Kat Spartz
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Poll - what research questions do you want me to investigate while I'm in Africa?

2/7/2020

2 Comments

 
Please vote on the research topics you think would help the EA community make the world a better place or suggest other ideas in the comments. Below are more details about the project. The poll is at the bottom of the post.

I'm about to go to Rwanda and other African countries for an indefinite period of time (probably on the scale of a few months) and I'm going to be trying to get a better sense of on the ground, qualitative information. The science, quantitative, and big picture/low resolution stuff I can and will be getting on the internet via reading and Skyping with people, but I want to have a qualitative, higher resolution understanding from being on the ground. I think that this will help flesh out my understanding of the problems and might unearth things that would be hard to discover from afar. 

My strategy at the moment is to focus more on explore vs exploit and while some questions I have going in, I'm trying to keep it largely exploratory so that I can follow "leads" as they happen and jump on unexpected opportunities for learning. This means I'm trying to get as big a diversity of sources of information as possible outside of what I would usually learn from (e.g. EAs, academics, etc.). So please do recommend things (or books, etc.) that you think as a typical EA I might be missing. 

I basically have no money as this will be self-financed, so nothing that costs a lot. Unless you or anyone you know is keen on funding me of course! If I had more funds I'd be able to: hire local/professional translators to understand people better who I otherwise wouldn't be able to talk to; go to more remote areas that might have a completely different way of life and set of problems than those in more accessible ones; go to a wider range of countries; spend less time and cognitive energy arranging couch surfing or losing sleep in hostel dorms; and generally be able to jump on more opportunities as they come up. I think even just $2,000 US would make a huge difference to the endeavor. If you're keen, just reach out to me over PM or at [email protected] 

I'll be writing up a lot but not all of the results of these questions on my blog and the EA Forum to share it with relevant parties. 

    ​What research questions do you want me to research?

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2 Comments
Laurie Clark
2/7/2020 03:30:16 pm

Hi Kat,
It is so great that you are going to explore this amazing part of the world. My recommendation is that you volunteer in a way that interests you and open yourself up to the learning that way. I'm sure that you are connected with various NGOs that will welcome you and your skills. Listen, watch, do ...be involved with people and the villages. Your blog is Deliberate Happiness so what is happiness to them? What does it look like? sound like? feel like? What does it mean to them? What are some challenges to it? How do they respond to those challenges? Be part of what is happening not on the outside looking in.
I think, that if you do this, one of your research topics will unfold in its own way.
You have listed quite a few topics but I would suggest that you really delve into one or two to start with so that you aren't so scattered in your approach or time with people. It will take time to learn and understand the social/political landscape that affects the people you are with. Take the time.
Africa is a vast and diverse continent. Read as much as you can about the area(s) you are visiting before you go. It will be a life changing experience.
Laurie

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Katherine
2/14/2020 04:21:28 am

Thanks, Laurie! Great advice!

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    I'm an effective altruist who co-founded Nonlinear, Charity Entrepreneurship, and Charity Science Health

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