Table 1 Theory versus practice: a chronologically ordered review of methods used for ethnoveterinary research in Mongolia.
Methods used | Theoretical approach | Practical reality | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
Experiential learning, in this case, participation in the Mongol Derby (1000 km self-supported endurance horse race) | Better understanding of the context in which local knowledge is practiced [6]. Establish rapport with local knowledge holders [14] | Strength-related endurance activities such as long-distance horse riding and wrestling are central to Mongolian society. Participating in an endurance race allowed the first author to earn the respect of local herders. Riding Mongolian horses and overnighting with herder families allowed for insight into the Mongolian pastoralist way of life | Highly beneficial: increased understanding of the Mongolian pastoralist context. As a female researcher, participating in a long-distance horse race, as opposed to in other male-dominated endurance activities such as wrestling, allowed the first author to gain and earn the respect of local herders. Further, it enabled the establishment of important relationships with knowledge holders, interpreters, and local guides |
Collaboration with local Mongolian university | Administrative benefits, including research visa and affiliation with local university. The use of the local Mongolian university herbarium was important for identification and storage of voucher specimens | Although more about administrative steps, this was a crucial part of the research process, and it is hoped will play a role in the distribution of findings in Mongolia | |
Ethical clearance and prior informed consent | Obtained from two universities; instrumental in explaining the intention and motivation behind the research | It proved invaluable to receive ethical clearance from a local institution as it increases research credibility and offers protection to both respondents and researchers | |
Employment of driver and interpreters | Local involvement in research team and research logistics [36] | Employing a local driver proved challenging due to unforeseen power and gender relations. The driver’s personal agenda influenced decisions around the selection of respondents and route. The driver became aggressive when questioned. Finding a good interpreter was difficult as they are in high demand and easily find other jobs. Interpreter bias became a problem in some interviews | The importance of a driver is often underrated, especially across a language barrier. Being from the local area does not automatically mean that research team members have the necessary skills, knowledge, and cultural sensitivities for research on indigenous knowledge [28]. Cultural sensitivity can also be misused |
Recording of interviews | Use of hand-held audio recorder during interviews [14], only if consent is given | Seventy percent (n = 35) of interviews were recorded after consent was given. In retrospect, the manner in which the interpreter explained the recording may sometimes have influenced respondents' reaction toward the recording | Transcription and translation of recordings gave valuable insight into interpreter bias. It is important to be extremely sensitive with recordings [39] |
Snowball sampling | A nonprobability sampling method, often used in field research, where interviewees are asked to suggest additional people for interviewing [40] | Mongolian pastoralists have an extensive social network, which was key to locating knowledge holders and establishing trust. Contacts from both the Mongol Derby and through the horse guide assisted with snowball sampling | Although this sampling method generally worked well, in one situation, suggestions from respondents were translated incorrectly by the interpreter due to the driver’s personal agenda (n = 1) |
Free listing | Free listing can provide insight into culturally important plants and ailment categories [14]. As free lists are not exhaustive [37], where possible, inventories from free listing were supplemented and crosschecked using a plant reference book [15] | Free listing seemed to allow respondents to become comfortable with the interview situation and encouraged a more balanced positionality of power between researcher and respondent, enabling the interviewee to become the teacher and the researcher to become the learner | Using position of mention and frequency of mention enabled the research team to become familiarized with locally important and useful plants. Free listing also allowed for the quantitative analysis of plant use and importance via species accumulation curves, use-value, informant consensus factor, and fidelity level [34] |
The use of photographs in the reference book Flowers of Mongolia [38] for ethnoveterinary medicinal plant inventories | Interviews held ex situ with plant photographs as a reference tool [15] | An adult (65+ years) literacy rate of 97.3% in Mongolia (2018) [41] substantiated the use of the reference book method. In general, herders reacted positively and with much interest to the book. However, four respondents mentioned having poor eyesight and chose not to use the reference book | This ethnobotanical data collection method can be used effectively in situations where respondents feel comfortable with seeing depictions of plants in a two-dimensional format, and where respondents do not have eyesight difficulties. Notably, there may be situations where hearing impairments also need to be taken into account |
Voucher specimens | Good quality herbarium specimens are crucial to ethnobotanical (and ethnoveterinary) studies [11, 13, 14]. Researchers should consider both conservation-related and local cultural concerns [13] | In general, voucher specimens were difficult to collect for all mentioned plant species owing to an ongoing drought at the time [42], herders being busy, the distance to medicinal plant locations, and cultural objections | Concerns were raised about the use of a GPS to record voucher specimen locations, perhaps due to fears around mining-related activities and bioprospecting |
Use of a compass, maps, and GPS for navigation | Used to determine geographical distance for planning routes and to record interview and voucher specimen locations | Not everyone uses the “western” approach to map reading and direction. Locally, time and distance measures were done taking horseback travel, local relief, and the availability of jeep tracks into consideration. Compass directions were also interpreted in different ways | Researchers need to be flexible in terms of when and how to get to a specific area, and should prepare for the possibility of cultural differences in map reading and navigation |
Interviews | Use of semi-structured interview with open- and closed-ended questions for the collection of ethnobotanical data [14] | Conducting good interviews in terms of scientific and social quality was sometimes challenging, especially when non-interview issues came up during the interview. Questions regarding herd size and demographic information made some respondents feel uncomfortable and were then omitted | Other researchers, for example Heffernan et al. [43], also recorded that certain questions were uncomfortable for respondents. Researchers should receive specific training in conducting interviews from experts and practitioners within the social sciences, such as anthropologists |
Travelling the local way (in this case on horseback) | Establish rapport with local knowledge holders and participant observation [11, 14]. Reduce imbalance in position of power [6] | Although travelling on horseback meant a decrease in the daily distance covered, it soon became clear that this was the more appropriate mode of transport. Respondents seemed to feel more at ease, with the common topic of horses establishing some connection and leading to naturally stimulated conversation around livestock care and valuable insight into life on the steppes | Travelling on horseback positively affected project success by enabling the research team to place ethnoveterinary knowledge in the context of the Mongolian herding way of life. In addition, being passionate about horses, travelling on horses-back, and being around horses had a positive influence on the primary researcher’s motivation levels during the project and added to her overall well-being |
Employment of local horse guide on research team | Understand the context of traditional ecological knowledge [6]. Local involvement in research team and research logistics [36]. Establish rapport with local knowledge holders [14] | The horse guide was a well-known and respected community member. He suggested which families to visit, and facilitated introductions of the research team and project. Additionally, he assisted with the collection of voucher specimens | The assistance of the horse guide with horse-care, logistics, and introductions to knowledge holders was invaluable during fieldwork |
Having a partner/good friend as field assistant | Researcher health and well-being is critical for the success of a research project [44, 45]. Importance of fitting in with social norms, i.e., having a husband | The assistance and presence of a partner during the often strenuous and lonely fieldwork proved crucial in terms of emotional and practical support. During fieldwork, the primary researcher introduced her partner (field assistant) as her husband, which prevented any untoward responses, increased her status in a patrilineal society, and reduced vulnerability associated with doing fieldwork as a foreigner | Researcher well-being and gender issues around vulnerability are important to consider before, during, and after fieldwork [33, 46] |
Use of observation schedules and a fieldwork journal | Suggested use of daily entries into a fieldwork journal and observation schedules for each interview as well as other noteworthy experiences [14] | Observation schedules allowed for the recording of finer, often crucial, details that are easily forgotten or overlooked in the full and demanding schedule of fieldwork. In addition, time spent on journaling offered an opportunity for debriefing, processing, and reflecting on fieldwork | Keeping a journal and recording observations proved invaluable during the later analysis of interviews to understand the context of the interview situation and fieldwork in general. However, it was sometimes challenging to add qualitative data to quantitative analyses of medicinal plant use in a meaningful and structured way |
Market surveys | Interviews were conducted with market sellers at two major markets following guideline described by Martin [14] and Cunningham [13] | Market sellers reacted with suspicion to questions relating to plant sales. A relationship was established with only one market seller | More time was needed to establish relationships with market sellers before conducting interviews. The ca. 60 years of being a Soviet satellite state could be a factor in mistrust and guardedness relating to interviews and being questioned |
Assistance from boundary organizations | Boundary organizations can be instrumental in bridging the gap between research and practice, especially if they have experience and are familiar with the local context [47, 48] | Staff from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (Biodiversity and Adaptation of Key Forest Ecosystems to Climate Change Programme) offered invaluable support with interpreters, sourcing horses, and fieldwork logistics | It is crucial to identify and receive assistance from supportive boundary organizations. This can take time and should be factored into research planning. More emphasis should be placed on learning from and working with these organizations |
General support | There is a need for new researchers to have support systems in place during the often-times stressful and lonely fieldwork, as well as post-fieldwork for debriefing and reflection [39, 44]. Researcher fatigue can result in inflexibility, impatience, and an inability to put aside personal bias, making fieldwork very challenging [20] | Academic and motivational support was provided by university supervisors during the course of the project and fieldwork. Professional psychological support was sought after fieldwork had been completed for post-traumatic stress and played a critical role in completing the research project and dissertation | Importance of psychological support during and after fieldwork to prevent researcher exhaustion and “burn-out” |