A look while still in progress

Posted on: March 13, 2014 | By: Tom Arcaro | Filed under: Aid Worker Voices book

As we pass 600 hits, what does our “sample” population look like so far? And why is “sample” in quotation marks?  As we mention in the FAQ, our target population -those who are now or have in the past worked in the aid/development industry- is not a homogeneous, database available-at-the-ready population.  Just the opposite:  you are all spread across the world in an astonishing array of locations and work circumstances, from New York City-urban to South Sudan-rural.  We have here is a snapshot of a necessarily self-selected group of souls who have invested some precious time on our survey. Some bits from the data: Age/gender/’race’ Though those who identified as female make up 68% of our respondents, there is a markedly higher percentage of ‘long in the tooth’ males responding:  “I have been doing humanitarian aid work for ten or more years.”  Male:  33%, Female 17%, with males having a higher percentage…

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Thanks for taking our survey….

Posted on: February 18, 2014 | By: Tom Arcaro | Filed under: Aid Worker Voices book

Thanks for taking our survey…. and what was that all about, anyway? Don’t know what we’re talking about? Take The Survey!  Thanks for taking the time to join this conversation. You’re probably wondering who are we are why are we doing this? First things, first. Meet the research collaborators: Dr. Thomas Arcaro, Professor of Sociology at Elon University. Founding Director of the Periclean Scholars Program, and lead researcher on this project. “J.” 20+ year aid industry veteran, co-founder/blogger at Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like, blogger at AidSpeak, and author of two humanitarian novels:   This project, according to “J.” I’ve spent the better part of the past twenty years believing that something was wrong with me.  I knew the cause, of course: I am a professional aid worker, and I have been for some time. And that fact alone seemed, for a while, to explain it all. Aid-work-induced weirdness was for…

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