If you’re working within the humanitarian system, the following responses to questions frequently asked of social scientists during emergencies can be helpful to foster an understanding and appreciation of the rationale for social scientists’ work:
Question: “I have been working in humanitarian response/in this sector/in this country for over [X] years. How long have you been working in this space?”
Answer: Emergency actors must continuously update their understanding of how people in crisis contexts perceive threats, their trust (or lack of trust) in aid institutions, and their physical, financial and social capacity to respond. For example, Ebola was thought to only affect rural locations and a few hundred people at a time – until it spread to urban West Africa and beyond, impacting thousands. COVID-19 didn’t exist five years ago, and now we face a post-pandemic crisis with millions of people newly hesitant about vaccines and mistrusting of public health systems.
Social science insights remind us that diseases, people and emergencies change.
A ‘business as usual’ approach is not viable given the diversity of locations and populations experiencing crises today. Locally-led actions must be contextual and data collection must be iterative to capture these dynamics. We need to remain attentive to these changes to be better prepared for and respond to emerging challenges.
Q. “People here need food, they need shelter, they need medical care. We are working to provide them with that. What more information do I need to know?”
A. Do they also understand what your role is? Do they trust you? Do affected communities have existing structures and support systems for crises like this, especially if similar events have happened before when you were not there? Is your intervention having its intended impact? Are there any unintended consequences?
Response operations must address all these questions to co-create local solutions with impact instead of establishing unsustainable parallel systems that may be misunderstood, not trusted and unused.
As stated by a 2022 The State of the Humanitarian System report, “it is still not routine practice in evaluation to directly and systematically ask recipients whether the aid they received was relevant and appropriate,” and criteria are “increasingly misaligned” with the field realities facing practitioners today. Addressing this criticism requires embedding humanitarian assessments within the cultural, contextual realities of affected populations.
Advice for emerging social scientists
There is a great wealth of knowledge that people who have many years of emergency response experiences bring. However with experience can also come complacency if accompanied by thinking that they have all the answers. When individuals think they know what needs to happen without regard for context or local resilience mechanisms, the perspectives and knowledge of affected people are not prioritised. It fails to lead to fair relationships and collaborative partnerships. In addition, it fails to promote community-based approaches.
Identify and respond to these concerns and misperceptions head-on by emphasising to humanitarian actors the right of affected populations to have a say in programming meant to improve their health and wellbeing.
Responses such as those above can help you to:
- Highlight the unique insights that social science evidence gives about the needs and concerns of affected communities.
- Advocate for the inclusion of social scientists in emergency planning, ideally before a crisis begins.
- Challenge the myth that social science research is too slow or that it is not representative in an emergency setting.
Dr Ginger A. Johnson is a medical anthropologist with over 15 years of experience working within the UN system and with international humanitarian organisations. She co-founded the Rapid Research Evaluation and Appraisal Lab, co-developed the Collective Service’s Social Science for Emergency Preparedness and Response training package, and has recently co-facilitated Rapid Qualitative Assessment courses conducted on behalf of UN/INGOs in the East and Southern Africa for the Collective Service and SSHAP. You can listen to her recent podcast focusing on unpacking qualitative research in emergency response recorded by the Qualitative Applied Health Research Centre at King’s College London.
- Do you have any additional tips to share based on your work and experience? Do you need support in undertaking rapid social science in emergencies? If so, please reach out to Annie Lowden (a.lowden[@]ids.ac.uk) or Juliet Bedford (julietbedford[@]anthrologica.com).
Acknowledgements: With great thanks to Rachel James, Juliet Bedford, Helen Smith and Annie Wilkinson for their review and feedback on earlier drafts. Editorial support provided by Georgina Roche and Naomi Marks.
