Chapter 1

The Research Project

1.1 Overall Research Objectives

The guiding principle of the Inishowen Women's Information Network (IWIN) is the promotion of links between individual women and women's groups through information sharing, support and mutual development.  Members of this group are more than familiar with the concerns of women like themselves locally and with the disadvantages associated with living in the Inishowen area, both urban and rural.  Nonetheless, they are keenly aware of the necessity to back up their knowledge with research if their aspirations are to be taken seriously and their work is to receive the level of funding required to address these concerns.  To this end, a number of objectives were identified to guide and inform the research project - these are listed as follows:

o To identify any barriers experienced by women who want to take part more fully in the social and economic life of the community in Inishowen.
o To highlight women's experiences of rural isolation and identify how this might impact on their involvement in the community.
o To show how poverty is a barrier for women in accessing adequate childcare, education, training, services and information.
o To raise awareness by distributing the findings to the widest possible audience.
o To use the findings as a means and a justification for obtaining future funding for IWIN and its activities.
o To lobby at local and national level to bring about change, as identified from the proposed research

1.2 Methodology

From the outset, the members of IWIN had a clear picture of the type, nature and process of the research that they wished to undertake; this involved the use of a feminist, collaborative and participative approach, with the minimum (or total elimination!) of jargon.  Like Cathleen O Neill in her research in Kilbarrick (O'Neill, 2000), naming their own world was of paramount importance to them.  A quote obtained from one of the initial focus groups facilitated by the group, where one woman remarked, "You are as poor as you feel" was deemed to be particularly appropriate to the current research. 

In addressing measures of poverty and social exclusion in Britain, the preferred emphasis related to deprivation from goods, services and activities, in order to go 'beyond the sterile arguments' surrounding 'absolute or relative poverty' (Gordon, Adelman, Ashworth, Bradshaw, Levitas, Middleton, Pantazis, Patsios, Payne, Townsend & Williams, 2000).  In one of its most recent publications, "Combating Poverty in a Changing Ireland" (Combat Poverty Agency CPA, 2002) the CPA has made a commitment to 'Investigate and highlight people's experience of poverty', a subjective approach which this research has taken throughout. 

Consequently, any survey or questionnaire to be designed had to take an 'inside out' approach, where the research group is 'expert in its own right' (National Women's Council of Ireland, 2000a, p.11) and where women's experiences would emerge as the driving force for change.  This contrasts with the 'outside in' approach taken by 'experts', who retain control of both definition and direction.  It was equally important that the methodology employed would be inextricably linked to subsequent change for the group and for the research participants. A suggestion to introduce a longitudinal element to the research (where the same respondents could be revisited, their agreement permitting, in order to evaluate progress over time) was enthusiastically adopted.

Balancing the aims of the group in making the finished report understandable and accessible with the requirements of the research to measure the extent of poverty and isolation proved to be a challenge, although very worthwhile.  From the beginning, the research analyst agreed with the group that ownership of the research belonged with IWIN, and that anything to be produced or circulated must firstly be approved by the committee. The most satisfactory way of ensuring collaboration and participation was to provide IWIN with as much information as possible about poverty research and then to facilitate them in designing their own questionnaire.  This necessitated a number of meetings, which took place over several weeks, and resulted in broad agreement across the board for all research design issues and decisions.