CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGIES AND METHODS
4.7 Research ethics and the dialectics of the insider and outsider
4.7.1 Gaining entry through the politics of belonging (Wematongo).
In this section, I reflect on the ethical dilemmas that I encountered in the twelve months of research at Chingwizi in Mwenezi. It should be emphasized from the outset that any study that involves people raises ethical questions (Muzvidziwa 2004).As argued elsewhere in this report, the relations of mistrust between the states and residents in the pre-displacement and post- displacement phases inevitably made this study a highly political and subjective study. This state of affairs raised serious challenges in getting the letter of authority from the central government, which was a prerequisite for carrying out this research. The letter in question would also ensure that the research is couched in the ethical imperatives in sociological research. This would also help to ensure that the study meets the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) ethical guidelines for postgraduate studies. To the central government, the local and provincial authorities, the Chingwizi area and the other transit camps that house the Tokwe Mukosi people are insulated from research and other humanitarian activities deemed to be political in orientation.
In order to get the aforementioned permission, I had to go through a cumbersome process, starting from the local and provincial authorities up to the central government. Given the volatility of the political environment in this context, the local authority and provincial authority would only facilitate the process, but I needed final authority from the central government. It became evident from the outset that ethical guidelines would be very difficult to observe in their crude form. As a researcher, I needed to be very flexible, patient and pragmatic to achieve my objectives. This is also linked to reflexive ethnography, which was the main method used to gather data in this study. In the final analysis getting the authority to do research became a negotiated position. I needed to make practical negotiated agreements with the central government and its subsidiaries. In such a dilemma, Teshome-Bahiru and Negash-Wossone
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(2007) encourage ethnographic researchers to ensure that such agreements be grounded in real discussions involving individual and public discussions of the research and its purpose.
To achieve that objective, I had to navigate the challenge of providing evidence and explanations that there were no political motives underlining this research. The authorities were therefore assured that this research was merely for academic purposes. Most importantly, I had to deploy social capital, wherein the politics of identity and belonging became a valuable resource. I had to produce evidence that I am a resident researcher. This is because my rural home is Chivi in Masvingo, which is the area that was affected by flooding and the subsequent displacements.
This actually made me Wematongo, a popular title among the Tokwe Mukosi people given to someone with the same identity, original geographical location and socio-economic predicament.
Armed with this status, I was then granted the authority to do research, albeit after three months of waiting and lobbying.
Informed consent was also one of the key ethical considerations that I had to seriously consider in this study. The aim here was to protect and fully inform my participants about the purpose, risks and benefits for participating in this research. While I acknowledge that the size, cultural background and location of my study area made it difficult for the respondents to understand many of the technical facets of ethics, I made an attempt to make sure that the local people get adequate knowledge about the nature and purposes of this study. This would mean that they participated voluntarily from an informed position. Permission was also sought by the researcher to record the interviews. The politics and contestations embedded in these internal displacements however made some respondents uncomfortable with the use of audio recording devices and the signing of informed consent forms.
In as much as I managed to have many of my responds signing the Informed consent forms, some respondents particularly the elderly were averse when it comes to the signing of informed consent forms as well as the use of audio recording devises. As stated above, this was a byproduct of the volatile state-people relations and wide spread culture of violence in Zimbabwe.
Consequently, this has led to uneasiness and relations of mistrust between the Chingwizi people
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and public institutions. (I explore this element in chapter 5 of this thesis). To put this into perspective, when I requested to record VaJongwe (50) (not real name) he said,
“Nhai mwanangu kana dzingori nyaya ngatingotaura handiti wati uriwematongo. Ko zvekusayina nekutepewa zvabva kupi?Unoda kuzviendesa kupi?Bva, kana zvakadaro ngazvikone.”
(My son; if it is just a discussion, let’s just talk. Did you not say you are from matongo? If so, then what’s with this idea of signing a form and recording? What do you want to do with that information? If that’s the case, we’re not going to talk).
Some respondents agreed to be recorded, but they were in a meditative mood and the information provided was inconsistent. Faced with this social challenge, I had to be flexible and embrace the ideals of reflexivity in such contexts. Thus, to deal with this practical challenge, the researcher resorted to taking field notes with the help of the two research assistants. This explains why I had fewer recorded interviews in this study, compared to the field notes.
In addition to the above mentioned solution, recorded respondents were also promised that the recorded data will be stored in a safe and secure laptop and that the data will be destroyed after five years. To guarantee confidentiality and anonymity, I gave them the assurance that I will use pseudonyms as opposed to their real names. This helped in a significant way to instill confidence in them, given the volatile relations between the state and the displaced villagers. To this end, all the names I used in the presentation and analysis chapters are not the real names of the respondents interviewed in this study. The problem of recording and signing in forms is not peculiar to this study. Muzvidziwa (2004) experienced the same problem in his study in Masvingo urban in Zimbabwe. He noted that form filling had negative implications on the relations between the researcher and the researched, considering the fact that the respondents are not used to such bureaucratic procedures. In his submission, the situation was exacerbated by the repressive colonial history wherein the signing of forms and divulging information were considered to be risky. Adding to the serious challenge of signing forms, as a resident researcher I observed that some important aspects that were directly linked to the discussion would be
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discussed unexpectedly and in many cases, this would happen in other social contexts outside the research. While it is ethically important to request the spontaneous respondents to sign the informed consent forms, it practically made little sense to such people. This would also have a knock on effect on the flow of information. Moreover, it would alienate the researcher from the discussions.
Faced with the aforesaid ethical and practical challenge, I had to be very flexible in finding an informal way of informing the respondents that such information is linked to my study. I had to explain myself and make them understand that I wished to use this information only if it was agreeable with them. This situation points to the observation that in practical terms getting informed consent should not always follow the conventional and rigid process. Rather, it is always a dynamic and endless process. My experience at Tokwe Mukosi is echoed by the American Anthropological Association code of ethics (2009). It states that getting informed consent does not always require a signed form. Instead, it is the quality of the consent that is of paramount importance.
Trust was further enhanced by the change of the political landscape in Zimbabwe, following the removal of the then ZANU PF leader Robert Mugabe. To put this into perspective, the Mugabe regime was labeled as undemocratic, repressive and intolerant to human rights and freedoms such as freedom of association and expression. On the contrary, the new government popularly known as ‘The New Dispensation’, at least during the time of research, was said to have opened up the political space and human freedoms. Much as the larger part of the fieldwork was conducted towards a general election, this relative democratization of the state and state institutions encouraged some respondents to discuss issues affecting them freely during the research process. The wematongo label was also critical in the establishment of rapport with the respondents. As indicated in the previous section, I was therefore able to move freely in the community, interviewing my respondents and participating in many community gatherings and other related social events.
All the interviews conducted with the villagers were conducted in the vernacular Shona language. I took into consideration the fact that my target population is a rural community which
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values the local language. Speaking in English language would have created an artificial barrier between the researcher and the researched. Moreover, culturally, in this community every black person is expected to address people in Shona. Thus, all my interviews were conducted in Shona and then translated to English.
Traditionally emphasis has been on the need for the researchers to avoid harm and to protect the respondents. Thus, the need to protect and ensure the integrity of the researcher has been glossed over. In recent times, calls have been made for the researchers to equally avoid putting themselves at risk in the research process (Burgess 2004). What it means therefore is that researchers ought to avoid researches that are likely to put them in danger. Based on social capital and common identity, adapting to the ‘hostile’ conditions at Chingwizi was relatively easy. However, as part of the researcher’s integrity, I have to acknowledge the element of fear and anxiety that I experienced particularly in the second phase of my research. My respondents indicated that the Chingwizi area is habitat to some of the most dangerous wild animals and reptiles, given the fact that it was formally a wild animal ranch.
Throughout the fieldwork, we were always reminded of the threats from the marauding buffalos at Chingwizi. Another threat came from the vicious snakes, scorpions and spiders including the black widow. Given the transitory nature of the resettlements, these reptiles would easily enter the temporary structures at night, putting human life at risk. There are so many cases of bites by these reptiles that were recorded at Chingwizi clinic. One extreme case is that of a young man who was bitten by a black mamba and succumbed to death. During the first phase of my research, we managed to circumvent such challenges and fears because we would sleep in my small car at Tokwe Mukosi primary school together with my two research assistants. In the second and final phase of the research, I coincidentally met my uncle at Bongo business center who then offered us accommodation at the nearby Chekai village. The challenge now was that culturally, it was unacceptable for us to sleep in the car. Thus, he went on to offer us a room where we would sleep on the floor. In many cases, he would warn us about the risks from the aforesaid reptiles. Another serious common threat was that of the small black ant that is believed to be very poisonous at Chingwizi, leading to instant death for human beings.
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While we were sitting around the fire during the first night, my uncle who is a widower, narrated the harrowing experiences of this dangerous and yet common ant. He indicated that the clinic is yet to find an antidote for its venom, but the locals are falling back on indigenous knowledge.
The belief is that the only solution is to rub the fluids from the female genitalia into the wounds from these ants. He jokingly but yet in a scaring manner said,
“Mwanangu zvino zwawasiya mukadzi kumba uchafira kuno kuChingwizi, isu kuno tatorujaira rusvosve urwu.”
(My son since you left your wife behind, you are going to die here because of these small ants as for us, we are now used to them).
After noticing our tense reaction, he however gave us the assurance that we will be safe. He indicated that he was going to put fire in our hut all the time to scare away the ants. The situation was aided by the fact that it was the rainy season Zimbabwe and the temperatures were low at Chingwizi, to the extent that we were comfortable with the fire in the hut at night.