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Camilla Heldt: I’m speaking today with anthropologist Maren Jordan. Nice to have you here! Tell us again, where did you conduct your doctoral research and what was your topic?

Maren Jordan: Thank you for having me. The topic of my research was the demographic change in Oman. As part of my doctoral project, I conducted a year of fieldwork between 2016 and 2017 in northern Oman. The goal was to investigate the fertility decline since the 1980s through an ethnodemographic case study. I aimed to find out why this decline occurred and what consequences it has had. I also explored how sociocultural norms, values, and practices surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, and family planning have changed.

Camilla Heldt: That sounds really fascinating! How did you approach this topic methodologically?

Maren Jordan: I used many different methods, following a so-called “mixed methods” approach. This included both classical ethnographic methods – such as qualitative interviews, participant observation, and group discussions – and quantitative methods. These diverse methods required very different recording strategies, including handwritten and digital notes as well as audio recordings. An important aspect of my research design was that the qualitative recordings and notes formed the basis for the standardized questionnaires I conducted at the end of my fieldwork.

Specifically, I created three different questionnaires: a classic demographic household survey, a questionnaire for collecting women’s birth histories across various age groups, and a questionnaire for university students.

Camilla Heldt: Oh yes, and you already told me that developing these questionnaires took several months while you were already in the field in Oman. Why was this such a time-consuming process?

Maren Jordan: Yes, exactly. There are several reasons for this: First, the field itself. We’re talking about a religiously conservative small town in rural Oman. Then, the research topic is very sensitive. Building trust was necessary to ask questions about marriage, contraception, and birth histories. Second, qualitative fieldwork was required to determine the right questions to ask and what was locally significant. I also had to learn the correct local Arabic terms. All of this takes time.

But this is also the value of ethnographic research. Unlike demographers who often work with pre-designed surveys that don’t include locally adapted questions, ethnographic research first identifies which categories are relevant. Asking the wrong questions generates inaccurate answers.

Camilla Heldt: I find that extremely interesting and also very understandable that designing the questionnaires took so much time. But once the questionnaires were ready, you printed them out and distributed them in paper form to participants for completion or used them during conversations. Why did you choose this fixed paper format?

Maren Jordan: Mainly for a practical reason: I didn’t have an iPad or digital data collection tools available. But I also saw many advantages in the paper format. Especially during interviews with women from older generations, the paper format created a sense of closeness. I wasn’t looking at a phone; I was writing on paper during the interview. I personally conducted all the interviews, and this approach was simply more respectful in that context. Another important aspect was that I could make notes in the margins, which would have been lost in a digital input form.

For the questionnaire survey with students, there was another consideration: I achieved a higher response rate. Data quality was a crucial criterion. I distributed the questionnaires in classrooms, but I was physically present in the room. I introduced myself in detail and could answer questions. This resulted in 470 completed questionnaires, which I then manually entered into SPSS, a statistical software, back in Germany after fieldwork ended.

And this is also a clear disadvantage of non-digital paper questionnaires: the considerable time required. On the other hand, you can make corrections retrospectively, and there’s an additional step of reflection.

All in all, I remain a fan of paper. It provides a tangible record: the field diaries, the binders filled with handwritten notes, sitting on the shelf. Even the paper still carries the scent of incense and bakhour from the field and the memories remain so tangible.

Camilla Heldt: That sounds really beautiful! Thank you for sharing insights into your research and illustrating the advantages and disadvantages of digital and analog recording strategies!

Maren Jordan: Thank you very much.

The researcher Maren Jordan utilized questionnaires in addition to qualitative methods during her research on marriage, reproduction, and family planning in Oman. She opted to use printed paper versions of the questionnaires during her interviews and distributed them in an analog format to students in seminar rooms. This approach not only allowed her to make relevant notes in the margins but also resulted in a high response rate for the distributed questionnaires. These were later transferred to Excel and analyzed using SPSS Statistics software.