More on Kristof and Danger in the developing world

Chris Blattman responds to Kristof’s column on tips on living in developing countries (I wrote about this same Kristof column last week).  I especially liked Blattman’s closing line: “[...] foreign does not equal dangerous.  Dwelling on the potential bandit round the next corner will make you miserable, paranoid, and [...] even a bit prejudiced.”

Now THAT is dangerous research

Speaking of dangerous (or not so dangerous) field research:  one of my best friends, Robert McNabb, a doctoral student in geophysics, had to kill a polar bear that charged him while doing field research on glaciers in Svalbard, Norway. Now that will make your field reports a little bit more lively…

Kristof, Bandits and Danger in the developing world

Meredith Startz on the IPA blog sends us to Nicholas Kristof’s column Cum Laude in Evading Bandits.  Although I agree with Kristof’s overall point – that there are a lot of educational and personal benefits to living in developing countries – he emphasizes the dangers and hazards of the developing world too much. For example [...]

Packing for Field Work

Chris Blattman had a good post about a month ago on what to pack when doing field work in the tropics.  I agree with most of his list (especailly #1-a nice set of clothes, #12-a big flash drive/external hard drive, and #19-first aid kit including anti-malarials and cipro).  Regretably, I didn’t think about #8-a quick [...]