CASHMAN, KRISTIN; PHD

                         IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1990
 
                         EDUCATION, AGRICULTURAL (0517); AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND WILDLIFE (0478);
                         EDUCATION, ADULT AND CONTINUING (0516)
 

                         This study aimed to discover a theory from data on rural Yoruba women in southwestern Nigeria. The
                         theory deals with farmers exposed to an agroforestry technology called 'alley farming.' A theory of
                         agricultural change was developed to provide a framework for alley farming research and extension.
                         Grounded theory is an inductive system for generating theory from empirical data (Glaser and Strauss,
                         1967). The constant comparative method, which alternates between data collection and data analysis,
                         was used during fieldwork in 1984-86. Before propositions and hypotheses were defined, data were
                         collected, coded, and analyzed to develop concepts or premises. According to Reynolds (1971, p.78)
                         description of theory construction, the axiomatic theory of farming women and agricultural innovation
                         consists of four 'basic premises, each independent of the others, from which the propositions of the
                         theory were logically derived.' Propositions, based on premises established during 1984-86, were
                         field-tested in 1988. Data were collected over four years, 1984-86 and 1988, from participant
                         observation, open-ended interviews, and document analysis. From the accompanying coding and data
                         analysis during 1984-86, a conceptual framework emerged which corresponded with the
                         Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) developed by Hall, Wallace, and Dorsett (1973). This model
                         was modified to illuminate the developmental processes that farmers experience as they implemented
                         the alley farming technology. Questions arising from previous research were framed within the CBAM for
                         a final round of data collection in 1988 to solicit farmers' opinions and reactions to alley farming. Several
                         major factors that inhibit or facilitate the diffusion of alley farming were identified, including: (a) clarification
                         of Yoruba women's role in farming; (b) crucial, but less visible, reasons for specifically targeting women in
                         alley farming outreach; (c) socio-cultural conflicts and congruence factors; (d) the undermining of local
                         realities by ignoring indigenous, land tenure norms that give women usufruct rights to farmland; (e)
                         power exerted from outside the cultural system; and (f) compromises negotiated through change
                         facilitators. Examples, grounded empirically, demonstrate that the theoretical framework provided both a
                         diagnosis of farmers' needs and a prescription for further action. References. (1) Glaser, B. and Strauss,
                         A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine. (2)
                         Hall, G., Wallace, R., and Dossett, W. (1973). A developmental conceptualization of the adoption process
                         within educational institutions. Austin: The University of Texas at Austin, Research and Development
                         Center. (3) Reynolds, P. (1971). A Primer in Theory Construction. New York: Macmillan.
 

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