Start with a Key Informant Posted on February 14, 2006 Oscar A. Barbarin (bio) advocates forming personal contacts when looking for research opportunities.

The first step is always personal contacts, so you start with who you know, and so being at a university, we had African scholars. We had people who had done work in Africa, central to their academic careers; I spoke to them about my interest. They gave me the names of people. Whenever anyone would come from South Africa, I would be sure to get on their calendar and talk with them. So I talked with them about the practical things, about what's it like when you get there, how do you get money, how do you find lodging, where can you stay, what's safe what's not?

So talking, getting experience of the country itself through people who are visiting. So being at a university is a remarkable resource because of all of the people coming through, as well as people who have already visited. So you always start with someone who knows, a key informant.

And it's all about building relationships, getting to know people, getting a feel for them, getting to know what their values and interests are. And in developing a 2-way relationship. That, too often people think about what can I get, that I'm going to set up a project but in a sense you have to constantly be concerned about what can they get out of this relationship, and in what way can it be helpful to them.

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