Dissertation Research: Understanding How Farmers Make Decisions in the Lao PDR

博士生米歇尔·罗伯茨在罗伯特·温泽勒博士（内华达州大学，里诺）的指导下，将对影响发展中国家农民决策的因素进行研究。在许多国家，政府鼓励农民从以维持生计为重点的轮垦转向种植永久性经济作物。因此，一些农民决定采用新的农业做法，而另一些则没有。为了理解为什么只有一些农民采用新的做法，将研究农民的决策过程。研究将在老挝（老挝人民民主共和国）北方的农村进行。研究区域由三个民族组成;老挝，克穆和苗族。为了阐明农民的观点并全面了解决策环境，该研究将考虑1）按财富，地位，年龄和性别分层的群体内的社会因素; 2）群体之间对作物和技术的看法的差异和相似性;以及3）不同种族和利益相关者群体之间作物偏好，价值和看法的相似性和差异。研究方法将包括参与者观察，调查，半结构化访谈，滑动排序，排名，社会映射和照片语音。 这项研究很重要，因为它将阐明农业偏好，价值观和观念的文化层面，因为它们影响农业决策。通过了解当地农民的农业观点，变革的推动者可以调整创新的参数，以促进更高的采用率，提高农业生产力，并以其他方式使目标人群受益。该研究还将有助于认知决策理论，并更广泛地了解东南亚研究最少的地区之一的民族志知识。该奖项还支持社会科学家的教育。

Doctoral student Michelle Roberts, with the guidance of Dr. Robert Winzeler (University of Nevada, Reno, will undertake research on factors that affect farmer decision-making in developing countries. In many countries, governments are encouraging farmers to change from subsistence-focused shifting cultivation to permanent cash crops. As a result, some farmers are deciding to adopt new agricultural practices while others are not. To understand why only some farmers are adopting new practices, farmers' decision-making processes will be studied. The research will be carried out in farming villages in northern Laos (Lao PDR). The research area is composed of three ethnic groups; Lao Loum, Khmu, and Hmong. To elucidate farmer perspectives and gain a holistic understanding of decision-making environments, the study will consider 1) social factors within groups stratified by wealth, status, age, and gender; 2) differences and similarities between groups in perceptions of crops and technologies; and 3) similarities and differences of crop preference, value, and perceptions among various ethnic and stakeholder groups. Research methods will include participant observation, surveys, semi-structured interviews, slip-sorting, ranking, social-mapping, and photo-voice. This research is important because it will illuminate the cultural dimensions of agricultural preferences, values, and perceptions as they influence agricultural decision-making. By understanding local farmers' agricultural perspectives, agents of change can adjust the parameters of innovations to foster a higher adoption rate, increase agricultural productivity, and otherwise benefit target populations. The research also will contribute to cognitive decision-making theories and more broadly to ethnographic knowledge about one of the least studied regions in Southeast Asia. This award also supports the education of a social scientist.