Critical reflections on designing an online survey in a decolonial research project

Abstract

Discussions of the decolonization of quantitative methods have often been overlooked in recent debates. Using Chilisa’s integrative and adaptive methodological framework, we provide a critically reflexive account of the design process of an online multi-lingual survey that sought to unpack pluriversal understandings of democracy in South Africa. The article describes the process we developed to surface the latent assumptions of mainstream survey instruments measuring the understanding of democracy across Africa, and how we used this to inform the development of our own survey instrument. Reflecting on the relative strengths and weaknesses of this approach, we also consider the role of translation as an epistemic exercise. In turn, this leads us to question the epistemic and cultural assumptions that are embedded in the Likert scale and how uncritical adaptation may undermine decolonial intentions. By sharing these insights, we hope to expand the discussion of the decolonization of quantitative methods.