Current Projects Involving SDRI Research Fellows

SDRI Research Fellows are working with a range of funders and partner organisations in research projects that cross regional and disciplinary boundaries. The common themes that unite our research projects are rigorous social science standards and a commitment to policy-relevant research that makes a difference for the lives and well-being of poor people in developing countries. Here are some of the current projects involving SDRI Research Fellows.

Theological resources, ethnic boundaries, and civil society: A case study of Charismatic Churches in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The principal aim of this project, led by Graham Brown, is to investigate the ways in which religion broadly conceived of - including religious institutions, religious experiences, and networks - can contribute towards civil society engagement or exclusion in multiethnic societies through a case study of Charismatic and Pentecostal churches in the Malaysian city of Kuala Lumpur. Combining novel qualitative methods with a quantitative survey and in-depth interviews, the research will examine on both individual and institutional levels how experiences of Pentecostalism inform and influence notions of ‘good citizenship’ in a multiethnic and multireligious society and how this impacts upon attitudes towards and interactions with individuals of other ethnic and religious backgrounds.

The research is supported by a $98,000 grant from the Templeton Foundation and the University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture. As the project progresses, quantitative and qualitative datasets will be made available via the SDRI website

Jiboner Itihash - Life Histories from Rural Bangladesh

In 2007 SDRI coodinator Peter Davis led a team of researchers from DATA in conducting 293 life history interviews in eight districts of Bangladesh. The households selected were a subsample of a CPRC-IFPRI-DATA longitudinal study of poverty dynamics in rural Bangladesh which covered a total of over 2000 households from 14 districts and has been running since 1994. With assistance from Louisa Frears, Peter is preparing (rewriting, anonymising and redrawing diagrams for publication) a set of life histories so that they can be used by other researchers.

Read the life histories

The SDRI Pragmatism Papers

The SDRI Pragmatism Papers is a collaborative venture into the philosophical foundations of development research, led by SDRI research fellows Peter Davis and Graham Brown. The rise in popularity of mixed-methods research in development studies provides an opportunity for theorists and researchers to rethink the methodological assumptions which undergird their research. In this project, we draw from the Pragmatic tradition in philosophy to critically discuss development research methodology. On this page, we are posting a series of 'think piece' papers for discussion.

Read the papers

Chronic Poverty in Bangladesh

  • Principal Investigator: Peter Davis
  • Collaborating Partners: CPRC, IFPRI, and DATA Bangladesh
  • Funder: CPRC
  • Project Duration: 2009-2010
  • Budget: £38,500
  • Country: Bangladesh

This project builds on Peter Davis' previous work with the CPRC and IFPRI. It is investigating a number of cross-cutting issues arising from this research, including: vulnerability and social protection, graduation from poverty, the importance of assets, inter-generational transfers, and social exclusion and adverse incorporation.

What Development Interventions Work? The Long-Term Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Anti-Poverty Interventions in Bangladesh

  • SDRI Partner: Bob Baulch and Peter Davis
  • Grant Holder: Agnes Quisumbing, IFPRI
  • Collaborating Partners: CPRC, IFPRI, and DATA Bangladesh
  • Funder: ESRC/DFID
  • Project Duration: 2008-2009
  • Budget: £247,000
  • Country: Bangladesh

This research project is using a new longitudinal data set spanning 12 years and more than 1800 households to investigate the long-term impact of three anti-poverty interventions—microfinance, agricultural technology, and educational transfers—on several measures of well-being and compare their cost-effectiveness.

Trade and Horizontal Inequalities

  • SDRI Partner: Graham Brown
  • Grant Holder: Frances Stewart, University of Oxford
  • Host Institution: Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security, and Ethnicity, University of Oxford
  • Funder: Ford Foundation
  • Project Duration: 2008-2010
  • Budget: $100,000

This research project is researching the impact of trade and trade policies on ethnic inequalities in developing countries through a combination of case studies and econometric analysis.

Discourses of Affirmative Action: A Comparative Study of India and Malaysia

  • SDRI Partner: Graham Brown
  • Grant Holder: Rochana Bajpai, SOAS
  • Host Institution: SOAS
  • Funder: British Academy
  • Project Duration: 2008-2009
  • Budget: £5,400
  • Countries: India and Malaysia

This research project is investigating the ways in which affirmative action policies for socio-economically disadvantaged groups are justified and legitimised in developing countries. The project aims to understand the ways in which the political construction of policy norms can have concrete impacts upon their long-term viability in the political arena.

UNDP Human Development Training Course

  • SDRI Partner: Séverine Deneulin
  • Host Institution: University of Oxford
  • Client: United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report Office
  • Duration: Since September 2006

Completed Projects Involving SDRI Research Fellows

Chronic Poverty and the Impact of Long-term Anti-Poverty Interventions in Rural Bangladesh

  • Principal Investigator: Peter Davis
  • Collaborating Partners: CPRC, IFPRI, and the University of Bath
  • Funder: DFID, via CPRC
  • Project Duration: 2008-2009
  • Budget: £8,800
  • Country: Bangladesh

Understanding Chronic Poverty

  • Principal Investigator: Peter Davis
  • Collaborating Partners: CPRC, IFPRI, and the University of Bath
  • Funder: DFID, via CPRC
  • Project Duration: 2007-2009
  • Budget: £53,918
  • Country: Bangladesh

Gender and Collective Action in Bangladesh

  • Principal Investigator: Peter Davis
  • Collaborating Partners: IFPRI, CGIAR Systemwide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRI), DATA Bangladesh
  • Funder: IFPRI
  • Project Duration: 2007-2008
  • Budget: US$ 18,563
  • Country: Bangladesh

Background Paper for World Bank Bangladesh Poverty Assessment

  • Principal Investigator: Peter Davis
  • Collaborating Partners: IFPRI, DATA Bangladesh
  • Funder: World Bank, via IFPRI
  • Project Duration: 2006
  • Budget: US$ 11,175
  • Country: Bangladesh

Human Rights and the PRSPs Process: The Conflict-Inequality Nexus

  • Principal Investigator: Graham Brown
  • Collaborating Partners: CRISE University of Oxford, OHCHR
  • Funder: UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights
  • Project Duration: 2007
  • Country: Nepal

Peace and Development Analysis in Indonesia

  • SDRI Partner: Graham Brown
  • Host Institution: UNDP Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Recovery
  • Funder: UNDP Indonesia
  • Project Duration: 2004-2005
  • Country: Indonesia

 

 

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