DOING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH WITH YOUNG
RESPONDENTS
When doing research with children one needs to reflect on one’s role as
researcher and one’s conceptions about childhood. As said before, I view
children as capable actors, which is not to say that I ignore that there are
differences between adults and children. For instance, from earlier research,
I was aware that Xhosa culture is very hierarchically organized, especially
when it comes to age differences (van Dijk, 2002).Traditionally, ‘children’
cannot directly confront an older person. They have to do as they are told
and show respect to older women or men by calling them ‘Mama’ or
‘Tata’. In the eyes of the children, I was probably an ‘older person’ and
this complicated the research.
During my fieldwork, I always introduced myself as a research student
fromabroad and explained that I wanted to learn as much as possible from
their experiences. To counteract the possible differences in power between
me and the children, I tried as much as possible to have the children and
young people ‘wield their power’, as will be discussed in the next para-
graph. The interviews mostly had a conversational form, meaning that chil-
dren could discuss the subjects they wanted to discuss. With most children
the interviewing worked well. After a couple of meetings, most seemed
comfortable talking with me and often started talking about subjects
related to my research without my asking them directly. We would also
discuss my personal life, such as problems I encountered being a stranger
in South Africa or being young in the Netherlands. These conversations
were useful as they provided me with their personal views on several issues.
Furthermore, I experienced sharing stories about myself as giving some-
thing in return for their stories.
Besides being an ‘older person’ in the eyes of the children, I am also a
white person. My whiteness significantly affected how people perceived me.
During my fieldwork, many people were surprised that I visited the town-
ships alone. Most people, of all race groups, were worried because they
thought it was very dangerous. Generally, when I walked or drove through
the streets in Ibhayi, I was a major attraction. People smiled, laughed or
waved, but also called me names, such asboer(farmer in Afrikaans) or
oubaas(‘old boss’). Although I mostly perceived this as harmless, one of
my interpreters was always highly annoyed by these remarks because she
perceived them to be offensive. When I visited the children, community
members also often mistook me for a social worker.
Mission Impossible 67