ABSTRACT
We are halfway through a public meeting to identify what our research study should focus on. So far a few voices have been dominating the conversation but gradually more people are starting to speak. We already have a huge list of social topics – everyone’s pet subject and far more than we can tackle. But there has been a spell of sunny weather and all the farmers are working late on the harvest, so we’re missing a whole constituency of interest. Some people seem to have ideas but are too shy to speak. Others veer off at a tangent, but the chair is quite fi rm and we are gradually building up a picture of local concerns and priorities. We’ll have a result that we can work with by the end of the evening but it’s still too early to tell just how representative it will be.
