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

me for a period of two years to assist in data analysis and writing of the
thesis. After two years duration, all the information will be destroyed and
electronically wiped out. The confidentiality of the participants has been
carefully protected. Specific personal information has not been used in the
thesis.
3.14 Chapter summary.
In this chapter, an account has been given of the methodological
approaches used in my study. It is apparent in the discussions that no
single method could provide a holistic approach in understanding how the
Turkana people adapt their livelihoods during drought and famine.
Combinations of different methods were required, where each serves a
different but complementary role within the overall research design. The
research methods employed included: documentary review, observation
and informal interview, key informant interview, household survey, and
case histories and mapping.
I realized that the collection of information concerning drought and famine
in rural Turkana District required a good level of trust between the
researcher and the respondents. An informal discussion with villagers and
local leaders during the reconnaissance period, prior to conducting formal
interviews was used as a way of achieving this trust among villagers.
Identifying research assistants who were resident in the area and already
held in trust by village members was another way of overcoming this
problem. Using different methods and asking different people the same
questions was a means of ensuring reliability of the information collected.
The use of open-ended questions was aimed at obtaining a deeper and
clearer understanding of the livelihood responses of different groups, with
different level of access and rights to socio-economic resources. A number
of difficulties were encountered during the data collection stage. However,
the data collected was comprehensive and sufficient to meet the research
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