The last decade has seen a rise in big data approaches, including in the humanities, whereby large quantities of data are collected and analysed. In this paper, we discuss long-form audio recordings that result from individuals wearing a recording device for many hours. Linguists, psychologists and anthropologists can use them, for example, to…

United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. SDG 4 includes 10 targets, of which Target 4.b aims to expand higher education scholarships for developing countries. Target 4.b leverages the benefits of international education to…

Are social science, cross-border research projects, where recruitment and data collection are carried out remotely (e.g. through social media and online platforms), required to follow similar ethical and data-sharing procedures as 'on-the-ground' studies that use traditional means of recruitment and participant engagement? This article reflects on…

Bridge International Academies, the largest network of elementary schools in the developing world operates both low-cost private schools, and public-private partnership schools. More than 800,000 students are enrolled in 2,026 schools in five countries. Bridge tries lots of different ideas and initiatives, many of which are backed up by research…

One major challenge researchers have faced during the disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is how to adapt to the global virus and, at the same time, make good progress in their research pursuits. Also, many international researchers have suspended ongoing research in developing countries due to inadequate online facilities in these…

One challenge of collecting socioeconomic data, such as data on time-use, is recall biases. While time-use researchers have continuously developed new methods to make data collection more accurate and easy, these methods are difficult to use in developing countries, where study participants may have low literacy levels and no clock-based concepts…

This paper illustrates similarities and differences between two international surveys that assess adults' skills: the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the Skills Towards Employment and Productivity (STEP) survey. In particular, the paper highlights the issues that can arise for researchers interested to…

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is gaining ground in evaluation circles, but the number of applications is still limited. In this article, we consider the challenges that can emerge during a QCA evaluation by drawing on our experience of conducting one in the field of development cooperation. For each stage of the evaluation process, we…

With the goal of informing progress towards Sustainable Development Goal target 4.b which focuses on the provision of global scholarships for students from the developing world, this article analyses the current state of global data on scholarships available at the tertiary level for individuals from developing countries. In addition to assessing…

Bias may be introduced in survey data collection when participants answer questions differently depending on interviewer gender. This could affect the validity of collected data, especially sensitive data. Using sexual behavior data collected in a 2017-2018 cross-sectional survey of Haitian women (n = 304), we evaluated the associations between…

The mail survey is a popular data collection tool in developed countries, but little is known about its use and efficacy in developing countries. Grounded on social exchange and diffusion of innovations theories, this study sought to ascertain whether the mail survey works in Nepal -- one of the developing countries, by looking at how long…

While violence against children (VAC) has been a long-established global concern, more recently attention has been drawn to how violence occurs in and around schools (VACS) and the role of education in preventing and responding to violence. Whilst awareness about VACS is growing, more robust data are needed to inform policy and practice. Concerns…

This paper aims to reflect upon ethical dilemmas arising from educational research in humanitarian contexts, particularly when involving children. In recognition of the paucity of knowledge on how to define ethics in humanitarian research, we review the existing body of literature that explores ethical responsibilities towards children involved in…

Contribution: This study contributes to scientific literature by detailing the impact of specific factors on the privacy concerns of citizens living in an African city. Findings: The findings reveal that the more that impersonal data is collected by the Smart City of Cape Town, the lower the privacy concerns of the digital natives. The findings…

Background: UK government policy views collaboration with outstanding schools as a way of helping apparently less successful schools to close the attainment gap. However, there has been little debate about criteria for defining a school's success or failure. Moreover it is unclear which aspects of outstanding schools could readily transfer to…