Primary and secondary data

RWANDA

4.3. METHODS OF DATA COLLECTrON

4.3.2. Primary and secondary data

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4.3.2.1. Questionnaire

Two semi-structured questionnaires v ere administered. One was administered at the household level (Appendix 5) and the other to community leaders (4 Responsibles of Cells) (Appendix 5). These Cell leaders were selected because they were closer to members of households. In addition. informal interviews and contacts were made with another four leaders viz. the Executive Secretary of the Cyangugu Province, Mayors and Sector Co-ordinators of Butare and Cyangugu towns. Questions to household heads were basically semi-structured whereas those of leaders were totally open-ended to allow for an indepth exploration of the range of issues affecting communities (Appendix 5). The researcher conducted all interviews.

The questionnaire for heads of households comprised of the following sections:

attitudes, perceptions and experiences of infrastructure/ services and goods before and after the genocide. social economic and demographic characteristics. cultural background of respondents and social interaction patterns.

The first part of questionnaire elicited information on demographic characteristics of respondents such as gender. age. marital status. education. languages. and demographic effects of the genocide on the households regarding migration. income and disease. In the second part. respondents were asked about housing structures including material and availability of services. means of transport. information and communication and sources of fuel. In the third part, questions \vere posed regarding households' relationships with neighbours before and after the genocide. in other words their leisure. conflicts. disabled people. religion, marriage. cultural disintegration and the current level of reconciliation (Appendix 5)

The questionnaire for leaders (Appendix 5) comprised three parts: the respondent's background, the management of socio-econom ic issues after the genocide and the infrastructure and environment management in their administrative units. To complete

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the information on the household case studies at the two locations, semi-structured interviews were conducted with public servants, NGOs and authorities outside the locations. In addition, other quantitative data was found in documents received from the public administration, both local and national, of projects and private enterprises as mentioned earlier. In addition to the questionnaire, informal interviews were undertaken with people from the sampled areas to relate their tragic stories about their experiences during and after the genocide.

However, although the researcher considered the methods and techniques to be strong, there were certain limitations. Questions developed in English had to be translated into Kinya-rwanda because many people spoke only one language, i.e. Kinya-rwanda, during interviews. Translated questions sometimes lost their true meaning.

It

was also difficult to meet people who worked during the day. Interviews took more time than expected. It was also difficult to capture qualitative data with the questionnaire during interviews.

However this problem was overcome with the thematic informal interviews.

4.3.2.2. Interviews schedule, observation, duration of data collection

Before any contact with people in the Cells, local authorities had to be informed and the

research had to comply with the requirements of political authorities to obtain

permission for investigation (Appendix 6 and 7). Unexpectedly, this took one third of

the time allocated for the research. When permissions was received from the Province

and Municipal Authorities, visits to households were done in two steps. During the first

visit the researcher was accompanied by the Coordinator of the Cell for introductory

purposes, to explain the aim of the research and to arrange appointments. This was

complicated because some heads of households work by day and then by night they go

to study at the University. Most of them were available only at weekends. This explains

why appointments were often delayed. Sometimes heads of households delegated

another person in the family, very often their wives to answer questions.

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The second step was the interviews. which took between one to two hours. This depended on the openness of people. T '0 kinds 0f'interviews were used namely one for leaders, and another for head.:; (

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them in vesti gati ng the identi ficat ion of households and the socio-cconol11ic issues in the past ten years (Appendix 5). Four local authorities were the last to be intervie\\·cc! to avoid the researcher being influenced (Appendix 5). Informal discussions also took place with Coordinators of Sectors and Mayors of Municipalities. Despite permission obtained from the provincial local authorities, suspicion, fear and indifference were still observable amongst some households. Also some leaders were not at ease during interviews fearing that the researcher was evaluating their performance. However. interviews were completed within two months.

4.3.2.3

Ethical clearance

In order to comply with theacadl~mic requiremt.'lIts of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

the research design exhibits a concern for others and adopted good ethical practice in addition to concerns for using the con'ect research techniques to conduct relevant research. During the data collection process. the researcher tried to understand, acccpt and respect the rights respondents had as participants. It cnsured that respondents were:

willing participants who had given their informed consent to be interviewed, that they maintained their self respect and their privacy was protected. Additionally. the researcher informed the participants that they had the right not only to refuse to participate but also to withdraw from the research intervicw at any point and in this way respected indiv id lIa I autonomy. Respondents were al so informed th3t the interview process was confidential. To prevent social stigmatization and secondary victimization no names of respondents or exact residential location was part of the questionnaire.

After the data collection process the confidentiality ordata has been preserved.

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