by Ilma Ghouse
 |
| Hussain Bux Mallah/Collective for Social Science Research |
Perhaps the most important barrier to doing
survey work in Karachi is also the one that is noticed the least. Our survey
like most other surveys in Pakistan took gender segregation in to account and
ensured that women enumerators would interact with female respondents. It is
good practice everywhere for women and girls to be interviewed by female
surveyors, particularly when the topics discussed might include sensitive
issues relating to reproductive health or abuse. The segregation that exists in
rural communities is also strongly present in Karachi. Survey design needs to
assume that it will be impossible for our male team members to speak with women
and older girls in the community. Not surprisingly, this was more or less borne
out.
Other issues in access, however, did
surprise me. Although ethnic identities in Karachi are very pronounced, issues
in data collection were the same across various groups. Irrespective of ethnic
identity people of similar socio-economic backgrounds are confronted with more
or less the same sorts of problems in their daily lives. Hence, while mass
migration to the city in the last 20 years has divided people into different groups
and communities, similar problems have brought them together and made them react
at times in the same way. In a few areas ethnic differences have resulted in
conflict, but this is mainly due to affiliations with rival political parties. In
these areas it was necessary to ensure that fieldworkers spoke the ethnic
language of the respondents to avoid creating animosity within the community.
Gaining access to localities was one of the
most challenging problems faced during the exercise. Communities restricted
access to outsiders due to a number of reasons. Some of these can be attributed
to the deteriorating law and order condition, strong political rivalries and the
presence of armed groups. It became imperative for the survey teams to have
prior knowledge of these issues, making it important to gather a profile of
each community, highlighting sensitive localities. Working with resource people
from these areas to help facilitate the research proved to be a useful strategy.
In fact there were some areas where the exercise was entirely dependent on the support
of local resource persons.
Some localities in District West and District
South were more difficult to access due to the targeted operation going on
there against religious extremists (supporters of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) and
other armed groups. The strong influence
of religious organization in some localities of District West also aggravated
the situation. In these communities there was a sense that any association with
international donor agencies was somehow un-Islamic. Even in these places,
however, local resource persons who understood the reasons for our study proved
to be useful bridges to the community.
Hesitation on the part of some respondents
to participate in the survey was telling of their perceptions of the
development sector and in general reflected a cautious attitude towards
outsiders. One reason why people were initially unwilling to take part in the
exercise is that the prevalence of crime has resulted in a trust deficit. This
situation was more evident in middle income groups in District Central where
respondents raised questions about the organization’s affiliation and needed to
be convinced about the purpose of the survey. People were also suspicious of
NGOs and related the Collective’s research to NGO work and hence were reluctant
to participate.
Data collection also revealed the extensive
reach of the national cash transfer programme, the Benazir Income Support Programme
(BISP). Many people had participated in the BISP’s Poverty Score Card survey to
determine their eligibility, and whether they were enrolled into the programme
or not often had a bearing on their attitude towards participating in the
Collective’s survey. The surveyed households who
had gone through the lengthy process of determining their eligibility for the BISP
and had not become beneficiaries of the programme showed a lack of interest
during the survey and complained of the futility of these exercises.
In the
end, we were able to navigate the obstacles that come in the way of doing
survey work in a complex city like Karachi.
Issues such as ethnic divisions, the presence of armed groups, religious
and political mistrust, fear of crime, disappointment with past surveys, and
the ongoing security operation are all important factors in hindering access to
communities, families and individuals. While these barriers seem insurmountable when seen from a distance, we
found that common sense measures such as working close to the ground, using
local resource persons, remaining sensitive to local conditions and
sensitivities, and being flexible in implementing our work schedule, open up
all types of localities. Paradoxically,
we had the greatest difficulty in gaining access to individuals in relatively
better off and educated neighbourhoods where communities were extremely
cautious with respect to security and individuals were most concerned about
their privacy.
Despite
its many challenges, much of Karachi remains open to survey most of the time.
