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EVIDENCE MATTERS

Practical, Theoretical, and Methodological Challenges of Field Research in the Middle East

Pages 143-149 | Published online: 16 Jul 2012
 

Abstract

The Middle East has long been a conflict zone; the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been a persistent factor for decades, and there have been wars over natural resources, ideological causes, and national or religious cleavages as well. How does a historian begin to compile a documentary record of such a struggle? At the beginning of my research stay in the Middle East in 2007, I decided to keep a diary about my experiences and assessments in the field. In this article, I recount and reflect about those experiences in order to propose potential solutions to the problem of on-site research in unstable areas. While field research generally requires a particular kind of preparation, and always faces obstacles and challenges, the success of fieldwork under difficult and hostile research settings is dependent on the skills of the researcher, and his or her ability and preparedness for the problems the nature of the research inevitably will bring forward.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all the persons in the field who graciously provided me with the opportunity to interview them or to use their archives for research. I would also like to thank the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) for funding one year of my Ph.D. research. For granting me affiliation and thus helping me on-site, I would like to thank the American University of Beirut, Prof. Nadia Maria El–Cheikh, and Dr. Aliya Saidi (CAMES). Lastly, I am grateful for Nina Ghattas’ support, and also for the help Prof. Ahmad Harb, Prof. Abdul Aziz Ayyad, and Prof. Musa Sroor at the University of Birzeit offered.

Notes

1. For the purpose of this article, the term Middle East refers to those countries that are operating under the umbrella of the Arab League. On the terminology of “Middle East” see, for example, Schwedler (Citation2008, 1–7). I wrote this chapter during my research sessions in Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, and Syria in 2007–9, and revised it in 2011. Since the examples and cases below may be personal and delicate, the cited references may on occasion be anonymous.

2. On the definition of fieldwork from a historian's perspective, see Ellinger, Watkins, and Marsick (Citation2005, 328–9). For an anthropological point of view, see Burgess (Citation1993, 11). Emerson (Citation2001, 1–26) is of relevance as well.

3. It must be pointed out that research requires a fieldwork concept and a particular kind of preparation. It is advisable to make contacts in advance, to gather information about the target country and culture. See Romano (Citation2006, 439–41).

4. In my Ph.D. thesis, I examined the transformation of the Palestinians and the institution-building process from 1948–1983. More specifically, I challenged prevailing orthodoxies on the history and politics of the Palestinians and investigated the role of the intelligentsia in building para-state institutions and in fostering socio-economic and political changes within the Palestinians in exile. Many of these para-state institutions were retained to play a central role in the nation- and state-building process post 1993.

5. On ethical challenges, see Helbardt, Hellmann–Rajanayagam, and Korff (Citation2010, 349–69) and Wood (Citation2006, 373–86).

6. The archive of the PLO Research Center (PRC) was confiscated by the Israeli army in 1982. See Sayegh (Citation2006, 39, 439–41). More details in Shibib (Citation2005).

7. For instance, the archive and library of the PLO think tank, the so-called planning center.

8. This was the case in 1982 during the invasion of the Lebanon and the resulting acts of war.

9. Interviews with Jaber Suleiman and Subhi Taha. Research session 2007.

10. In the first interview, Anonymous 2 pointed out that it was customary to take academic work home. Research sessions 2007–9.

11. Helga Baumgarten also discussed the importance of establishing a relationship of trust with the informant in a discourse with Ortlieb (Citation1995, 101. FN Note 13).

12. Helbardt et al. (2010, 349–69).

13. This is, for instance, valid for the position of the PLO think tank and some of its former researchers, as well as for many activists that used the site for different purposes and were not interested in digging up their own past.

14. This questions the concept of the neutrality of the researcher; objectivity, credibility, and neutrality are indeed scientific values that should be heeded. Taking into consideration that the interaction of the researcher with the interviewee has an important impact, those values should, to a limited extent and under specific circumstances, be weighed against the benefits of obtaining data. For further information, see note 37.

15. Establishing a relationship of trust also comes with a number of risks, since the informant might use the opportunity to gain certain information (Norman Citation2009, 70–90).

16. Such appeals had an effect in the case of an above-mentioned group, leading to two interviewees granting me access to their own files, despite the fact that earlier they vehemently denied being in possession of such material.

17. Swedenburg (Citation2003) mentions this aspect in his dissertation.

18. Anonymous 2, research session 2007.

19. Interview with anonymous 4, research session 2007.

20. For instance, Rowlinson (Citation2005, 297) or Danto (Citation2009, 47, 52, 61).

21. Burgess (Citation1993, xiii, 11, 16–21).

22. Danto (Citation2009, 6). On the interaction between historical research and other research traditions, see Howel and Prevenier (Citation2001, 88–115).

23. Burgess (Citation1993, xiii, 11, 16–21).

24. Mertus (Citation2009, 1–2).

25. I am aware of the fact that there is no “one” approach, theory, or methodology that is used in conducting historical research, but rather a multitude of approaches, theory, and methodologies.

26. For a reflection on the relationship between theory and research “in the field” and the extent to which theory should be involved prior to, during, or at the end of the field research, see Bryman (1988, 71–92).

27. Years later comments on the weaknesses of the study of Middle Eastern politics within political science are finally being made by, among others, Green (Citation1993, 517–8). I believe that, despite some development in Middle Eastern studies, the made statement is still valid.

28. Brand (Citation1988, 263–4).

29. Anonymous 3, a Master student at the AUB, used the same approach. Research session 2009. Also see Göbel (Citation2004).

30. Although I embarked on my research under the assumption and with the concept that the western-oriented, and above all improved and refined theorem, would and should serve as an example, I believe that the applicability of the theory and methodology should be examined.

31. For a different notion, see Göbel (Citation2004).

32. Conversation and interview with anonymous 11, research session 2008.

33. Anonymous 2, research session 2008.

34. Anonymous 2, research session 2007.

35. Goodhand (Citation2000, 13–4).

36. The guarantee of anonymity in conflict zones is offered and also granted by many researchers, such as Norman (Citation2009, 81) and Günther (Citation2002, 133–51). For instance, Wedel (Citation1999, ix) granted anonymity to her interview partners by giving them different names, and by not revealing the research areas. For experiences of other academics in the Palestinian context (in gender research), see Sayegh (1996, 145–67) and Peteet (Citation1991).

37. Burgess (Citation1993, 201–3).

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