I just heard from one of my former students who is working in Juba, South Sudan, who wrote: “I am trying to explain the ‘snowball’ technique of sampling, which is a nightmare for Africans who have no clue what a snowball is.
So I described the process of rolling a snowball and how it gets bigger and bigger, and ask them if there is anything with which they are familiar that when rolled grows larger and larger. In that way we could give the ‘snowball’ technique of sampling an African name.
After a long silence, one of the trainees in the back pipes up: “That’s how we roll cow dung.”
So, the snowball technique is now the ‘cow dung rolling’ technique.”
Thought you may like to share with colleagues at the ISA, particularly Michael Burawoy.
Regards, Ray Jureidini
Center for Migration sand Refugee Studies, American University of Cairo
There is cerrtain element of truth when viewed from epistomological point of view, especially the knowledge, its origin. The latter implies cultural connotations based on people’s experience which give rise to certain formulations. Therefore, like the Sudanese experience there may also be other places where the snowball gets bigger and bigger once rolled down.
It became a fearsome matter in my view, however , looking at a expert technique you processed that forced me to leap with joy.
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