The name is absent

Appendix 1

follow this technique, it has become clear that on its own, this strategy can limit the
investigator's perspective and in the worst cases skew analysis. MERIA, however, has
allowed me to gather data that reveals forces operating beyond the level of subjectivity
(the researcher's, or the consultant's, for that matter). Thus, as I might project
expectations onto the field, the data gathered through MERIA serves to reorient my
inquiry and analysis.¹³ Indeed, understanding the myriad forces that influence a
particular phenomenon has helped me to place that phenomenon relative to other
observations often revealing subtle connections between sites or making apparent broader
contexts I had not previously considered.

Recall the example above concerning the vaccination program. I was struck by
the major difference between my understanding of effective outreach and that of the staff
of the other NGO. While the MERIA Staffhad proposed a program where medical
personnel travel to the camp every two weeks to do vaccinations and to consult with
anyone who had medical concerns, the local health organization wanted to do a single
visit for some vaccinations but mostly to encourage the local population to seek help at
hospitals. Funding was not an issue and the medical personnel and means of
transportation were available. My initial reaction to this situation was surprise that our
two definitions of outreach were indeed so different. I began to examine the concept in
the broader Greek context, but was having difficulty finding examples of outreach
programming or programming in general that could be considered outreach. Interestingly,
most people I interviewed from hospitals and from some local NGOs gave me definitions

^lj MERIA has also allowed me to formalize my expectations of the field to some extent in the operations
strategy and in the corporate mission statement. This formalization makes a number of my biases and
expectations obvious to me and to my consultants which has proven quite productive. In some cases my
consultants will suggest an alternative line of inquiry or will challenge my emerging understandings of
certain phenomena.

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