Methods and mindsets: Towards an understanding of the tyranny of methodology
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230140401 |
| Author | Simon Bell |
| Published date | 02 November 2006 |
| Date | 02 November 2006 |
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 14,323-338 (1994)
Methods and mindsets: towards an understanding
of
the
tyranny
of
methodology
SIMON
BELL
School
of
Development Studies, University
of
East Anglia
SUMMARY
This article attempts to examine familiar things through a different comparative focus. The
results given here are preliminary and intended for comment and further development. The
article takes as its basis the tradition which has arisen from the export of methods to developing
countries in all manner of scientific and technical development projects. In the area of global
development the traditions of technology transfer and development intervention by donor
agencies and their related consultancy groups is well documented. Not
so
well covered in
the literature is the related issue pertaining to the export
of
the methods which accompany
and, to some extent, confer respectability upon all manner of technology, intervention and
work towards nation building. The article is concerned with what might be called the ‘tyranny
of
methods’, which, it is argued, are applied often uncritically in development work. The
mindsets which are invoked by traditional western scientific methods are reviewed using a
psychological model. Following from this, the article investigates two areas of existing exper-
ience in the adoption of methods and then goes on
to
develop a critical perspective of one
particular form of information systems development method, drawing on the experiences
related. The article briefly investigates traditional, linear methods and makes links to the
experiences of farming systems research and rapid rural appraisal. Although no definitive
conclusions are made, observations relating to an action plan are provided. The core of this
relates to self-analysis and points to be conscious of in the export of any method.
INTRODUCTION
It needs to be made clear at the outset that this is an exploratory article arising
from a close personal review of the experience of information systems development
in the
UK
and in countries in both Africa and Asia. The manner in which this
point has been reached will be discussed first. Following from this, some
of
the
salient features of technology transfer and methodology transfer will
be
developed.
Finally, the subject
of
dominant modes of thinking will be introduced.
An important point to make at the outset is that the article bases the comparison
on a small number of selected cases and
authors.
Although it can be dangerous
to choose a minimum set of papers as examples of genres or movements, the intention
here is to draw stark comparison and to further develop debate upon the issue
of methodology in technology transfer.
This article is critically interested in the exportability of methods to developing
countries. The background
to
the issue of this export is no doubt related to the
Dr Simon Bell is Computing Adviser at the School
of
Development Studies, University
of
East Anglia,
Norwich NR4 7TJ.
CCC
027
I-20751941040323-1
6
0
1994
by John Wiley
&
Sons, Ltd.
324
S.
Bell
evidence suggested by authors such as Checkland (1981) and Bell and Wood-Harper
(1992) that some methodologies can be severely restricting and limiting when applied
in contexts for which they were not originally intended. Context and who defines
it would seem to be of particular importance when discussing the introduction of
any technology from industrialized countries to the developing countries.
This article constitutes a preliminary attempt to bring into the discussion of techno-
logy transfer and methodology transfer a model derived from developmental psy-
chology. It is focused specifically upon the dominant cultural mindset of what can
be called a ‘western scientific tradition’. The article explores the principles behind
this tradition and draws out the major features. Following from this the experience
of agricultural research and rural development planning in the developing countries
are reviewed and compared against the model. The next section develops this theme
in the experience of information systems (IS) methodology development. Finally,
implications of the experience of the imposition of the western scientific tradition
are drawn out and a prototype model for unitive/holistic thinking
is
set out.
The nature
of
technology transfer
It is not the purpose of this article to
go
into great depth on the history and political
economy
of
technology transfer (TT). Rather, the interest in this section is in discuss-
ing some of the major features of this phenomenon as it affects information technology
and therefore information systems.
TT
has been discussed in depth elsewhere (see
for example Stewart, 1977, 1990; Jenkins, 1987; Enos and Park, 1988; Cyranek,
1992). In
terms
of information technology, we are used to hearing about ‘solutions’
and technical ‘fixes‘. Experience indicates that the path of
TT
is far from trouble
free. At this point I want to draw out some of the major issues which arise in
TT as related to information technology.
Cyranek (1992), drawing on the
work
of Odedra (1992), sets out reasons for failure
following TT and causes of this situation. Table
1
is drawn from his
work
and
provides an overview of these issues.
Table
1.
Issue
Observations on the issues
Issues
in technology transfer
Feasibility
Automation
Consultants
Training
Know-how
Software
The discovery that projects are not feasible once embarked upon
Context would indicate that the area under automation is not amenable
These are usually Westerners and are unsympathetic or ignorant
of
local
Local staff are not able
to
deal with the technology being brought in
Sufficient only
to
run the system but not to develop it (e.g. issues relating
Not available in the country
to
such a procedure
context issues
to maintenance and extension
of
functions)
The core issue, which is returned to in one way or another many times in the
Cyranek article, is that of context and, crucially, the meaningfiul understunding
of
the requirements
of
context in which technology is beingpluced. This will be the main
issue which is developed further in the next section.
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