Amara West community engagement evaluation survey

<p>The community engagement evaluation survey was conducted as a part of the British Museum Amara West Research Project (https://amara-west.researchspace.org) and for the doctoral research of Tomomi Fushiya at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University (2015-2020). The fieldwork for the research was made possible through the archaeological concession granted to the Amara West Research Project by the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), Sudan. The analysed data was used and discussed in her PhD thesis (https://hdl.handle.net/1887/138483), published in an article (https://doi.org/10.1080/20518196.2024.2326752) and in a book (forthcoming)</p><p>The survey sought to 1) evaluate the 6 archaeological and heritage engagement programmes in the local community, and 2) to supplement the qualitative study about the tendency of preferences and averages in different genders, age groups, and differences in the three ʿumdaiya (communities) in northern Sudan. Questions sought to generate responses on general knowledge about archaeology, heritage and history, based on the previously conducted interviews, were included in the survey. The questionnaire with single- or multiple-answer questions, were authored in English, and then translated into Arabic. Five community members (1 man and 4 women) conducted the survey interviews after the researcher explained the aims, method, and contents of the questionnaire. The survey interviewers spoke both Arabic and Nubian (Nobiin) when they explained the survey and sometimes read out each question for the participants. Around 5500 live in these three communities, though the exact population number is difficult to count, and 199 responses were collected and entered in a Microsoft Access database for analysis. The results show highly positive evaluation of the engagement programmes in general, while they give an idea how the programmes can be improved and what the respondents desire to see or know regarding community engagement programmes in future.</p>