Public Knowledge

My eighth reflection.

My survey begins with a discussion of privacy.  All information is confidential, I explain, and the lender can always refuse to answer.  Speaking to a mango vendor at the Tacloban harbor, I assured her that nobody but my translators and me would hear her responses, a statement that was clearly contradicted by the crowd of about ten people who had gathered around us and, despite some half-hearted attempts by my translators to get them to leave, seemed to be making themselves comfortable with little portable stools and fresh green mango snacks.

Another pic from Siquijor

The first part of my training program was a three-hour online course about interacting with human subjects.  I zoomed through it pretty quickly, but the takeaway message for my project was obvious: confidentiality is essential.  My supervisors reiterated this point.  We were supposed to encourage lenders to meet us in quiet, private places, where we could learn more about their business without making the lenders feel exposed or uncomfortable.  We were even allocated money to buy sodas or small meals for the interview participants; when it came to privacy, we were to spare no expense.

View from Tacloban dock

In eight weeks, though, I’ve yet to buy a drink for a lender.  When I suggest that we adjourn to somewhere discrete to complete the interview most of them say no, it’s too much of a hassle, we should just finish it in public.  Almost every interview has been conducted in front of spectators.  Sometimes these are family members, sometimes strangers and sometimes, most awkwardly, the clients themselves.  Speaking to a woman in Cagayan de Oro at a motorcycle taxi stop, I asked where her clients came from; she said ‘right here’, and then pointed at the drivers gathered around us, who laughed and then quieted down as I continued.

Playing Marcos

I’m not sure how to approach this problem.  I work for an American organization and the findings of the project will probably be published (if they are ever published) by an American press and read by an American audience.  For this reason I feel compelled to abide by American privacy guidelines.  At the same time, the actual Filipino survey participants seem totally indifferent to confidentiality.  The solution I’ve found is to always explain the privacy protocol and then pretend that all the kibitzers are not there.  If the lenders feel violated by the audience, I figure, they’ll deal with it themselves.  I think I’d skew the data more if I started every interview with several minutes of chasing everyone away.