Great question!

Your before/after structure sounds very good. I would argue that the more comparisons you are able to reasonably produce, the more effective your argumentation would be. So I would suggest:

1. Average values in Ecuador

2. Average values for the region observed-- maybe it's different in more rural areas?

3. Average values in less-diverse areas-- this controls more for minorities and diversity and demonstrates their impact.

Dear Murielle: For an undergraduate, I am guessing this project is school/university related, either for a course, internship, finacial award? If so, I receoomend that you keep it smaller and manageable-- time and money is so much a necessity in research.

Perhaps you could do an exploratory research that would lead (and you recoomend based on your findings) to a larger project; maybe qualitative interviews re before and after. If data is available (depending on what is collected in that country) on economics, poverty, education, and employment (any one or combination of these) that you could analyze --before and after to show inequalities, as these are often used and are good indicators for inequality.

Good luck.

Hi Murielle,

I agree with Mary-Helen. The use of research methodology should be dependant on not just the demand from your research questions, and the standard of this type of research, but also your time, budget and capacity. Small is beautiful.

Regarding your comparison, it is a good idea. My opinion is:

1. Compared to average values in Ecuador: But as much as I know, your research is qualitative in both before and after stages. How do you justify your qualitative result to the average value? To compare to a certain value, you need to quantify your data (i.e., to use quantitative data). Qualitative cannot do this.

And if you want to compare using quantitative data, how can you conduct baseline survey of inequality - the survey conducted at the time right before the installation - when the installation is already done? In this case, you can only conduct impact survey - the one carried out at the time the installation is finished.

2. Compared one sample (A) to another town (B). In this case, A is your studied object, B is control sample. It is good to do it this way. However, you can only compare those two cases in terms of impact of that installation on inequality because the installation is already done.

If my understanding is correct, you are doing qualitative research. If this is the case, then you should:

1. Define what inequality means? and outline any indicators to measure it.

2. Use this indicator scheme to review literature of inequality under the impact of installation of community-based water management. You would draw some conclusion of status quo of inequality in Ecuador from these previous studies.

3. Use this indicator scheme to conduct interview. As qualitative interviews can allow you to ask interviewees to look back at what inequality was before the installation and to compare this to current status quo of inequality after the installation, you can compare before and after stages.

4. You can select another town without the installation to compare. But the risk is that you may not find any difference between that town to your main sample in terms of changes in inequality. You should consider this carefully according to your budget, time and capacity.

Hope it helps.

Cheers.

kien

When documenting "inequality/ies" (which have l ong been have long been studied AND documented, in the US), I advice that no baseline is needed or a comparison to a "best case scenario." The word "inequality" means simply, unequal, or "difference in size, degree, circumstances, etc. , a lack of equality, for e.g.. "social inequality."

If you want to research, "inequalities/discrimination of ethnic minorities," you you need to find if there is a difference in size, degree, circumstances between them and the majority populations in income, poverty rates, education, employment, etc. Then focus in on what existed before "community-based water management" and after that system was introduced. This lends itself quite well to a quantitative study, as I mentioned for any exsiting data. Statistical test of significance would be very useful.

Take a look at these slides and examine the last 3 of them with many references to get you started (I hope).

https://www.slideshare.net/doaaalthalathini/inequality-in-ecuador

Hi Mary-Helen,

Studying a certain case is sufficient to describe the status quo of inequalities which are the differences in many dimensions as you suggested.

However, how can you show that the intervention (i.e., the introduction of community-based water management) has made a change in inequalities in Ecuador without comparing baseline data and endline data?

Best,

kien

By looking for any changes in the data, in this case, existing data on inequalities (poverty, education, etc) before the water managemnet system and after. As a matter of fact, when looking at an intervention and its effects, "baseline data" can be data that exists before the intervention is implemented. When no such data exists, "baseline data" needs to be define/found/collected. I have conducted both types of studies, where the before data exists and where such data has to be established.

It's a matter of terminology, data "before and after" an intervention or as you seem to prefer, "baseline data and endline data."

Thank you so much for your answers, I really appreciate the help.