Book Description
This book addresses the epistemological, ethical and methodological challenges faced by African scholars in their research practices. The epistemological domain addresses three interrelated topics: how African university students' ethnocentric choice of research topics hampers the production of knowledge; researchers' adaptation of their research methods to improve the validity of their results; and the challenges of knowledge production on community museums plagued by gross inertia, irregularities, hard-to-get data and the lack of financial motivation amongst others. The methodological domain foregrounds issues around scientific rigour, criteria for what counts as quality research, and reporting standards. Contributors contend that the use of mixed methods provides the best scope for the effective study and evaluation of societal issues. They also detail how better-funded projects tend to improve the respect of ethical standards especially as they pertain to the protection of research subjects. Self-financed researchers on the other hand tend to be less compliant, a challenge that afflict especially younger and inexperienced researchers. This volume thus contributes not only to a critical understanding of the challenges faced by social scientists in contemporary Africa, but also the prospects and mechanisms on how to improve knowledge production processes.
