Primary and secondary sources of data collection were employed. Primary data was collected through participant observations, key informant interviews and semi-structured interviews.
This data was complemented by administering of a questionnaire to a small sample of people.
Secondary data was collected by exploring published documents on the Zimbabwe water sector.
Neiuwenhuis, in Maree (2010, p. 76), pointed out that participant observation occurs when the researcher spends time living in a community observing and doing in-depth interviews, reading and researching primary source material and observing the lives of the people he or she wishes to study. Participant observations were done with the community aware of the researcher’s role. The researcher looked for patterns of behaviour in the community to understand the
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assumptions, values and beliefs of the participants – but remained uninvolved and did not influence the dynamics of the setting. The researcher participated in the lives of the people under study while also maintaining a professional distance. A form of participant observation adapted to water access was to take an “environmental walk” in the community “to get a general feel for conditions” by visiting water sources, such as boreholes, streams and pools. During these walks, the researcher had the opportunity to ask informal questions about water supply.
There are several advantages, adapted from Creswell (2009, p. 179), that can be drawn from participant observation in relation to this study. The researcher has first-hand experience, information is recorded as it occurs and hidden aspects are noticed during observation.
Through participant observation, the researcher was able to gather background information on the village and study and collect information on the current water supply situation and practices. A digital camera was used to take pictures of physical objects observed.
Face-to-face in-depth interviews were carried out with key informants. An open-ended interview guide, organised around themes pertinent to water policies was used (see Appendix Six). Key informants were interviewed about the most effective methods to engage and impact key stakeholder groups in policy implementation, as well as construction and maintenance of water reservoirs. The councillor and 4 RDC employees were the key informants. A key informant interview is one where an individual with prior knowledge of the community is questioned to gather key information on community needs. The crucial element of a key informant interview is that the informant is well versed in information about his/her community, or field work. According to ACAPS (2011, p. 12), a key informant is a local leader whether from civil society or government.
This study used semi-structured interviews. Neiuwenhuis (2010, p. 87) defined an interview as a reciprocal conversation, whereby the interviewer asks the participant questions to collect data and to learn about the ideas, beliefs, views, and opinions of the participant. Semi-structured interviews are based on the use of an interview guide, a written list of questions and topics that need to be covered in a particular order. According to Bernard (2002, p. 50), semi-structured interviewing is best in situations where there is only one chance to interview someone.
Angrosino (2007) noted that interviewing is the process of directing a conversation to collect information. According to Creswell (2009, p. 179), interviews have an advantage as participants are able to give historical information, and the researcher has control over the line
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of questioning. Their major weakness is that information is filtered through the views of interviewees, researcher presence can lead to information bias and other participants may not always be helpful in articulating issues. However, the weaknesses above were countered by using multiple data collection techniques. The researcher also strengthened the advantages by keeping the participants focused on the research issues and probing for more relevant information.
The interview guides used in this study were structured in both English and Shona, to enable those who were not familiar with the former to get a clearer understanding of the questions. If a participant was not fluent in English, the researcher used Shona to continue discussions.
Interviews were recorded electronically with the permission of research participants. The researcher transcribed the recorded interviews on the day they were held. The researcher also kept a notepad of written notes. These records were kept where no one except the researcher could access them. The transcriptions, observations, and field notes served as guides for topics to be discussed on the following sessions and context information for data analysis.
Mogalakwe (2006, p. 2) defined a document as “an artefact which has as its central feature an inscribed text”. Documents are produced by individuals or group of individuals to meet their everyday needs and for practical purposes. This study concentrated on secondary documents such as public and private documents to corroborate the evidence from other sources. Public documents (Government publications) which were scrutinized include Acts of Parliament, policy statements, census reports, and statistical bulletins, reports of commissions of inquiry, ministerial or departmental annual reports, and consultancy reports. Private documents used included reports from the civil society organisations such as non-governmental organisations, private sector business, trade unions, newspaper coverage, books and journals. Creswell (2009, p. 180) argued that documents are a convenient and unobtrusive way to get information. The authors of the documents put critical thoughts into compiling them. The documentary collection of data saved the researcher time and expenses in transcribing. However, certain documents are not readily available to the public, and are therefore not easy to get. For instance, the researcher had difficulty in accessing the Zimbabwe National Water Policy, which is not available online, and the Rural Wash Information Management System (RWIMS) database, which is password protected. The researcher eventually obtained a hardcopy of the National Water Policy after a visit to the headquarters of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate. An application was made to the Government of Zimbabwe, through the National
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Action Committee (NAC) for permission to access the RWIMS database. The permission was later granted. Cameron (2009, p. 141) pointed out that some documents may not be authentic or accurate. This assertion was particularly useful in documents related to Zimbabwe, when some supposedly statistical documents did not use rigorous scientific methodologies or were written to address potential sponsors (see Chapter Four).
A questionnaire with close-ended questions was used to establish the understanding of positive peace among community members in Village One, Ward 11. The questionnaire (see Appendix Seven) was modified to suit level of education relevant to Village One, Ward 11. Copies of the questionnaire were translated to Shona because most rural community members have average academic education and therefore find the vernacular language easier to read. The quantitative nature of the study sample was moderately big; hence it was made practical by distributing a questionnaire to a large number of respondents in a short space of time with little or no supervision of respondents who completed them.