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

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

1
street peddling, the number of sellers keeps ris-
ing, particularly as many Filipinos are still bat-
tling to recover financially from the COVID-19
pandemic's effects. Even though it supports
many people's livelihoods and boosts the local
economy, there must be clear rules and regula-
tions in place to guarantee public health and
safety. Street vendors can continue to contribute
to the economy while also protecting the safety
and well-being of both vendors and customers
by being acknowledged for their importance and
given the necessary assistance and regulation
(Manila Standards, 2022).
 This study aimed to provide valuable informa-
tion on the challenges that street food vendors
face when selling street foods. For the owners of
the street food vendors, this will help them cope
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.
Research Questions
Central Question:
1. What are the common life experiences
of street food vendors?
Sub-Questions:
1. Street food vendors who have been in
the business for less than 1 year.
2. Street food vendors who sell fewer than
five types of food 
3. The vendo owner is under 18 years old
.  Research Design
4. Street food vendors who sell alcoholic
beverages or tobacco products.
 
5. A street food vendor who is not from
Davao City
Scope, Limitations and Delimitations
Scope
The purpose of the study is to examine the com-
mon life experiences of Davao City's street food
sellers. To acquire understanding of the difficul-
ties and opportunities experienced by street food
vendors in their everyday employment, the re-
2
search will employ a qualitative methodology,
more especially the phenomenological method.
Street food vendors from various regions of
Davao City will be the study's target subjects.
Delimitations
 
The only experiences that are the focus of this
study are those of street vendors in Davao City,
Philippines. This excludes other types of street
vendors as well as those from other regions or
countries. The results will be based on the par-
ticipants' subjective experiences and opinions as
a consequence of the research's exclusive use
of the qualitative method as opposed to employ-
ing objective statistical analytic measures.
Limitations
Due to the limited sample size and the subjec-
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,
other areas, or other nations. The accessibility
and willingness of the participants to share their
experiences, as well as the potential impact of
social desirability bias on the findings, provide
challenges for the study. Due to social desirabil-
ity bias or other circumstances, participants may
not always give honest or accurate answers.
This could impact how accurate the data that
was gathered is.
2. Methodology
In order to accomplish this, the researchers will
employ a qualitative study design, which entails
gathering and analyzing non-numerical data in
order to fully comprehend complex social pro-
cesses (V. Pathak, S. Kalra, B. Jena, 2013).
Phenomenology, a qualitative research method
that concentrates on examining people's actual
experiences, is the research question for this
study (Neubauer, Witkop, & Varpio, 2019). In or-
der to better understand the experiences, atti-
tudes, and perceptions of street sellers, re-
searchers will speak with them in person. The
study offers insightful information about the diffi-
culties and chances that street food vendor's en-
counter. The study can help increase the safety
and well-being of both vendors and customers
while also promoting the financial advantages of
street vending by better understanding the com-
mon experiences of street food sellers. The re-
searchers will carry out the study in accordance
with strict ethical guidelines to guarantee the
quality of the research. Participants' informed
consent will be obtained, confidentiality and
anonymity will be maintained, and the research
will be carried out with respect and without dis-
crimination. The study's target audience would
be street food sellers from different parts of
Davao City.
Research Participants
In this study, street food vendors in Davao City,
Philippines, are the research subjects. Purposive
sampling will be used to choose the sample, fo-
cusing on street food sellers who satisfy the in-
clusion requirements but do not satisfy the ex-
clusion requirements. The goal of the study is to
acquire understanding into the common life ex-
periences of Davao City's street food vendors
and to offer them useful advice to help them deal
with the difficulties they encounter when selling
their goods.
Inclusions criteria:
1. Street food vendors from Davao City  their thoughts on the program's activities, pro-
2. Street food vendors who have been in
the area for at least 1 year
3. Street food vendors who are 18 years
old. 
4. Street food vendors who sell at least five
types of food
Exclusion criteria  Analyzing qualitative data with thematic analysis
1. Street food vendors who have been in
the business for less than 1 year.
2. Street food vendors who sell fewer than
five types of food
 
3. The vendo owner is under 18 years old.  epistemological systems, and to a variety of re-
3
4. Street food vendors who sell alcoholic
beverages or tobacco products. 
5. A street food vendor who is not from
Davao City
Data Gathering Procedure
In-depth interviews are a qualitative research
method that involves  intensive interviews and
individual interviews with a small number of re-
spondents to find out their views on a particular
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
on the program's activities, processes,  out-
comes, and more the changes they perceive in
themselves as a result of participating in the pro-
gram. In-depth interviews are useful when you
want to get detailed information about someone
they want to explore thoughts and behaviors or 
new problems in depth Job interviews are often
used to contextualize other data to create a
more complete picture about what happened in
the program and why In-depth interviews are a
qualitative research method that involves  inten-
sive interviews individual interviews with a small
number of respondents to find out their views on
a particular idea, program or situation. For ex-
ample, we may ask participants, employees, and
others related to the program about your experi-
ence and expectations related to the program,
cesses,  outcomes, and more the changes they
perceive in themselves as a result of participat-
ing in the program. In-depth interviews are use-
ful when you want to get detailed information
about someone they want to explore thoughts
and behaviors or  new problems in depth Job in-
terviews are often used to contextualize other
data to create a more complete picture about
what happened in the program and why (Boyce
& Neale, 2006
Data Analysis
the process of identifying information by looking
through a set of data repeating patterns is ana-
lyzed and reported. As well as being a way for
describing data, it requires interpreting codes
when choosing them. making themes, etc. The-
matic analysis stands out for its versatility in ap-
plication across a broad range of theoretical and
search questions, designs, and sample dimen-
sions. Although some academics have said that
topic analysis is an aspect of ethnography or as
being especially suited to phenomenology, but
the thematic Analysis is a method of analysis
that can be used independently and other quali-
tative research techniques are seen as having it
as a foundation (Kiger & Varpio, 2020).

References:

Rane, S. (2011). Street Vended Food in Developing World: Hazard Analyses. Indian Journal of Microbiol-
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‌ romley, R. (2000). Street vending and public policy: a global review. International Journal of Sociology
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Standard, M. (2022, November 5). Setting street vendors’ rights. Manila Standard. https://manilastandard-
.net/opinion/314275444/setting-street-vendors-rights.html

Pathak, V., Kalra, S., & Jena, B. (2013). Qualitative Research. Perspectives in Clinical Research, 4(3),
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Neubauer, B. E., Witkop, C. T., & Varpio, L. (2019). How Phenomenology Can Help Us Learn from the
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