Thanks for posting this Paul!

You summarized it well, but I will just add a few extra thoughts.

The motivation of making this movie was three-fold:

1. to briefly summarize the research project, though this really just provided the context for the bigger goal which was to:

2. underline the importance and difficulty of data collection. Though many of us know this from our experiences, I wanted to show- to donors, to policy makers, to research managers- how much work was required, and consequently, how much it costs. There is a growing movement for increased monitoring and evaluation (which is excellent) but which takes perhaps more time, energy and money than we sometimes realize.

3. finally, and most importantly, to create something that could be returned to the participants of the study, and to the employees who did the work. We screened the movie in a local community center in August and then distributed DVDs to those who could not attend. I wanted to ensure that there was some kind of feedback, as this is often lacking, or in an undigestible form (e.g. reports).

I could not see the embedded link, so here it is again:

P.S. I would also highly recommend the company that filmed and produced it: Scholars & Gentlemen, who are based in Durban, SA. I would be happy to provide a reference if you are interested (they work throughout South and southern Africa)

Liz

A new short documentary film, "Behind The Data: The People Who Make Research Happen" is available on the Sandec YouTube channel:


The film, written and narrated by Liz Tilley, highlights the work done in rural communities by the people who were instrumental in collecting and recording data for a sanitation-based research project. These are the people who though often away from the spotlight, provide the foundation of research projects by gathering and generating huge quantities of information. The film was meant as a way of thanking participants, employees and the communities for their work and support, and to show the fundamental value of each person’s role in achieving the ultimate research objectives.