86 Ethics and Systems Thinking
This is only part of the truth. What can be done depends also on who is available
and on their interests and skills. Research on canal irrigation in South Asia has
until recently been conducted almost exclusively by physical and biological scien-
tists. In contrast, in India in the mid-1980s, the Indian sociologists committed to
field research on canal irrigation could still be numbered on the fingers of one
hand. The neglect of the human and managerial domain can be attributed more to
a lack of supply – of researchers – than to lack of support for them to conduct
research. In this respect, the WTC study did not muster a sociologist, and, perhaps
as a consequence, did not deal with farmers’ actual organization or distribution
below the outlet. In contrast, the Asopa/Tripathi and WMSP studies were excep-
tional in the attention they gave to social aspects of irrigation.
To a damaging degree, researchability also determines what is researched and
so what is known. Inconvenience deters senior researchers from sustained field
measurements. Water flows are anyway difficult to measure accurately. Flows at
night, that most inconvenient time, remain largely a black box. Or again, corrup-
tion can affect system performance, but is a sensitive subject which cannot be
explored by a quick field visit, and even less by stating that it is to be investigated.
It is not surprising that the Mahi-Kadana studies did not go in any detail into
whether or not payments were made by farmers in order to obtain water indents,
and how this hassle and cost factor might have influenced their irrigation deci-
sions. It is far easier for an agricultural economist to investigate input or farmgate
prices than to assess the significance of a hassle factor in deterring farmers from
applying for water, or for an agricultural engineer to record frequency of damage
to watercourse structures than to measure water flows at night. Moreover, for gap
and linkage subjects, there are often no clearly established methods of inquiry.
How, for example, does one assess the knowledge and expectations of farmers
regarding the water they will receive from the main system, and how this affects
their behaviour? Crucial though this may be for farmer’s behaviour, it is not stud-
ied or reported on. Some difficult subjects are all the more important because less
is known about them.
Approaches
This leads straight to the approaches of researchers. It is easy to say what ought to
be done, but harder to do it. Nevertheless, three approaches or qualities can help
to offset biases, to explore gaps and linkages and to achieve balanced insight. These
are an open learning process, a concern for understanding and truth, and intro-
spection.
An open learning process approach to research is often made difficult by fund-
ing and methods. To obtain funding, a research design is often called for. Preparing
it can be salutary, injecting realism into plans. But a blueprint mentality and a rigid
method can damage and constrict. One great drawback of research by blueprint, on
familiar topics using well-worn methods, is what it excludes. Preset questionnaires
are barriers to learning. Standard surveys, in whatever subject, provide standard