DESK-BASED RESEARCH AND ITS METHODOLOGICAL APPLICATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE: NIGERIA'S FARMER-HERDER CRISIS AND IMPACTS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN CONTEXT

Abstract

Social science has at its disposal various techniques of data collection including desk research as one of the qualitative methods. The premise of this paper is the fact that though desk research is utilized either as a lone research method or at the level of literature review in the course of research enterprise, users of the method are often times stuck in the process, leading to inchoate findings and conclusion. To that extent, this paper provided the necessary guidelines for its use which included research questions, sources of data collection, verification of the secondary materials, eligibility of the materials and methods of data analysis. As a methodological paper, the application of the method in the context of farmer-herder crisis in Nigeria and its impacts on agricultural productivity was done. The paper sampled 85 peer-reviewed articles excluding published data from local and international institutions after an initial 112 downloaded articles sourced from Scopus database. The findings revealed that the crisis has both de-motivation and de-investment impacts. The paper concluded that though there could be some inherent challenges with the use of desk research such as synthesis of large volume of data, it requires an experienced and committed researcher to take advantage of the cost effectiveness and timeliness that the method provides to advance knowledge production and enhance the basis for future research through quality findings and recommendations.