Doing qualitative fieldwork in Cuba: social research in politically sensitive locations

Abstract

Cuba, a country that is often portrayed as an isolated, secretive and bureaucratic dictatorship, would appear to present many challenges for a social researcher intent on eliciting the genuine opinions of the native population. However, in December 2008, I began just such an investigation, researching 'environmental justice' (i.e. the social and distributive impacts of environmental policy and practice) in the country, using a mixture of interview and participant observation techniques. As might be expected, much of the fieldwork was dominated by the sensitive political context, creating numerous methodological issues and dilemmas, as well as personal challenges. This paper looks at the difficulties faced, in particular with regard to the problem of attaining reliability and validity, and the strategies that were used to overcome them. It will be of relevance to anyone considering carrying out fieldwork investigations in socialist, and other politically sensitive, locations.

Tourism Research in Cuba: Gaps in Knowledge and Challenges for Sustainable Tourism

“…These same barriers pose significant challenges to tourism development, given the absence of information about both state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private businesses. Broadly, there is very little information available to help guide researchers who plan to conduct research in politically sensitive locations, specifically in socialist political-economies [35]. Cuba presents its own set of challenges that have important implications for conducting research moving forward.…”

“…Second, honest viewpoints from tourism stakeholders can be difficult to elicit by foreign researchers, with notable concerns regarding intentional unreliability. Interviews are often mediated by government-provided translators or guides, and even when this is not the case, the interviewees are those that have been approved by the state and public criticism of the government is considered a crime in Cuba [35]. Cuban tourism groups and other SOEs do not publish financial or annual reports, and their Cuban executives are rarely accessible to academic researchers [13], which likely explains why available research on Cubans' perceptions of tourism have been approached primarily through participant observation or ethnography.…”

New Destinations in Study Abroad

“…Some study abroad programming leaders believe that spies loom within their programs and that Cuban informants or counterparts only provide top-down party lines (Kolivras and Scarpaci 2009). Others deem the US and Cuban academic environment too sensitive of a political landscape to transverse, making many scholars hesitant to engage (Clarke 2007;Bell 2013).…”

Cuban migrants and the making of Havana’s property market

“…The absence of comparable real estate data, the political sensitivity of the topic in Cuba, and the uncertainties with regards to the future housing policies of the new government of Díaz-Canel and to the U.S.-Cuba relations under the Trump administration, make it difficult to sketch a definitive picture of Cuba's ongoing but premature housing transformations. Recognizing the methodological challenges for doing research in Cuba (Bell, 2013;Bono, 2019), we proceeded as follows. First, we based our study on the consultation of various policy documents, newspaper articles, and important policy reports from Cuban research institutes in and outside Cuba.…”