ABSTRACT
The critical insights developed within this chapter emerged from a technique used in Sierra Leone known as door knocking to gain the trust and confidence of communities before and during the research process. The research, from which the critical insights emerged for the chapter explores how community-based reintegration could contribute more effectively to sustainable peace-building. The chapter highlights methodological inadequacies of the conventional research approach such as lack of participation, and argues that many alternatives to this approach focus on participatory methods such as participatory rural appraisal (PRA). It introduces door knocking as a technique that provides a useful entry tool through which to address the question of a lack of access in post-conflict environments. Based on lack of trust in post-conflict environments which can hinder the process of obtaining information from some respondents, the chapter introduces a door knocking technique as a process that can facilitate the building of trust.
