54 comfortable, especially since they might be apprehensive in answering questions from a
„stranger‟. Giving the interview schedule to the participants in advance showed that the interview and the questions were not meant to be an ambush on them but rather I wanted the participants to feel comfortable and obtain their trust and wanted to show that the process was professional and transparent.
The participants were free to refuse to answer any question he/she felt uncomfortable with. A consent form was given to participants in order to obtain their permission to conduct the interview as well as to protect their identity during the various stages of the research. The recorded interviews were transcribed by me verbatim. Fielding and Thomas (2008:257) write that “verbatim transcription offers the advantage that all possible analytic uses are allowed for”. This means that a number of perspectives can be explored during analysis. Fielding and Thomas (2008:257) also point out that transcribing audio recording verbatim is advantageous as data that may not be seen as important at first may become significant later, it is thus important to transcribe the entire interview so as not to lose any data.
Eight of the participants interviewed were from the PRC while only one participant was from the ROC. The participant from the ROC (or Taiwan) had come to South Africa with his immediate family fourteen years ago. This is seen as the outcome of the agreement made between the PRC and South Africa fourteen years ago, which stated that if diplomatic ties between the two countries were to officially resume then South Africa should sever all ties with Taiwan (Guliwe and Mkhonto, 2009). Therefore, the majority of Chinese migrants in South Africa, who have come after 1998, are from the PRC (Wilheim, 2006; Accone, 2006).
55 places him/herself in a particular environment in order to understand an aspect of social life.
In participant observation the researcher is the main instrument through which data is generated (Jones and Somekh, 2005:138). Hennick et al (2011:170) writes that during participant observation the researcher is systematically involved in “watching, listening, questioning, and recording people‟s behaviours, expressions and interactions as well as noting the social setting, location or context in which the people are situated”. Participant observation involves the researcher being aware of the social setting through listening and watching what people do and say in order to generate detailed data. Through observation and participating in the various activities with those being observed, the researcher is able to grasp an understanding of the particular interactions, behaviour and actions that occur. The researcher records what occurs in the setting through writing field notes which forms the raw data which can be analysed.
Jones and Somekh (2005:138) indicate that participant observation “entails being present in a situation and making a record of one‟s impressions of what takes place”. Data is recorded or the social happenings are seen from the point of view of the researcher who holds a particular ontological position. In this research the researcher‟s ontological position (also outlined in the theory chapter) “sees interaction, action and behaviour and the way people interpret these, act on them” as central (Mason, 2002:85). During participant observation my main focus was the interactions and actions that occurred in the social setting. A detailed description of the social setting as well as other significant occurrences were also recorded. Observations were made of naturally occurring phenomena which meant that the observation process was unstructured and flexible.
4.6.1 Participant observation process
The Chinese trader hired me as I initially presented myself as a student who was interested in interviewing Chinese migrants in the Durban area. The female shopkeeper required students who could work for her on a causal basis. Therefore access to the store and spending time in the presence of Chinese migrant shopkeepers were immediately given. Participant observation was conducted in a shop located in one of the shopping malls where the research was conducted. 20 The shop sold various products but specialised in selling toys. Participant observation was conducted over a five week period. I worked two days every week on a
20 The exact location of the shopping mall is not revealed so as to protect the identity of the participant.
56 Friday and a Saturday. Two days a week was chosen (instead of working everyday) as I lived far from the shopping area and transport costs were high. Since participant observation was conducted in winter, and being a young female researcher, it was dangerous, to travel by public transport as it gets darker quicker than in summer and this encourages criminal activity. This, however, allowed me to examine the changes that occurred on a week-to-week basis. I worked from 9am to 4pm and sometimes I worked until 4:30pm. I arrived at work early so that I could observe other Chinese shopkeepers.
The shop I worked for employed both South Africans and other African foreigners. Since I worked alongside young South African and Malawian males and females I was able to acquire a first-hand account of their interaction with regard to their employers and their thoughts and feelings with respect to working for the Chinese trader. Working in a shopping centre also allowed me to easily talk to other shop assistants who worked for Chinese migrants. I recorded their stories and attitudes towards their Chinese employers in my field notes. The observations of the employer-employee relationship was imperative in understanding the interaction that occurs within the Chinese shop which is discussed in detail in the succeeding chapter.
When I began to work for the Chinese shopkeeper our relationship changed from being a student interested in interviewing a Chinese migrant shopkeeper to employer and employee.
Mason (2002:95) indicates that “relationships in research settings are likely to develop and change over time”. My relationship with the shopkeeper and the other workers in the shop did change over time. Since I become one of the workers I had a first-hand account of the interactions that occurred in that particular Chinese shop. I was employed to do various tasks from observing customers, to placing products on the shelves, placing price tags on the products using the price machine, doing stock take, sorting products, shifting heavy boxes around the store and in the store room, sorting the store room and cleaning the shop especially during the morning before the store opened and in the afternoon after the store had closed, as well as serving the customers. I did these tasks with the shopkeeper, with the other shop assistants or by myself.
Since most of my time was spent working, observing and listening I had no time to take any notes during participant observation. Field notes were written soon after leaving the field.
Observations, interpretations and reflections were recorded simultaneously. Mason (2002:99)
57 writes that “you may incorporate your own perceptions, everyday interpretations, experiences and so on into your field notes, or alternatively you might feel that you should keep these separate from your observations of others”. Mason (2002) goes on to explain that how you write your field notes depends on your epistemological perspective. Since the epistemological position used in this research is one that views knowledge as constructed through the daily interactions of people, it is therefore acceptable to incorporate the reflections of the researcher and how the researcher played an active part in the research process in the field notes.