South Asian Experiences in Interdisciplinary Field Research in Water Management

Abstract

Researching about water is essentially an interdisciplinary subject as water cuts across natural and manmade boundaries. Irrespective of studying on the irrigation performance in a village tank irrigation system in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, or livelihood adaptation to climate change led hazards in a coastal polder of Bangladesh, or flooding in Malamchi River Basin of Nepal or drinking water issues in Sundarbans, West Bengal, India, it definitely needs to focus on technical, social, environmental, economic and many other perspectives to understand the research questions. Research issues are always unique and the balance between above perspectives of each research issue may vary. This chapter will provide insights on how to understand an interdisciplinary research question, development of the conceptual framework for the study and field activities during the data collection process, data analysis and presentation. Examples were compiled considering similarities and differences exist among the South Asian communities with respect to water resources management.