METHODS AND MINDSETS - TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE TYRANNY OF METHODOLOGY

This article attempts to examine familiar things through a different c omparative focus. The results given here are preliminary and intended for comment and further development. The article takes as its basis th e tradition which has arisen from the export of methods to developing countries in all manner of scientific and technical development projec ts. In the area of global development the traditions of technology tra nsfer and development intervention by donor agencies and their related consultancy groups is well documented. Not so well covered in the lit erature is the related issue pertaining to the export of the methods w hich accompany and, to some extent, confer respectability upon all man ner of technology, intervention and work towards nation building. The article is concerned with what might be called the 'tyranny of methods ', which, it is argued, are applied often uncritically in development work. The mindsets which are invoked by traditional western scientific methods are reviewed using a psychological model. Following from this , the article investigates two areas of existing experience in the ado ption of methods and then goes on to develop a critical perspective of one particular form of information systems development method, drawin g on the experiences related. The article briefly investigates traditi onal, linear methods and makes links to the experiences of farming sys tems research and rapid rural appraisal. Although no definitive conclu sions are made, observations relating to an action plan are provided. The core of this relates to self-analysis and points to be conscious o f in the export of any method.