Dr Andrew Walker. Photo by Belinda Pratten.
The most interesting research sometimes comes from taking the road less travelled, writes ANDREW WALKER. As an anthropologist, I often struggle when applying for research grants because I don't know what path my research will follow. The information required in such applications often seems to demand that most of the questions, and a good number of the answers, have already been discovered. I prefer a much more exploratory approach - going somewhere with some questions in mind, but being open to the likelihood that new issues will emerge to divert my attention. That's not an approach that will go down well with assessors of grant applications, but I have always found it a good way to produce interesting research. My latest book, Thailand's political peasants: power in the modern rural economy , is a good example. It is the product of accidental twists and turns, not only in my own research but in the lives of the rural people I worked with and in the political life of Thailand itself.
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