Tips for Novice Researchers: Operational Difficulties Encountered in Underdeveloped Countries.

This paper provides a general overview of the type of problems encountered in the field of research so that individuals who are contemplating conducting research in an underdeveloped country for the first time are better prepared, and hence, better able to complete their research. The paper recounts a female researcher's personal experiences in conducting field research in education and the social sciences. The research, in Egypt, was undertaken during 1993-1994. The paper advises that the researcher should be familiar with the culture he or she is working in or risk jeopardizing the research itself. It notes that the particular difficulties experienced by the researcher operating in Cairo, Egypt, fall under the following categories: communication; utilities; transportation; pollution; hygiene; disease and sanitation; access to, process of, and secrecy of bureaucracy; personal and national security; informed consent and other ethical considerations; and problems encountered by a lone woman. The paper then discusses the difficulties encountered in each category. (BT)