Case Study Reflection

This week, I read a case study for class about a research project that tests whether polycultures (growing different vegetables together) are more productive than monocultures. Because at first I saw no obvious ethical issues, I was surprised by the number of ethical concerns after reflecting on the issue.

One of the main concerns is: Who gets to decide what to research? Should the lead ecologist have the authority? Or should the participating farmers have more of a voice because they are collecting the data and work directly with the plants? In addition, this raises the issue of how funding can lead the direction of the research. 4 seed companies provided free seed for the trial–therefore, those seeds were used in the research and influenced the research content.

Another main challenge is: What can we ask the participants to do that is not too demanding but yields results that are meaningful to the participants and to science? Is it ethical to discriminate against people who do not have a proper education level by assuming they wouldn’t be able to follow project instructions? How much science do we ask them to do?

One of the main problems with the project is that there were only 24 farmers spread across the entire UK–subjected to different weather conditions and variations. Therefore, there are confounding variables that can affect the reliability of the project’s results. In addition, ownership was not implicitly stated, which could have become an issue if novel findings were made.

After reading this study, I realized that communication is key for research to be successful. It ensures everyone on the research team is on the same page, how people will be compensated for the project, how the balance of power between those who drive the project is fair, and allows results to be accurate and reliable.

I plan to improve upon my communication skills and not be afraid to ask questions during my time in India.