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

interviews (nine days for Morulem and five for Lokichar) generated quite an
amount of interesting information on the subject. I was able to capture
qualitative information that enriched the survey and enabled me to clarify
certain issues touched upon in the questionnaire, but which required to be
elaborated on so as to reach plausible conclusions on the findings. My two
research assistants assisted me in interpreting whatever I could not
understand properly. I cross checked the data I collected by interviewing
all my key informants on the same topics.
The challenge I experienced in the beginning with the key informant
interviews was that, when I asked them questions, some would give me an
answer that they assumed I wished to hear. However, I was fortunate to
have trustworthy research assistants, who knew the respondents well and
had many relatives in the study community. Sometimes, after an
interview, my research assistants would tell me that the respondent was
not telling the truth. After a while, I would take the opportunity to
comment and confront the respondent with the answers he/she had given
me. My response made them realize that I was in search of genuine
answers hence the need to be truthful.
When an interview session was over (this is applicable to household
interviews also), I would ask the respondent if he or she wanted to add
something, and also ask for permission to come again in case I needed
more information. This question gave the respondent an opportunity to
discuss things they considered important for them to focus on.
One of the key informants, an old man (a mzee) of about 75 years old living
at his Manyatta at Lokichar village, had a lot of cultural knowledge. I spent
about two days with him discussing and recording information about
drought and famine in Turkana and people’s religious practices in
response to these calamities. For the first time, I had the opportunity to
visit a Turkana religious shrine (A Kipeyare or Amurunet) where, at the
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