Household Surveys

Data have been collected using semi-structured, open-ended interviews, triangulated with participant observation during extensive fieldwork. They are hand-written; data have not been entered in any database. Some survey sheets have been left empty as I had already recorded the related information in my field diaries. In fact, these surveys should be analysed together with the field diaries to be more meaningful and should probably be seen as a complement of the diaries, rather than vice-versa.

More in detail, the survey questionnaire gathered information about:

  • Kinship relations of all household members and places of origin, including married offspring
  • Types of marriage (Gon andi; Diku andi (held at bride’s house); Kepeya; Sasan-ura (visiting girl); Opor-tipi (without consent)
  • Brideprice
  • Family members of eta: jati and information about jati talla
  • Burial places of all family members
  • Household assets (land, cattle, equipment etc)
  • Production (from land; stored crop; etc)
  • Income-generation activities (including trade; migrant job)
  • Financials (debts, loans)
  • Religious affiliations and changes; ancestral practices and who officiates them
  • Political affiliations
  • Education
  • Detailed information about “Forest Villages”
  • Relations between Adivasis and non-adivasis