Rapid Assessment Process Book

	List of Figures	x
	Preface and Acknowledgments	xi
	Introduction	xv
	Why Rapid Assessment Process	xvi
	Rationale for This Book	xvii
	Organization	xviii
	Additional Readings: The Essential RAPper Library	xix
Chapter 1	To RAP or Not to RAP (and the Basic Concepts)	1
Example 1	Student Services at a Community College	2
Example 2	Village in the Western Sudan	4
	The Need for the Insider's Perspective	5
	Rapid Assessment Process and Intensive Team Interaction	6
	Basic Concepts	6
	Relationship of the Basic Concepts to Research Techniques	7
	Conditions Where RAP Is Especially Appropriate	8
	Using RAP for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Midcourse Corrections	10
	When Survey Research Is Not the Best Option	11
	The Need for Caution about the Use of RAP	14
	Additional Readings	15
Chapter 2	Data Collection: Triangulation and Getting the Insider's Perspective	17
	Triangulation	18
	An Example	18
	Triangulation and the Insider's Perspective	18
	Triangulation and RAP	22
	Illustrative Research Techniques Associated with Triangulation	24
	Team Membership	24
	Team Interviewing	26
	Team Observing	27
	Team Collection of Information	27
	Data Collection to Get the Insider's Perspective	28
	Qualitative Research	29
	Ethnography	30
	Culture	32
	Emic and Etic	33
	Indigenous Knowledge	34
	Variability	35
	Illustrative Research Techniques Associated with Ethnography	35
	Semistructured Interviews	35
	Use of Short Guidelines	40
	Use of a Tape Recorder	41
	Use of Interpreters	43
	Selection of Respondents	45
	Individuals and Focus Groups	46
	Structured Interviews	47
	Comparing and Sorting Objects	48
	Participant Observation	48
	Unobtrusive Observations	49
	Folktales and Other Verbal Lore	50
	Systems, Soft Systems, and Rich Pictures	50
	Mapping	52
	Field Notes and Logs	54
	Additional Readings	57
Chapter 3	Iterative Analysis and Additional Data Collection	59
	Iteration	60
	An Example	60
	Iteration and Ethnography	60
	Iteration and RAP	61
	Techniques Associated with Iterative Analysis and Additional Data Collection	62
	Structuring the Research Time	62
	Checking Back with Informants	63
	RAP Report Preparation by the Team	64
	Data Analysis	65
	Techniques for Data Analysis	66
	Coding and Margin Remarks	66
	Data Display	68
	Conclusion Drawing and Verification	69
	How Much Data is Needed?	73
	Checking Back with Informants	73
	Additional Readings	74
Chapter 4	Teamwork: Polish State Farms and the Community College	75
	Introduction to the RAPs which Provide the Examples of Teamwork	76
	The Example of the Polish State Farms RAP	76
	The Example of the Community College RAP	78
	The Tradition of Teamwork	80
	Teamwork and Data Collection	81
	Teamwork and Data Analysis	85
	Outsiders and Insiders In-Between	89
	Team Leadership	94
	Teamwork and the Success of a RAP	96
	Additional Readings	97
Chapter 5	Trusting RAP	99
	Trust and RAP	100
	RAP, the Insider's Perspective, and Time in the Field	100
	RAP and Support for Long-Term Fieldwork	104
	Concerns about RAP	105
	Too Little or Too Much Time	105
	Cultural Appropriateness	106
	Political and Economic Context	107
	Problems with Team Composition	107
	Problems with Choice of Respondents and Informants	108
	Inappropriate Use	108
	Problems with Credibility	108
	Dealing with Flexibility	110
	Sample RAP Sheet	111
	Bad RAP and Good RAP	111
Chapter 6	Successful RAP	115
	Integrating Intensive Teamwork and Maintaining Flexibility	115
	Before Beginning to RAP	117
	Attitude	117
	Materials Collected in Advance	118
	Local Team Members	118
	Orientation	119
	Logistics--Keeping RAP from Becoming SAP	119
	Schedule Flexibility	121
	While Collecting Data	122
	Interview Notes in Addition to Recording	122
	The Twenty-Four-Hour Rule	123
	Changing the Role of Individual Team Members	123
	Follow-up Interviews with the Same Person	123
	Spending Time at the Site	124
	While Analyzing Data	124
	Data Displays	124
	Presentation as a Way of Checking Back with Informants	124
	Completion of the Draft Report	125
	Time off	126
	Improving RAP Skills	126
	Learning from Experience	126
	Including Process as Well as Content in the Report	126
	Sharing Lessons about the Methodology	127
	Sharing RAP Reports	127
Chapter 7	Who Benefits, Who Pays, and Who Calls the Tune	129
	Unequal Power and Constraints on Independence	130
	Promising More Than Can Be Delivered	132
	Who Benefits?	134
	The RAP Team	134
	The Sponsors	135
	The Academic Community	135
	The Local Stakeholders	136
	Possible Costs to Local Stakeholders	136
	Propriety and Informed Consent	137
	Value of Time	137
	Betrayal	137
	Bogus Empowerment	140
	General Ethical Concerns	142
	Additional Reading	142
Chapter 8	The RAP Family Tree	145
	Farming Systems Research and Rapid Research	146
	RAP and Rapid Appraisal/Rapid Assessment	146
	RAP and Participatory Appraisal	146
	RAP and Participatory Poverty Assessments	147
	RAP and Appreciative Inquiry	148
	Other Rapid Research Methods	149
	Rapid Guided Survey, Cultural Scenes, and Micro-Ethnography	150
	Quick Ethnography	150
	Rapid Ethnography as an Alternative Label for RAP	151
	Rapid Research Methods in Different Fields	151
	The Future of RAP and Concluding Comments	154
	Additional Reading	154
Appendix A.	Executive Summary, Community College RAP	157
Appendix B.	Executive Summary, Polish State Farms RAP	161
Appendix C.	Learning to RAP	165
Appendix D.	Glossary of Terms	167
	References	175
	Subject Index	191
	Author Index	195
	About the Author	199