Processes and Challenges Associated with Conducting Survey Research in Conflict Zones

A wide variety of organizations domestically and internationally conduct surveys in conflict zones. Their timely findings are essential for policy makers. Survey research in conflict zones is an essential tool for policy makers in government, humanitarian, private sector, and non-governmental organizations to develop and evaluate programs, services, and policies. Such research is often even more challenging in less developed areas of the world due to issues related to access, technology, and staffing. Other challenges include population movements, lack of societal data structures such as a recent census, communication systems such as telephones, as well as issues related to sampling, design, and the omnipresent issue of security for the researchers and respondents. Often, researchers must make trade-offs regarding internal and external validity which are tempered by issues related to cost, speed, and accuracy. Policy makers need to feel comfortable in the reliability and the generalizability of the findings they receive or develop. The data collected in conflict zones must strive to use appropriate techniques to quantify the data and evaluate the results. Furthermore, flexibility and adaptability are important concepts to consider when conducting research in conflict zones.