bias, and they return to the field guided by the previous and/or modify what is presented.
discussion. Once again, following the half-day's or day's interviews, the group meets to discuss the findings. Day 6
The importance of these discussions following a series of The report is read once again and, following the reading of
interviews cannot be overstressed. Together, the group begins to each section, conclusions are drawn and recorded. When this is
understand the relationships encountered in the region, delimits finished, the conclusions are read once again for approval, and
the zone, and starts to define the type of research that is going specific recommendations are then made and recorded, both for the
to be necessary to help improve the technology of the farmers. team who will be working in the area and for any other agencies
Other problems such as marketing -- are also discussed and, if that should be involved in the general development process of the
solutions are required relevant entities can be notified. it is zone.
important to understand the effect that these other limitations The product of the sixth day is a single report generated
will have, if not corrected, on the type of technology to be and authored by the entire multidisciplinary team that should be
developed, so that they can be taken into account in the
generation process. supported by all of the members. Furthermore, after participating in a team effort for six days, each member should be
During the second day there should be a notable convergence able to defend all the points of view discussed, the conclusions
of opinion and a corresponding narrowing of interview topics. In drawn, and the recommendations made.
this way, more depth can be acquired in following days on the
topics of increasing interest.
Day 3 THE REPORT
This is a repeat of the second day and includes a change in To a certain extent, the report of the Sondeo is of secthe makeup of the teams after each discussion. A minimum of four ondary value because it has been written by the same team that
interviews/discussion cycles is necessary to complete this part will be working in the area. Most of its value lies in the fact
Of the Sondeo. If the area is not too complex, these cycles that they have written it. By forcing the team members into a
should be adequate. Of course, if the area is so large that a situation where many different points of view have to be taken
full day of interviewing is required between each discussion into consideration and coalesced, the horizons of all will have
session, then four full days are required for this part of the been greatly amplified. Further, the report can serve as
Sondeo. orientation for nonparticipants, such as the Regional Director or
Day 4 the Technical Director, in discussing the merits of various
Before the teams return to the field for more interviews on courses of action. However, it is also obvious that the report
the fourth day, each member is assigned a portion' will appear to be one written by ten different persons in a
or section of hurry, which is exactly what it isl it is not a benchmark study
the report that is to be written, Then, knowing for the first with quantifiable data that can be used in the future for project
time for what topic each will be responsible, the teams, evaluation; rather, it is a working document to orient the
regrouped in the fifth combination, return to the field for more research program and it served one basic function in just being
interviewing. For smaller areas, this also is a half-day. In written.
the other half-day, and following another discussion session, the
group begins to write the report of the sondeo. All members
should be working at the sane location so that they can circulate CONCLUDING REMARKS
freely and discuss points with each other. For examples an
agronomist who was assigned the section on maize technology may The disciplinary specialty of each member of the Sondeo team
have been discussing a key point with an anthropologist and need is not critical so long as there are several disciplines
to refresh his memory about what a particular farmer said. In represented, and, if the Sondeo is in agriculture, a significant
this manner the interaction among the disciplines continues. number of them are agriculturalists, at least some of whom who
Day 5 will be working in the area in the future. The discipline of
As the technicians are writing the report, they coordinators of Sondeos is probably not critical, either, if they
invariably are persons with a broad capability, an understanding of
encounter points for which neither they nor others in the group agriculture (if it is an agricultural Sondeo), and experience in
have answers. The only remedy is to return to the field on the surveying and survey technique. However, the coordinators must
morning of the fifth day to fill in the gaps found the day have a high degree of multidisciplinary tolerance and be able to
before. A half-day can be devoted to this activity, together interact with all the other disciplines represented on the team.
with finishing the writing of the main body of the report. The coordinators, in a sense, are orchestra directors who
In the afternoon of this day, each team member reads his must assure that everyone contributes to the tune and that, in
section of the report to the group for discussion, editing and the final product, all are in harmony.; They must control the
approval. The sections should be read in the order in which they group and maintain discipline. They arbitrate differences,
will appear in the report. As a group, the team should approve create enthusiasm, extract hypotheses and thoughts from each