This past week I have spent a lot of time thinking about my focus question and possible research methods. Through this process, I am trying out several different question types and going to see what makes the most sense to go forward with.
What are sustainable development values held for various future agriculture technologies?
I like this question because, frankly, it is exciting to speculate about the future and imagine all the possibilities. However, the speculation makes for difficult research. This question could also go in several directions. I could just analyze various technologies that are all (for instance) precision ag and compare various sensors, robotics, and data services. Alternatively, I could compare precision ag tech with biotech in different contexts. Primary methods for this question would be discourse analysis of materials surrounding these technologies and statistical analysis of current investments.
To what extent are various actors (farmers, policymakers, business people, scientists) being considered in the development and application of precision agriculture technologies?
This question gets at Actor-Network theory as a means of analyzing soico-technical change. I find this to be a super interesting and relevant area of study that could provide insight into the future of AgTech. However, this question mostly ignores the dimension of sustainable development that grounds my framing question. Yet, I could find ways to discuss sustainable development by grounding my research in the idea that strong actor relationships contribute to sustainability. The primary methods for this question would be surveys and interviews. This would also likely be situated in Portland with using other contexts as larger picture framing.
How might various technologies be used to eliminate hunger and address food security?
This question is a flip of the first question; it starts with the sustainable development problem and looks at various technologies as possible solutions. This gets right at the heart of my topic and would likely be situated in one or multiple developing countries. Yet, this also might be the most difficult to research and find interesting results with. I’m not sure the best methods to use, but perhaps I could collect data from AgTech companies to analyze. Alternatively, I may be able to use some of the same methods as above.
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Through exploring these questions, I realized that my focus question before all of this may not have been so bad after all. However, playing around with these different focus questions has been incredibly helpful in expanding the possibilities of my focus question and methods. For now, I will focus on precision ag technologies and the sustainable development values at different scales of agriculture. My situated context may still change, but, for now, I am thinking of triangulating with local farms in Portland, industrial farms in California, and mid-sized farms in Northern India.