ALNAP Webinar | Using diaries as a research method

Have you ever considered using diaries as a research method?

In 2018, ALNAP asked 55 humanitarians to diarise their decisions over the course of 3 months. This process produced a wealth of qualitative and quantitative data, and provided the evidence and analysis behind ALNAP’s study, ‘Beyond Assumptions: How humanitarians make operational decisions’. Following the study’s publication, lead author Leah Campbell has written a methods note, complimenting the report’s methodology and offering a discursive consideration of some of the research choices made and key challenges addressed.

On 16 March, ALNAP hosted an informal session at ODI to share more detail about using a diary approach: what does it mean, what benefits does it offer, and how would you go about using this approach?