4.3 THE ‘CARE’ COMPONENT OF THE 2004 KIDS QUALITATIVE STUDY
4.3.4 The extended case study method
The three field researchers were well placed to give an informed opinion of the extended case study method, each having undertaken a minimum of four months of actual fieldwork in two study areas.
Field researchers were asked specifically how they were able to tell if study participants were telling the truth. All field researchers noted that living in the study areas meant that those living there, and particularly those in the case study households began to trust them through continued interaction. This enabled them to obtain information that they otherwise may not have obtained.
This is not to say that the information provided by respondents is not to be otherwise trusted but that it is more likely that this information can be regarded with more certainty if it is collected as part of the extended case study method than with a quicker visit.
I sometimes think it’s good to bring a stranger in the community. A stranger is neutral, and it’s somebody that you can trust that they are telling the truth [rather] than getting information from the community people. The community learnt to trust me and then they gave me a true reflection of their life stories. (Field researcher, Rural 2 & Rural 4)
While it cannot be known if it was a ‘true reflection’ of their lives, living in the study areas represented an improvement – in research terms – over quicker, transitory visits.
The people tried their best to give the accurate information since they knew that you were living amongst them. If they had lied I am sure they were aware that you [could] go to them to ask about what they must have said that was not true. (Field researcher, Urban 1
& Urban 2)
This narrative points to the fact that it is more likely that truthful information is obtained through an ethnographic method because the interviewees know that this information can be verified by the field researcher who lives in the same area. This is not to say that truthful information would not be obtained through other research methods but that this method brings with it relative certainty on this score. Constant visits to the study households over time opened up the way to verify the information provided by respondents:
I think the ‘time factor’ tells that it was not easy for the people to lie. Even though some families [did try] to give wrong information but the fact that I was going to live there for
about a month, it made things difficult for these people to lie to me. I was able to establish trust with them. I could observe some of the things and be able to tell that they were telling the truth. (Field researcher, Rural 2 & Rural 4)
With ethnography you can’t hide issues. You see people day after day. Eventually they start to open up. (Field researcher, Rural 1 & Rural 3)
This research could be regarded by some as extractive. Yet there is a trade-off of obtaining information that may be considered to be private but which may have positive benefits in policy terms. The fact that this information would be used for policy purposes was explained to study participants.
Care information is often personal, and therefore may not be easily shared. A methodology such as the extended case study method – where trust is established through continual interaction – plays an important role in the collection of time-use and financial cost information. One field researcher in particular spoke of the contribution of this method to the collection of care information:
Getting the information about the ill person is not an easy task. People do not want to talk about it with the [family] they are living with so how can they tell everything to a person who will be there for a day? They can lie on the first day because they might think that you are there for a day. Once they are aware that a person is living (in the community in which they live) they will change their attitude. (Field researcher, Urban 1 & Urban 2)
Since we [had] to deal with people who were sick, especially those who were related to HIV/AIDS, if I was not living in the area we were not going to get the information. It is not easy for a person to open up to a stranger about (their) status. There are [ill people]
that could not tell their members about their status but because of the time I spent with them it was easy for them to tell me without [my] asking them. (ibid)
Frequent visits to the households over a period of time meant that it was possible to establish trust between field researchers and interviewees. It also meant that the data collection on these issues could be fitted in between collection of information on other themes and reserved for appropriate times.
Dealing with the care [structured] guide was a very delicate matter so more time was put into that ... it takes time for the [caregiver] to open up and for the ill to open up … we cannot push them for information. (ibid)
The same field researcher believed that the multiple tools that made up the methodology enabled him to ascertain the truth specifically with regard to the information about care provision:
[The method enabled me to obtain] the truth about the sick people that I worked with and some honest answers they told me. It was easy for me to go back to the information that I could not believe to confirm it [using] another approach. (ibid)
In all, the fact that the extended case study method brings with it the establishment of trust between field researcher and study participant, and thereby a high likelihood of obtaining honest answers to study questions, is a noteworthy benefit when collecting sensitive and relatively private information on care provision, something which would arguably not be obtained so successfully using another method. Therefore, the extended case study method laid the
foundation for the collection of time-use and financial cost information, which are fundamental to this thesis.