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The chapter describes the procedure known as Agroecosystem Analysis. This rests on the assumption that analysis, understanding and approaches to improvement of an agroecosystem are best gained from strategic knowledge of that system, as opposed to an attempt to create a complete model. The analysis is based on a week-long workshop aimed at sythesising the approaches of people from different disciplines and attaining useful data from case-study sites. The object of such a workshop is to create key questions concerning an agroecosystem and to stimulate research into answers to those questions.

This paper will be of interest to agriculturalists, researchers and fieldworkers, and those working at the community and project level. It notes several misconceptions which limit researchers in their investigation of local knowledge concerning crop health. Farmers have many ways to assess and influence the health of a crop without explaining it in terms of a disease. It may often be useful to carry out a parallel study of the analytical principles in understanding personal health within the community, as this will shed light on health in the plant world. Explanations also need to be considered in association with different socio-political contexts. The paper warns against the use of formal methodologies and data collection tools, as they are seen as being inappropriate in the context of learning how farmers understand crop health. It is also seen as important to look as much at variations in the production system as it is at the norm. Indeed, the paper warns against any notion of the norm. Finally, it is also suggested that researchers be careful to avoid choosing informants who have a high profile in terms of their perceived farming skills.

The paper deals with the subject of participatory modelling. It asks how such a process can portray a picture of a community that does not merely reflect the view of the dominant group. The paper reports on efforts to compensate for the effects of an often dominant group - men. While on a training course in northern Omo, Ethiopia, a group of women and children were asked to make their own model on the ground adjacent to the men. The issue of water availability, a subject not brought up the men, appeared to be key. As result, the paper concludes by highlighting the need for participation to encompass all groupings within a community.

It draws on the experience of the author with regard to socio-economic surveys carried out in Kenya and elsewhere in East Africa. It considers problems in sampling, farmers' responses, the interview situation, survey staff, and various problems with regard to recording accuracy and data processing. The paper concludes by noting 20 key aspects that should be taken into account when designing surveys. These include: (1) careful selection and training of staff; (2) the importance of learning the farming systems in advance; (3) where possible to choose farmers for whom the key parameters are known from other sources; (4) utilize at least one full time supervisor resident in the survey area with independent transport; and (5) allow two thirds of the total period for activities other than the field survey, ie. data processing.

The first RRA was carried out in Australia in 1988 with the aim of "forging closer links between researchers and farmers, utilising farmers' expertise and determining possibilities for future agronomic research in the area". It was also hoped to evaluate RRA as a "problem identification method in a developed country context". The RRA was carried out in two phases (exploratory and topical) with two teams of researchers from agricultural and social science backgrounds. The six most frequent problems, identified by producers and research team separately, are listed and a summary of the "action strategies" that were decided upon. Advantages of RRA over conventional survey methodologies included raising the profile of the School of Crop Sciences (who initiated the RRA exercise) in the Shire. The findings also supported the original assumption that "many of the problems that have been evident in developing countries are also evident in developed countries".

The Highlander Center, a non-profit adult education centre in Tennessee, is working in three rural communities where unemployment has been growing. Their role is "not to create jobs or development, but to help the community undertake a process of education and participatory research through which they could assess their own situation, define and implement strategies for themselves". This article describes briefly the methods used, such as oral histories, community mapping and drawings, videos and community theatre.