What’s Missing? Innovating Interdisciplinary Methods for Hard-to-Reach Environments

This was a large interdisciplinary research project which was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative investigating methods for studying hard-to-reach environments (Khayelitsha Site-C, South Africa and Villa Caracas, Colombia). The project brought together an international team across the U.S., Canada, Norway, and Colombia. The work examines methodological and epistemological gaps when only certain research approaches are feasible. Our component focuses on analyzing these sites using public data sources such as global news and social media, alongside complementary methods including surveys, visual sociology, and citizen science across collaborating teams. The project was later discontinued before completion.