Indigenous Research Methodologies

Following the increasing emphasis in the classroom and in the field to sensitize researchers and students to diverse epistemologies, methods, and methodologies - especially those of women, minority groups, former colonized societies, indigenous people, historically oppressed communities, and people with disabilities, author Bagele Chilisa has written the first research methods textbook that situates research in a larger, historical, cultural, and global context with case studies from around the globe to make very visible the specific methodologies that are commensurate with the transformative paradigm of research and the historical and cultural traditions of indigenous peoples. Chapters cover the history of research methods, colonial epistemologies, research within postcolonial societies, relational epistemologies, emergent and indigenous methodologies, Afrocentric research, feminist research, language frameworks, interviewing, and building partnerships between researchers and the researched. The book comes replete with traditional textbook features such as key points, exercises, and suggested readings, which makes it ideally suited for graduate courses in research methods, especially in education, health, women′s studies, cultural studies, sociology, and related social sciences.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Situating Knowledge Systems Chapter 2. Discovery and Recovery: Reading and Conducting Research Responsibly Chapter 3. Whose Reality Counts? Research Methods in Question Chapter 4. Postcolonial Indigenous Research Paradigms Chapter 5. Theorizing on Social Science Research Methods: Indigenous Perspectives Chapter 6. Culturally Responsive Indigenous Research Methodologies Chapter 7. Decolonizing the Interview Method Chapter 8. Participatory Research Methods Chapter 9. Postcolonial Indigenous Feminist Research Methodologies Chapter 10. Building Partnerships and Integrating Knowledge Systems

About the Author :
Bagele Chilisa holds a Masters of Arts degree in Research Methodology. The degree covers Research Design, Statistics and Measurement from the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her PhD in Policy, Planning and Evaluation, also from the University of Pittsburgh. She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Botswana. In the past 16 years years, she has taught the following courses to graduate and undergraduate students: Research Methods; Educational Evaluation; Constructing Questionnaires and Conducting Surveys; Project Design and Evaluation; Policy Planning and Evaluation.  She is one of the founding members of the Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia Research Association and served as President of the Botswana Educational Research Association from 2000 to 2002. She is also editor of the Botswana Educational Research Journal, board member of the University of Botswana Centre for Scientific Research and Indigenous Knowledge and Innovations and the University of Botswana Research Ethics Committee.

Review :
“Bagele Chilisa brings voice to a community of researchers who have much to offer in terms of their rich cultural heritages and expertise in research methodology. She provides an integration of theory and method that has applicability in many contexts. I would recommend this book to anyone who is working in indigenous communities in health, education, international development, or social sciences.” "This book is beautifully written and expertly argued. Bravo!" "Your book encapsulates many things that I have been struggling to frame and teach (ie. how to give more than token acknlowledgement to other ways of knowing). I have already recommended it to my colleagues and phD students. I hope to use it as the set text for a new subject."