Challenges in conducting educational research: The case of a developing country

This paper examines challenges in conducting educational research in a developing country, Bangladesh. Data have been drawn on from my experiences of field work in Bangladesh as a part of my doctoral research, which explored how scientific literacy is promoted through school science education. This research followed a mixed methods design where qualitative approaches, including interviews with teachers, lesson observations and focus group interviews with students, dominated the overall research process. The issues I encountered in my field work included difficulties in getting permission from key authorities, recruiting intended participants and using survey questionnaires. The experiences shared in this paper might be used as a point of reference for future research to be conducted in similar contexts.