CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODS AND METHODLOGY
4.3 Data collection
Primary data was collected from four main sources: interviews; newspaper articles; policy and statutory documents; and photographs, and these are now presented.
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Semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with individuals deemed by the researcher to be knowledgeable about Durban and its history with the BFP, or who were involved in any way with the BFP in the city around the time of its abandonment in 2008. Data obtained from these interviews formed one of two major source of primary data which constituted the empirical evidence for the research. The open-ended structure of this technique of interviewing facilitates the capturing of views, opinions and attitudes often not readily observable, and which might be omitted in a closed interview process, where, for data collection purposes, answers must fit into predetermined categories (Berg, 2009; Kitchin &
Tate, 2000; Patton, 2002). Furthermore, the semi-structured approach “permit[s] comparisons across interviews” (Berg, 2009: 109). This interview technique was chosen specifically to address the objectives of the study.
The researcher conducted 17 interviews with participants between the months of September and November 2014. Each interview took approximately one hour and was conducted at a time and venue convenient to the participant. In most instances this meant that the interview was held at the participants’ work place in order to minimise absence from work and disruption to their day (Table 4.1). Participants who were interviewed but did not give permission for their names to be used are listed as Respondent A, B. C and D.
Table 4.1. Scheduling of interviews
Participant Affiliation (Organisation/ job title) Date Paul Jones Surfer (Urban-Econ: Senior Development Economist) 23/09/14 Dr Andrew Mather eThekwini Municipality Project Executive: Coastal
Policy 30/09/14
Mike Larmont Surfer (Owner of Larmont Surf shop) 30/09/14
Tony Carnie Independent newspapers: Journalist 01/10/14
Geoff Pullan DA eThekwini Councillor 03/10/14
Clint Chrystal eThekwini Municipality: Coastal Engineering, Storm
water and Catchment Management 07/10/14
Respondent A CSIR 09/10/14
Respondent B eThekwini Municipality 09/10/14
Respondent C CSIR 09/10/14
Tandi Breetzke Royal Haskoning DHV: Leading Professional: Coastal
Management 13/10/14
Siobhan Jackson eThekwini Municipality: Water & Sanitation 16/10/14 Respondent D KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism
& Environmental Affairs 17/10/14
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Participant Affiliation (Organisation/ job title) Date Sheivine Datadin WESSA: National Coastal Programme Assistant (Blue
Flag) 17/10/14
Dr Sean Fennessey ORI: Senior scientist 23/10/14
Steven Weerts CSIR: Senior scientist, Coastal Systems Research
Group 28/10/14
Alison Kelly Former SA Blue Flag coordinator 01/11/14
Dr Michael Sutcliffe City Insight (former eThekwini Municipal manager) 03/11/14 In two instances, it was difficult to arrange interviews with potential participants despite both agreeing to an interview in principle, via email. Subsequent follow up from the researcher, via both email and telephone, did not elicit a response and these two interviews were not conducted. This was unfortunate since one potential participant was a ward councillor and the politically embedded knowledge held by this individual would have potentially contributed towards a deeper understanding of the political perspective around the BFP and its ‘buy-in’ (or lack thereof).
Initial contact with all proposed participants was made telephonically, in order to briefly clarify the intention of the subsequent interview. Where telephonic contact was not possible, participants were contacted by email only. All initial contact was then followed up with a formal email request for an interview.
To facilitate the capturing of views and opinions, a semi-structured and open-ended style interview was deemed appropriate for identifying the meanings and views of the participant.
An interview schedule (Appendix B) was designed to ensure that all participants were asked a similar set of questions. The interview schedule was structured in order to answer the research objectives. This provided some direction and structure for the dialogue. Since most of the questions were open-ended there was a degree of flexibility within the schedule which meant that participants’ answers were not limited to a predefined agenda of questions, thus enabling a more holistic understanding of their responses. Patton (2002: 343) suggests that,
“… an interview guideline is prepared in order to ensure that the same basic lines of enquiry are pursued with each person interviewed. The interview guide provides topics or subject areas within which the interviewer is free to explore, probe, and ask questions that will elucidate and illuminate a particular subject”.
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In the first section of the interview schedule participants were asked a basic set of questions regarding their positions and knowledge. This line of questioning enabled personal profile development for each participant while also allowing the researcher to gauge the extent of his/her Blue Flag knowledge, or competence. Participants were subsequently grouped in accordance with the knowledge typology presented in Chapter Two, namely, tacit, embedded (professional and political), and codified. This resulted in the three main groups of knowledge holders being interviewed (Table 4.2).
Table 4.2. Table illustrating Participant grouping and composition
Knowledge type Group composition
Tacit knowledge holders Beach users (surfers)
Embedded knowledge holders Municipal officials, Blue Flag SA officials, newspaper journalists, councillor
Codified knowledge holders Scientists
The interview schedule comprised three sections, focusing on the following topics: extent of beach use; perceptions of the ‘Golden Mile”; and Blue Flag and coastal management knowledge. Additional topics were specifically targeted at each of the groups presented in Table 4.2 and included: beach water quality monitoring; the political context of the BFP in Durban; and any factors that may have influenced a change in approach to beach management within the Municipality. This was done in order to capture specific knowledge potentially held by participants in each group.
Two of the interview schedules were targeted at specific participants, namely, the former Municipal Manager. Michael Sutcliffe, and the former coordinator of the South African Blue Flag, Alison Kelly. Both were anticipated to hold intimate knowledge of the BFP and were considered to be key informants for the research (Appendix C and Appendix D).
Participants were provided with an informed consent form that explicitly detailed the ethical considerations involved in participating in the study, particularly those concerning anonymity and voluntary participation. This form was read to all participants and also served as an additional standardised introduction. At this point all participants were asked about their preferences regarding anonymity and four participants requested their names and official job positions to be withheld. Permission was requested to voice-record the interviews for analysis.
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All but two participants agreed. Notes were also made by the researcher during the interviews in order to enable subsequent cross-referencing with the audio recordings.
4.3.2 Newspaper articles
Newspaper articles and press releases comprise the main sources of documentary data for this study, and extensive use was made of these data sources. Newspaper articles and press releases provide public access to information, as well as insight into public perspectives in the case of letters written to the editors of newspapers. They are therefore important in helping to reveal a timeline of events, in order to better identify and understand the environmental politics surrounding eThekwini’s BFP. Two main digital databases were utilised: Sabinet, and the Independent Newspapers’ internal database. All newspapers with a Durban-based readership, namely, The Daily News, The Mercury, The Natal Witness, The Independent on Saturday, the Saturday Star, The Sunday Tribune, and The Sunday Times, were searched for any articles, including letters to the editor, which were written between 2004 and 2014, and which mentioned ‘Blue Flag’ and ‘Durban’. This yielded approximately 175 articles, of which 44 were discarded because on closer inspection they were either not relevant or were duplicated in the two databases. The Mail and Guardian was a notable exception to the list of newspapers accessed, because the researcher did not have a subscription to this newspaper and could not access its archival database.
4.3.3 Policy and statutory documents
Policy documents in the form of water quality guidelines, and statutes that were relevant to the South African coastal environment, provided background information that informed the context of the study.
4.3.4 Photographs
Photographic evidence contextualised the study site by providing a graphic or pictorial account of what coastal governance and beach water quality management look like ‘on the ground’
(Fig. 3.3).
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