This research is a "Research Opportunity for Women / Research Planning Grant" pilot project by a young cultural anthropologist who will study a low-caste village in Sri Lanka to examine the village-level consequences of radical changes in the national economy of this developing state. The investigator has done research in this village before and the pilot study will allow her to apply macro-level economic theory to this micro-case of development. The specific issues to be examined are to explain the villages apparent economic development in an environment of economic hardship. This project is important because it supports the scientific research of a young woman investigator, and helps her develop her potential for doing large-scale scientific research. The topic of explaining variation in the economic development of poor developing-country villages is an important one, as only by examining and understanding the successful cases of local-level village development can we help planners develop policies to stimulate thus development on a broad scale.
