed by group topical exercises and group consultations where PIs will be divided into groups based on the topics of their research.
Day 2: The workshop seeks to cover ICTD research methods. Two seminars will be conducted by Dr. Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu and Dr. Rahul De on qualitative and quantitative research methodologies respectively. Each seminar will be followed by group consultations where PIs will engage in group discussions with follow researchers employing similar research methods.
The workshop will conclude with a SIRCA Compliance and Feedback Forum.
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