Doing Business around the Streets: The Untold Stories of Street Food Vendors

Practical Research 1: A Qualitative Research

Medel Francis C. Lorico, Rachelle Marina Luaña, Saiden T. Madidis, Kimberly Demeterio,
Ruthchelle Mae D. Milallos, Shene Q. Malirong

University of Mindanao Ilang High School, Davao City, Philippines

Abstract

confront in selling street foods. Street vending is a global phenomena, however it is particularly prominent
in less developed nations and metropolitan regions. Street food sellers offer accessible and cheap meal
alternatives. To investigate the real experiences, attitudes, and perceptions of street vendors, the study
uses qualitative research design and phenomenology as the research methodology. The study is carried
out in Davao City, Philippines, with street food sellers from various areas of the city as participants. In-
person interviews are used to obtain the data, and the analysis of non-numerical data yields important in -
formation This study intends to analyze the common life experiences of street food sellers and the prob-
lems they on the challenges and opportunities faced by street food vendors. This study can help future re -
searchers who want to look into the same subject by providing them with related material by helping them
comprehend the common experiences of street food vendors. To ensure the integrity of the research, the
study will be conducted in accordance with stringent ethical standards, which include getting informed
consent, preserving anonymity and confidentiality, and conducting research with respect and without bias.

1. Introduction world, there have been many different ways to

conduct street vending. While most vendors sell
Street food vendor owners all across the goods, some also provide services or a combi-
world can gain insight into their lives by learning nation of the two. Other vendors utilize sizable
about the common experiences that street food booths that remain in the same location for
sellers share. Street food is made and/or sold by weeks, months, or even years, are locked when
vendors, often on streets and other public areas, not in use, and are maintained under the super-
and is ready to eat. Foods sold on the street are vision of a watchman. Mobile vendors might run
valued not just for their distinct flavors and prac- their businesses out of tricycles, cars, push
ticality, but also for their contribution to societies' booths with wheels, or carts. They are even ca-
cultural and social legacy. This approach is pable of carrying their products on their person.
widespread around the globe and offers nearby When they are stationary, some people just
people a range of accessible and affordable food spread their items out on the ground on top of a
options (S. Rane, 2011). Examining the shared cloth or a piece of plastic. Products may be
experiences of street food vendors can provide widely dispersed across the board, including
insights into this large and widespread phenom- prepared foods, groceries, hardware, apparel,
enon .By examining the stories and perspectives and electrical equipment, or they may be mostly
of street food vendors, researchers can gain a concentrated in a few industries, such as tourist
better understanding of the challenges and op- souvenirs, newspapers, and candy in many
portunities they face. Given that there are essen- Street Markets. Common street services include
tially no differences and that it occurs in every hair cutting, document typing, and shoe, cloth-
nation, street vending is a global phenomenon. ing, bicycle, motorbike, and automobile mainte-
However it's important to recognize that street nance (Bromley, 2000).       In the Philippines,
sellers are more common in less developed sidewalk sellers are commonplace,
countries and are often concentrated in urban and street vending is a regular activity.
areas. Over the years and everywhere in the Despite efforts by local authorities to control

1
street peddling, the number of sellers keeps ris- search will employ a qualitative methodology,
ing, particularly as many Filipinos are still bat- more especially the phenomenological method.
tling to recover financially from the COVID-19 Street food vendors from various regions of
pandemic's effects. Even though it supports Davao City will be the study's target subjects.
many people's livelihoods and boosts the local
economy, there must be clear rules and regula-
tions in place to guarantee public health and Delimitations
safety. Street vendors can continue to contribute  
to the economy while also protecting the safety The only experiences that are the focus of this
and well-being of both vendors and customers study are those of street vendors in Davao City,
by being acknowledged for their importance and Philippines. This excludes other types of street
given the necessary assistance and regulation vendors as well as those from other regions or
(Manila Standards, 2022). countries. The results will be based on the par-
 This study aimed to provide valuable informa- ticipants' subjective experiences and opinions as
tion on the challenges that street food vendors a consequence of the research's exclusive use
face when selling street foods. For the owners of of the qualitative method as opposed to employ-
the street food vendors, this will help them cope ing objective statistical analytic measures.
with the challenges they face in selling street
food. This paper can also serve as related litera-
ture for future researchers who plan to explore
the same topic. Limitations

Due to the limited sample size and the subjec-

Research Questions tive nature of the data collected, the study's limi-
tations include potential bias. The findings might
not be applicable to other street food hawkers,
Central Question:
other areas, or other nations. The accessibility
and willingness of the participants to share their
1. What are the common life experiences
experiences, as well as the potential impact of
of street food vendors?
social desirability bias on the findings, provide
challenges for the study. Due to social desirabil-
Sub-Questions:
ity bias or other circumstances, participants may
not always give honest or accurate answers.
1. Street food vendors who have been in
This could impact how accurate the data that
the business for less than 1 year.
was gathered is.
2. Street food vendors who sell fewer than
five types of food 
2. Methodology
3. The vendo owner is under 18 years old
.  Research Design
4. Street food vendors who sell alcoholic
beverages or tobacco products. In order to accomplish this, the researchers will
  employ a qualitative study design, which entails
5. A street food vendor who is not from gathering and analyzing non-numerical data in
Davao City order to fully comprehend complex social pro-
cesses (V. Pathak, S. Kalra, B. Jena, 2013).
Scope, Limitations and Delimitations Phenomenology, a qualitative research method
that concentrates on examining people's actual
experiences, is the research question for this
Scope study (Neubauer, Witkop, & Varpio, 2019). In or-
der to better understand the experiences, atti-
The purpose of the study is to examine the com- tudes, and perceptions of street sellers, re-
mon life experiences of Davao City's street food searchers will speak with them in person. The
sellers. To acquire understanding of the difficul- study offers insightful information about the diffi-
ties and opportunities experienced by street food culties and chances that street food vendor's en-
vendors in their everyday employment, the re-

2
counter. The study can help increase the safety 4. Street food vendors who sell alcoholic
and well-being of both vendors and customers beverages or tobacco products. 
while also promoting the financial advantages of
street vending by better understanding the com- 5. A street food vendor who is not from
mon experiences of street food sellers. The re- Davao City
searchers will carry out the study in accordance
with strict ethical guidelines to guarantee the Data Gathering Procedure
quality of the research. Participants' informed
consent will be obtained, confidentiality and
anonymity will be maintained, and the research In-depth interviews are a qualitative research
will be carried out with respect and without dis- method that involves  intensive interviews and
crimination. The study's target audience would individual interviews with a small number of re-
be street food sellers from different parts of spondents to find out their views on a particular
Davao City. idea, program or situation. For example, we may
ask participants, employees, and others related
to the program about your experience and ex-
pectations related to the program, their thoughts
Research Participants on the program's activities, processes,  out-
comes, and more the changes they perceive in
In this study, street food vendors in Davao City, themselves as a result of participating in the pro-
Philippines, are the research subjects. Purposive gram. In-depth interviews are useful when you
sampling will be used to choose the sample, fo- want to get detailed information about someone
cusing on street food sellers who satisfy the in- they want to explore thoughts and behaviors or 
clusion requirements but do not satisfy the ex- new problems in depth Job interviews are often
clusion requirements. The goal of the study is to used to contextualize other data to create a
acquire understanding into the common life ex- more complete picture about what happened in
periences of Davao City's street food vendors the program and why In-depth interviews are a
and to offer them useful advice to help them deal qualitative research method that involves  inten-
with the difficulties they encounter when selling sive interviews individual interviews with a small
their goods. number of respondents to find out their views on
a particular idea, program or situation. For ex-
ample, we may ask participants, employees, and
Inclusions criteria: others related to the program about your experi-
ence and expectations related to the program,
1. Street food vendors from Davao City  their thoughts on the program's activities, pro-
cesses,  outcomes, and more the changes they
2. Street food vendors who have been in perceive in themselves as a result of participat-
the area for at least 1 year ing in the program. In-depth interviews are use-
ful when you want to get detailed information
about someone they want to explore thoughts
3. Street food vendors who are 18 years
and behaviors or  new problems in depth Job in-
old. 
terviews are often used to contextualize other
data to create a more complete picture about
4. Street food vendors who sell at least five what happened in the program and why (Boyce
types of food & Neale, 2006
Data Analysis

Exclusion criteria  Analyzing qualitative data with thematic analysis

the process of identifying information by looking
1. Street food vendors who have been in through a set of data repeating patterns is ana-
the business for less than 1 year. lyzed and reported. As well as being a way for
describing data, it requires interpreting codes
2. Street food vendors who sell fewer than when choosing them. making themes, etc. The-
five types of food matic analysis stands out for its versatility in ap-
  plication across a broad range of theoretical and
3. The vendo owner is under 18 years old.  epistemological systems, and to a variety of re-

3
search questions, designs, and sample dimen- that can be used independently and other quali-
sions. Although some academics have said that tative research techniques are seen as having it
topic analysis is an aspect of ethnography or as as a foundation (Kiger & Varpio, 2020).
being especially suited to phenomenology, but
the thematic Analysis is a method of analysis

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