CASE STUDY METHODOLOGIES

(Opportunities for Case Study Research)

MEASURING DEVELOPMENT EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

Prof. L. K. Vaswani KIIT School of Rural Management

KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India

AGRICULTURAL "RESEARCH FOR DEVELOPMENT"

It is necessary to measure agricultural research in terms of its contribution to development i.e. "research for development" These calculations can help to improve agricultural research investment decisions. Other valid reasons for studying the development effects of research arising from Link between researchers work and probability of useful outcomes in developmental terms Ability of decision-makers at national and international levels to extract the greatest benefit from current and future investments in research.

Development Effects
Other Factors Zone of Concern of research system Other knowledge

Research Outputs

Research Resources (Staff, Funds, Infrastructure)

Zone of Influence of Research system

Development Figure 1: The Research for Development (R for D) Process Hardie (1988)

Research Contributions To Development.

The agricultural research output most commonly considered is probably the improved crop variety a tangible item and associated soft knowledge. Also common are items of hardware, such as seeders or crop driers. The useful outcomes in developmental terms are sometimes overlooked in discussion of the benefits from agricultural research. The research "impacts arising from the adoption of knowledge outputs are equally important to understand.

Agricultural Research Impact & Development

Agricultural research alone does not cause development. Other factors and knowledge to be applied in conjunction with research output in order for development effect to be realised. This feature of R for D process gives rise to the most common and serious difficulties with studies on research "impact. To establish cause and effect, and of attributing benefits among the various possible contributing factors.

The Research for Development Process

The process that involves use of research resources produce knowledge outputs use of knowledge outputs to contribute to development effects.

Zone of Influence and Zone of Concern.

The entire R & D process is the Zone of Concern of researchers with limited Zone of Influence. Zone of influence of research is smaller than the zone of concern. Thus researchers feel pressure to justify their work in terms of development, without having any influence over many of the factors that cause it to happen.

Moving Technology from Researchers to Growers. Research activity can generate useful knowledge. There are complexities of moving the technology from researchers into the hands of the growers. At some point along the line, (the point may vary, the frontier is hazy) the process moves beyond the influence of the formal research community.

The R for D Process Is Uncertain

Use of research resources for the production of specified outputs are < 1. Disseminating output to the target users and carries its share of constraints and uncertainty. Use of research output to produce net positive effect on development, including desired equity goals, is less certain still. Regardless of relative sizes of the sequential probabilities, their cumulative (even if measured and proven) can be quite small.

Dealing with Uncertainty of Research Impact

Researchers/Extension Personnel are confronted with uncertainty in their environment while moving technologies from research farm to farmers field. There is uncertainty because researchers competencies are insufficient to meet the complexity of the environment. A researcher can reduce the C-D gap through ``learning.

C``Learning . Reducing the C-D gap by ``Learning.

New Competence

Researcher)

Research for Development

Current Competence

Research for Science/Knowledge

New Learning to fill Competence- Difficult Gap

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New Learnings
New learning has two aspects: the

the ``how The general idea of the ``why of individual learning is depicted in Figure The expression "bounded rationality" is used to denote the type of rationality that people (or organizations) resort to when the environment in which they operate is too complex relative to their limited mental abilities. Human behavior is intendedly rational, but only limitedly so"

``why

and

Why of Individual Learning

Complexity Uncertainty Bounded Rationality Learning

The Inseparable Why and How

The ``why is relatively easy to address. However, dealing with the ``why does not explain the sometimes vast differences in the views that people have on similar topics. To explain such differences an answer to the ``how is needed. By combining the inseparably related ``why and the ``how questions concerning individual learning some avenues for new insights are created.

 To improve understanding of the R for D process, thereby contributing to the greater effectiveness of current research programs and projects or their future replicates. Research produces a range of useful outputs, not just specific technologies; that its zone of influence is limited and Other factors need to be added to research output for it to have a positive development effect; that research is to do with uncertainty, therefore some "dry holes" are inevitable and it is as important to know what does not work as what does.

Case for Case Study Research Methodologies

 Full appreciation of the case method comes with recognition that it fits within the traditions of qualitative research. The qualitative approach to research has features that differentiate it from the quantitative research. In qualitative research the researcher is actively involved in understanding the situation and, in describing this understanding, creates knowledge.

 On recognizing these differences, one can appreciate that the qualitative research is as scholarly demanding as quantitative research. The benefit of using qualitative research is that it is better equipped than is quantitative research to tackle certain problems.