2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1. Introduction
2.4. Field Work Research
2.4.1. Interview Procedure
The nature of the analysis of this study is both descriptive and interpretive. Once Allport commented "if we want to know how people feel, what they experience and what they remember, what their emotions and motives are and reasons for acting as they do why not askthem?"(1942).
Speaking of interview and questionnaires as a tool of collecting data, Adams and Schvarevelt asserts:
These two strategies have no close competitors in terms of their utility and frequency of use in social science research. They are flexible, yet can be most specific. They contrast with observations which focus on behaviour as it emerges. The questionnaires and interviews more than not are used to collect data on attitudes, behaviour, or information from the past (1985:226).
Basically, the interview is similar in nature to the questionnaire with a certain purpose, it is essentially interchangeable. Adams and Schvarevelt continue to advise that in completing a questionnaire or responding to an interview, once the respondent accepts the situation non threatening, the more he or she will be open, candid and insightful (1985:214-215).
Three types of interview are used in research methodologies. Some use highly structured interviews, while others use semi structured or unstructured interviews (Dowsett 1987:29-32). In this thesis, the writer has used the last two types; semi- structured and unstructured interviews. These two have been applauded for their quality of the first hand information (Smith 1975:12; Chambers 1993:29) and proved successful where other methods have failed (Fairhead & Leach 1996:9). Borg and Gall conclude by indicating that this approach does not employ a detailed interview guide but has a general plan and usually asks questions or makes comments intended to lead the respondents towards giving data to meet the interviewer's objectives (1963:43).
2.4.2. Interview Setting
The research was conducted in the North Western Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. Interview questions were used to conduct research. The researcher's initial proposal was that interviews be tape recorded and then transcribed. Tape recording has several advantages. Best advises that "recording interview on tape is convenient and inexpensive" (1981:166). Borg and Gall also asserts "it reduces the tendency of the interviewer to make an unconscious selection of data factoring his biases... It can also be
played back more than once and can make studies much more than once thoroughly than would be the case if data were limited to note taking during the interview (1963:445).
In this research, respondents were interviewed in their respective dwelling places. During the interview, the writer endeavoured to assume a non argumentative and supportive attitude. Unfortunately, this method of tape recording did not yield the expected results.
Even after the researcher had explained to the interviewees that recording was just a tool to help the researcher to remember and insure the accuracy, some interviewees were uncomfortable and the sight of the recorder scared some. This tendency caused some of the interviewees not to feel free to give some related information. Adams and Schvarevelt support the researcher's findings by saying that "in interviews involving information of highly personal nature, the respondent may be reluctant to express her or his feelings if she or he knows that her or his responses are being recorded" (1985:230).
Although some of the respondents indicated that they did not mind the tape recording, the writer observed that some were uneasy responding to some questions. Through this observation, the researcher therefore decided not to use this tool at all and instead reverted to writing down responses during the interviews. This method proved to be successful because interviewees were open and honestly gave the relevant information.
This method left the interviewees to be free to give answers as they liked, and also for the writer to record the exact responses given.
The interview methodology helped the writer to discover how Christians in the North Western Diocese define and understand conversion and revival in their daily life. The writer went to approximately forty three (43) interviewees consisting of the following:
: Eleven (11) Pastors
: Thirteen (14) Revivalists (Aboluganda)
: Eleven (11) Christians who are not attending fellowship meetings
: Seven (7) Secondary School students and theological students from Ruhija Theological Centre.
By defining the given questions to the interviewees, the interview session was preceded by a brief explanation of the purpose of the study. There were no preconceived right answers to the questions but the writer was trying to discover how Lutheran Christians in the North Western Diocese understand conversion and revival. Interviewees were asked questions about their perceptions, understanding, values and aspirations on the whole process of conversion and how they understand revival. The interview questions covered the following aspects:
: Their pre conversion lives.
: How they were converted and joined the Revival Movement.
: Their experiences of the new life of faith.
: Their successes and failures in the life of faith.
: Family background information.
: Their relation with other people.
: Their involvement in the Church.
In evaluating the impact of their conversion and revival experiences, the following questions will be used as a guide: What difference did the revival experience have on the candidate's life physically, psychologically and socially?
Physically: For example: Was there any healing involved? What were the consequences of this in his or her life? For example, how did it improve his or her ability to get a job.
Psychologically: What difference did the revival make to the candidate's sense of well- being, confidence and purpose in life?
Socially: What differences did the revival make to the person's relationship with others in the family, friends and community?
To allow the respondents to freely express themselves, the researcher had to give them enough time to express themselves in the Swahili language or in their mother tongue.
This exercise called for much translation of all the interview questions for the final presentation.
Some participants gave very detailed accounts, making the interview much longer, while others were very vague with their answers.
2.4.3. Duration of the Interview
Interviews take time, as well as requiring the full concentration of the interviewer. For this case the duration of the interviews ranged from forty five (45), to sixty (60) minutes.
The interview questions and the responses were transcribed from Swahili to English.
Interviews in Tanzania, especially at the grass roots level, cannot be conducted in English. The reason behind this is that the Swahili language is spoken widely spoken in Tanzania. Almost 80% of population speaks Swahili. Professor Seith Chachage and Dr.
Abu Mvungi, both sociologists from the University of Dar Es Salaam (UDSM), confirm that many Tanzanians are more conversant with Kiswahili than English. This has been proved by statistics which show that 88.6% of Tanzanians use Kiswahili while only 5.1%
use English (The Guardian 2001:2).
The people involved in interviews ranged from the age of fifteen and up. Questions were arranged according to the group being interviewed. The field of research was conducted from July to December, 2000 and May to October, 2002.