Qualitative Interviews

On Monday we were out in the field conducting qualitative research in the form of interviews. We traveled from our hotel to Sweetwaters in the Kwazulu-Natal region of South Africa and with assistance from employees of the The Human Sciences Research Council in Sweetwaters spent a day in the field.

First we had a welcome introduction from Dr Alastair Van Heerden who told us all about the work going on at the center, then we went out with some of the staff to spend time in the area and to find participants for our interviews. Our research concerned the livelihoods and future livelihood aspirations of the locals in the area, although the main objective of the interviews was to learn the process and get an understanding of what we did well, what we could have improved and what we would perhaps do differently in the future. Myself and Tom were in a pair conducting the interviews and took it in turns to be the interviewer and the observer. Our first interview was with a mother outside of a shopping mall and was the most challenging in terms of getting detailed answers from the participant. Despite us asking the same questions to each participant, the detail in the answers we received differed largely and we found this was due to the personality of the participant.

After a  challenging start, we interviewed an elderly man who was retired but still had lots to say, not only about his work and what it entailed but also some interesting information about social problems within the area. Our final interview was in a more rural area where we got interesting insights into potential future livelihood aspirations along with some stories of trouble finding employment in the past.

The whole experience of visiting the rural areas, interviewing and meeting local residents was very new to us and whilst it was enjoyable, it was also quite eye-opening at times.

A huge thank you from all of us to Dr Van Heerden and all the staff at the Sweetwaters HSRC office for arranging and facilitating our visit, which was a great opportunity to learn about fieldwork.

Owen Ashwell