| Method | Main objective(s) | Respondent/informant | Remarks from experience |
|
Collection/ presevation | "To provide a physical record or ""types"" against which local names and evaluations can be checked" | Local farmers can point out and name the different varieties; some are more knowledgeable than others. | Considerable variation in naming varieties so source of material and information should be carefully recorded. |
| Rapid appraisal/preliminary participant observation | To provide a basis for framing locally relevant questions; also gives some indications as to what directions are worth pursuing | Willing and accessible informants give the most information within the limited time frame. | "Participant observation, even for a limited period, allows one to countercheck reports and paves the way for establishing rapport." |
| Benchmark socioeconomic survey | "To provide ""hard(er)"" data which can later be subjected to statistical analysis of central tendencies and trends regarding the community being studied; to identify bases of internaI differentiation" | "Total enumeration would be ideal; where this is not possible, 20% of the total, would be satisfactory." | Can help one zero in on key informants to represent different groups; quantitative data can be handy when interdisciplinary understanding is sought. |
| Interview with gatekeepers | "To get at the ""official"" version of local events inf luencing changes in technology and diversity through time" | "Local officials, teachers, medicine men, leaders of associations, ruraI bank representatives, agriculturaI technicians, etc." | Indispensable in seeking cooperation f or one' s project; very usefuI in providing leads to potential key informants. |
| Life history elicitation | To provide an indepth reconstruction of the past through the perspectives of ordinary men and women | "Limited number of key informants, in this case older members of the community who have had considerable experience with the crop" | "May ramble unless one is prepared to direct the conversation With timely and tactful questions; provides a more candid, less censored, version of deveIopments" |
| Diagramming from memory | "To provide some insight as to the relative importance of different features of the crop for the group as a whole and comparatively, for different groups of people" | "Limited number of key informants, in this case older members of the community who have had considerable experience with the crop" | "H ighIy interesting and most informants enjoy doing it, but results are subtIe and take time to analyze; taping informants' running commentary helps in interpreting diagrams." |
| Triads test | To provide clues for understanding local perspectives on relationship and contrast among varieties | "Limited number of key informants, in this case older members of the community who have had considerable experience with the crop" | The explanations informants give about their answers are very revealing with respect to local evatuation criteria. |
| Sorting/ ranking | "To examine indigenous classification of, as well as preferences for, different varieties; complements triads test in elaborating users ' perspect i ve" | "Limited rubber of key informants, in this case older members of the community Who have had considerable experience with the crop" | "Time-consuming but also userfriendly; for non-literate informants, one can use actual specimens instead of written names of local varieties." |
| Verificatory studies/ field and market survey | To validate results from limited sample on a broader scale; to fill gaps in information and check inconsistencies | "Broader sample than key informants, but more limited than benchmark survey and not necessarily involving the same respondents" | "Very useful but design and execution should be given a lot of thought, otherwise, these methods may further confuse the issues" |
