PhD thesis Title Page Final _Richard Juma - Victoria University ...

Most people in the rural Turkana District had never travelled abroad, and
they were curious about the western way of life. They had the notion of
western people as a ‘different kind of human being’ who, because of their
prosperity, never encountered problems of hunger, lack of education, and
bad health. Therefore, they thought that I knew a lot of things since I was
living in a western country. Some of the men would even talk to me about
intimate issues regarding sexual problems such as family planning,
condom use and HIV/aids, and would ask me for advice. Others would
talk about their experiences and losses during cattle raids by Pokot
neighbours. During the conversation, the informants would mention some
details that they themselves did not consider as relevant to the interview.
Another feature of the small rural places where I did my fieldwork was
that people tended to know each other. A few people would tell me horrible
rumours concerning other villagers, but I decided not to let such talks
affect my sense of judgment and my work. Most of all, I felt appreciated
and welcomed in Morulem and Lokichar. Therefore, I did not feel lonely or
a stranger. The discussions I had with the informants were an important
process of learning about their views, perceptions, and attitudes regarding
their livelihoods. In return, they also came to know me, and I became
aware of the cultural prejudices I had held before undertaking the
research.
3.12 Data analysis.
The study has mainly used qualitative analytic tools to organize,
summarize, interpret and present research findings in relation to the study
objectives. The analysis of the qualitative data was ongoing right from the
field. I edited the work at different stages while out in the field during data
collection. Editing each interview soon after it was conducted gave me a
chance to get back to respondents to fill in missing information. After data
collection, the field notes were first organized into categories and subjected
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