Assessment of socio-economic functions of tropical lowland transformation systems in Indonesia : sampling framework and methodological approach

EFForTS is a collaborative research center (CRC) which focuses on Ecological and socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems in Sumatra,Indonesia. The paper presents the common sampling frame of the socio economic sub-projects.The investigations and data collections intertwine and complement one another. Thus themethodological approach reflects the idea of an interdisciplinary and integrative research approach. Lead by hypotheses we structured our sampling procedure hierarchically. Starting at the household level in the core villages of the research regions we investigate additional local villages. Further we extend the data collections on the regional level with household, village and trader surveys. The national and international levels we reach by stakeholder interviews with governmental and non-governmental experts. The applied methods are composed of qualitative and quantitative empirical studies.