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Guideline 4: FSR impact projects should define a new technology selected for
study in spatial and historical terms, and in its technical composition, social
evolution, and adaptation.
Selection of analytical techniques
Selection of analytical techniques, as in any project, will be guided by the number
and nature of hypotheses and associated objectives. The issues of adopter and
nonadopter arose several times. This required ingenuity by the individual research
teams to resolve the issue in the best way possible. Although open to some
challenge, each technique proved useful under particular circumstances. Techniques
for relating adoption, productivity, income, and household expenditures were more
conventional and posed no great problems.
Cash-flow analysis was used, and simple comparisons of a range of
characteristics of adopter and nonadopter groups provided useful information. In
several instances, choice of techniques was limited by sample size, which varied
considerably between studies.
Given the exploratory and pioneering nature of these studies and the lack of
an accepted FSR impact study methodology, no general guidelines have emerged
for analytical techniques. The diversity of techniques actually applied in different
circumstances shows the flexibility needed at this stage. The greatest versatility and
sophistication was shown in the Sri Lankan study, which attempted the most
comprehensive analysis. However, its results were restricted by small sample size
and by the civil unrest in the country, which limited data collection to only l yr. No
results, for example, were obtained on the relations between technology and welfare
attributes.
Key constmints. In this and any multilocation research project, there are
unanticipated random constraints that lower performance limits. The constraints are
diverse and numerous and defy classification. They include (not exhaustively):
o lack of baseline data on which to design surveys and comprehend the
socioeconomic and institutional setting of technological introduction
and adoption;
o unsatisfactory primary and secondary data, typically collected by
agencies unrelated to the project unit (i.e., exteiision officers who
aggregate data from the survey location);
o the usual problems of household income management;