This study was primarily concerned with documenting and amplifying the voices and experiences of adults from a resource-poor rural community who had limited access to safely managed water. It was for this reason that I chose a qualitative approach for this study. Rananga and Gumbo (2015) argue that quantitative research is limited because it does not offer rich contextual explanations from the participants’ perspective. Therefore, informed by this knowledge, in this study, I adopted a qualitative mode of inquiry.
In this regard, a qualitative approach proved to be a resourceful and relevant approach for producing descriptive and subjective data. The qualitative design of the study relied on the participants’ own spoken and written words, and observable behaviour (Taylor, Bogdan &
DeVault, 2015). Qualitative research depends on an individual’s subjective reality of a social phenomenon (Creswell, 2012; Creswell & Poth, 2016; Moalusi, 2020). Therefore, I located this study within a qualitative research approach because of its ability to provide answers to the ‘how and why’ questions, rather than those that focus on ‘how many’. A vital feature of
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qualitative research is its focus on human experiences (Alase, 2017; Lune & Berg, 2016;
Merriam & Grenier, 2019). Consequently, within the context of rural communities, they are more likely to face challenges regarding limited access to safely managed water. Thus, the qualitative approach enabled me to unearth a deeper understanding of the research, especially given the complexities and the many dynamics surrounding it. I was particularly interested in the participants' subjectivities, experiences, and voices instead of quantifying them.
4.3.1 Participatory Research
Participatory research is a type of qualitative research that recognises research participants as more than just subjects of study, but as people who are actively involved in the generation of knowledge about the phenomena being explored (Bergold, 2007; MacDonald, 2012).
Participatory research methods, are directed towards planning and conducting the research process with the people whose daily lives and meaningful actions are being studied (Bergold
& Thomas, 2012). According to Smit-Perry, Fuller & Stauber (2020), participatory research treats everyone involved in the research process as active and rightful participants. Indeed, Ruff and Harrison (2020) further affirm that participatory research prioritises the genuine participation of the communities of interest as co-investigators, and ensures the relevance of the research for the community’s lives.
Participatory research plays a vital role by including the participants in the generation of data, the analysis process, and brings value to the research. The research process shifts from where researchers are purely extracting information from participants to give a voice to those who would, under different circumstances, not be heard. This approach provides a space for the engagement of communities and individuals involved in the research (Budig et al., 2018; Chew, Maheshwari & Somerville, 2019; Wang et al., 2004; Wilson et al., 2007). Participatory research is also praised for reducing the power inequality between the researcher and the community under study (Maclean & Woodward, 2013; Varga-Dobai, 2012). For example, a participatory study by Fletcher-Watson et al. (2019) that aimed at fostering the inclusion of autistic people in autism research found that participatory research creates supportive environments, where the participants occupy an important position in the research process. That is, they become knowledge producers instead of individuals who merely respond to a researcher’s questions.
Specifically, in the study described above, participatory research developed a culture where autistic people had an active and meaningful role in research through changing the language
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used to describe their conditions (Fletcher-Watson et al., 2019). I chose participatory research because it was the most suitable approach for effectively engaging the participants.
Participatory research further enabled the participants to express their experiences and perspectives about living in a community with limited access to safely managed water.
4.3.2 Participatory Visual Methodology
This study used a participatory visual methodology (PVM) to examine the experiences of adults living in a remote rural community, that have limited access to safely managed water. PVM involves the production, organisation, and interpretation of images such as those produced through photovoice (Blackbeard & Lindegger, 2015; Papoulias, 2018). Blackbeard and Lindegger (2015) describe PVM as a methodology for activating research processes set within the participants’ socio-economic contexts. The use of images in research is not a new concept.
Historically, ethnographers used photographs to supplement their field notes and narratives when documenting indigenous human cultures (Kreinath, 2012; Perera, 2019; Pink, 2006).
However, as contemporary researchers argue, using visuals in ethnographic research was not participatory (Pink, 2003; Pink, 2013). Instead, participants were often under the colonial gaze of a researcher. Over time, and with the advent of decolonial research practices, visual approaches in research have taken on a more participatory feature that draws on mechanical tools (such as photovoice) and non-mechanical tools (such as drawing) (Evans et al., 2009;
Kessi, 2018; Literat, 2013).
PVM has been used across different types of fields of study including health (Beauchet et al., 2020; Black et al., 2018; Catalani & Minkler, 2010; Petteway, 2019), education (Switzer, 2018;
Dlouhá & Pospíšilová, 2018), water and sanitation (Bisung et al., 2015a; Bisung et al., 2015b) and natural resource and ecological studies (Cleland & Wyborn, 2010; Tremblay & Harris, 2018). However, for this study, I draw focus on water and sanitation-related studies. According to Walters et al. (2017), the use of PVM in water and sanitation studies has helped participants improve their understanding of the linkages between water, sanitation, and health. Moreover, using PVM in water-related research has played a role in influencing the provision of sustainable water services in disenfranchised communities (Hirsch et al., 2010; Walters et al., 2017).
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PVM has also been used in water governance studies. Fantini’s (2017) study explored the use of PVM, and photovoice, in particular, to examine water governance in rural communities. The results found that the PVM methodology contributed to enhanced knowledge about the distribution of water. It was further revealed that PVM brought an understanding of the underlying emotions, values, and concerns associated with water governance. In this light, scholars attest to PVM’s potential for linking emotions, values, and concerns to the natural environment specifically the water infrastructure (Fantini, 2017; Keremane & McKay, 2011).
Therefore, when PVM is adopted in water-related research, it provides an insightful approach for encouraging a discussion with different stakeholders and those affected by the water governance process (Fantini, 2017; Puri & Sahay, 2003).
In this study, PVM allowed adults affected by the provision of limited water service delivery in their community to voice out their concerns and experiences. In this regard, the PVM methodology allowed participants to share their experiences of living in a community with limited access to safely managed water supply (Smith-Perry, Fuller & Stauber, 2020; Sen &
Kansal, 2019). As I have shown in subsequent chapters, the participants produced and used photographs to illustrate their daily living experiences. Likewise, as Levison et al. (2012) argued, PVM exposes inequalities that are dominant in rural communities, thus supporting the participants’ reflections about their living conditions. In this study, I used PVM because of its potential for uncovering deep-seated issues relating to rural communities’ marginalisation from safely managed water services and for its potential for inspiring reflection (Mitchell, De Lange
& Moletsane, 2017; Switzer, 2018).