ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how fieldwork was conducted, how the locations and communities focused on in the present study were selected, and the factors that determined the choice of questions, and modes of interactions within these communities. It focuses on contextualising the position of the author in relation to the process of data collection. The chapter provides a background of the geographical locations and communities selected for the study. It draws on the features of both these communities that make them comparable in the broader context of the main research question. In India, the central government, in consultation with the state governments, categorises certain communities within the lists of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, Nomadic Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Turning around the bend from the Dharamgarh market and following the long and winding road into the valley, one is greeted by a picture of communities living fairly solitary lives in this mountainous terrain surrounded by dense forests.
