I have Google Reader set to bring in feeds tagged with networks. The Net-Map Toolbox website and blog of Eva Schiffer, who works for the International Food Policy Research Institute in Ghana, was the link of interest that turned up today. Both websites are well worth a look.

With a few exceptions I admire people who do field work in often arduous conditions – I already admire Eva! Eva’s work is using social network analysis to aid in optimising food and poverty amelioration with rural people who have low formal education, are often illiterate, and have little or no access to technologies like computers. Eva has developed a technique she calls the Net-Map Toolbox . It is very low tech and uses a board, checkers, small figurines, butchers paper and so on. Take a look at her Flickr Photos and Flickr Slideshow to get a much better understanding! I can already see uses in our Aboriginal communities here in Australia.

Eva’s approach captures much rich data in the field. She later analyses the data in tools like UCINET , but no doubt the photographs are useful as well. Eva’s case studies are well worth a look. Here is an extract from one of the case studies – I think it says it all.

“One factor that distinguishes this tool from many other pure data collection tools is that a lot of the learning process happens during data collection and not through documents produced after data analysis. This makes using Net-Map very rewarding both for interviewer and interviewee. Furthermore it addresses the conflicting time frames of researchers and policy makers, where researchers often take more time to analyze collected data than policy makers can afford to wait before taking the related decision”.

The other quote I would highlight is:

“The work with the basin board showed that many board members assumed that everyone would share their view of the network (“This is how it is! Everybody will see it this way!”). Thus the first learning step for the members of the organization was to understand that views of the network can differ.”

My own work in ‘first world’ organisations with highly educated people encounters exactly the same problem, and highlighting this problem is the strength of network analysis techniques.

Applying network analysis techniques in such a simple way to solve poverty and hunger is not only innovative it matters. Eva Schiffer I salute you!

Regards, Graham