Framework

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Chapter 3 - Methods

“Principal-agent can be used for a variety of purposes and

illuminate the basic tensions in the generic [agency problems], and it can be used to reflect in general on the “fairness” of the contracts defined between the principal and the agent” (Braun & Guston, 2003)

3.1 Framework

Aligning interests and creating trust between actors is a technical imperative. If the academic and local communities can align themselves through reciprocal relationships, programs of value to both the academic and the community can be more efficiently implemented. By the using the framework of capital assets through the lens of reciprocity it is hoped points of action important to the target community can be identified so as to increase social capital through the dimension of reciprocity, ultimately allowing development that is equitable and sustainable.

Development initiatives can run into difficulties in the short term, as was the case in the Lokah project. Along the bumpy road faced by the Lokah Project, aligning interests through was a difficult task, though when expertise was shared the beginnings of a larger transformation through reciprocity and social capital exchange between the team and the community were seen. While the researchers identified an original goal of developing institutional strength, it was through negotiation and give and take of power at the junction of researcher and researched that initial positive results were seen. It would be an addition to the literature to delve further into how negotiations of reciprocity operated to increase capacity in a development first community, as rarely has a focus been put on the social capital dimension of reciprocity in cases in Taiwan. An examination of these could help bridge the gap between interest heterogeneity and allow a more fully

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integrated understanding of mutual positions, reducing conflict and promoting understanding that, in the long term, may help expand institutional strength.

This work stems from the perspective that outside academic researchers have an important role to play in the community development in Wulai. In a similar way to Ansari’s approach (2012) using organizational literature to describe the capability advantages that can be transmitted from multi-national corporations to “base of the pyramid” communities, access to academic knowledge, experience, and expertise also has similar benefits to increasing community capacity. This transference of knowledge and capability can be challenging, and often comes from access to information and skills that are held in an outside institution or by outside experts. This implies that closer links between the expert practitioners and the communities that seek to develop are needed, something that is facilitated by relational, bridging social capital (see Figure 1). If bridging capital can develop, projects are much more likely to succeed.

Measuring the tangible outcomes of research programs, such as number of jobs created or number of tourist visits to a community is relatively common in the literature; however, measuring the processes related to creating those outcomes is less common. The

evaluation of an action research program provides an opportunity to unpack processes that allow the development of trust, fairness, and reciprocity to develop between Figure 1. Social capital facilitating transfer of capabilities

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researchers and communities that may in turn be used to inform future practice. However, when approaching intangible aspects of change in an organic and multidimensional project it can be more difficult for an evaluation to capture a clear picture, especially in a situation where the expected goals may be realized to a greater extent in the long term.

Indeed, some authors suggest that the institutional transformations following a

developmental program, action based or not, can take some, perhaps a decade or more to become evident (Blackstock et al., 2007). Yet together with action and participatory research should come social learning that in turn leads to both personal and institutional transformation. In this regard, it may be more useful to address possible mid-level changes that can occur during the formation of stronger institutions. Yet systems that bridge the sociological, ecological, economic, and political present a challenge for keeping a project in scope.

In terms of creating a workable evaluation of a research program that has broad goals and multifaceted associated changes, it becomes necessary to limit the scope of variables considered. This “bounding” of the topic has been taken to limit questioning to quantifiable tangible variables based in economics on the one hand⁷ (Lemelin et al., 2015), or attempting to broadly assess culture or society in sociological literature on the other (Kagan, Burton, & Siddiquee, 2006). Indeed, because many action research programs have multiple and often intangible goals, quantitative measurements may be difficult or inappropriate to implement. There is relatively less material, however, in the literature that focuses on the experiences and relationship building processes.

7 Management, tourism, and much developmental literature tends to focus on tangible and quantifiable factors such as cost-benefit analysis, numbers of jobs created, income generation, numbers of visitors, etc.

These factors are of course useful in looking at projects ex ante from a standpoint of return on time invested

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Because some official Lokah Initiative projects are completed and others are presently on pause, this research takes a combination formative/summative approach. An ex-post summative approach focused on outcomes is used to examine the sub-projects under the Lokah umbrella that have been already completed. At the same time, the informal continuation of Lokah relationships and the continuation of other subprojects allows a reflective review of project direction as well as a formative evaluation of processes, with an emphasis on learning from the changes to intangible experiences during the project.