Performing Identities in Urban Spaces; Kampala, Uganda - Royal ...

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Students seemed quick to trust us, perhaps because we were working within a “known” environment. The fact that all interviews were conducted in a space they knew well and at their convenience helped to ensure that they were comfortable and felt free to speak openly. The fact that we are all students helped us to be more approachable, particularly among the A-Level pupils whom we were close to age. As we were introduced to the staff as students working with the School of Women and Gender Studies at Makerere (see appendix 1), they were able to view us as undergraduate students - a much less threatening identity than that of “foreign researcher”. Environment There is always a risk, particularly in school-based studies that students will provide answers that they “think you want to hear”, rather than giving true accounts of their experiences (Van Blerk 2006:55). Over the course of the interviews, which in most cases were 45minutes to an hour long, contradictory accounts were given and we have had to use our judgement and observations to determine the most likely truth (Harrison 2006:65). Though every effort was taken to explain to participants that there were no right answers and that the research was only interested in their real life experiences, it was important to analyse material gathered with this limitation in mind. It is also very possible that some pupils and students felt unable to speak freely for fear of getting into trouble with the institutional authorities. This may also explain why the majority of students were unwilling to claim first-hand experience of, for example, relationships with teachers or older men, instead reporting cases of other students who had become pregnant or been expelled. Conducting research in an unfamiliar cultural context proved challenging, especially in the early phases. Although English is widely spoken, particular words and phrases needed defining, thus allowing us to engage in a locally relevant manner and decipher participants’ intended meaning. For ethical reasons we avoided talking about sexuality and ethnicity because these were sensitive topics that were not openly talked about amongst our participants. These are important points of analysis to consider when researching identity in social geography which have been discussed in relation to gender and ‘race’ and are key components when studying ‘young adults’. 21
Getting acquainted with our surroundings and ‘normal’ behaviour took time, which, while necessary, encroached upon research or networking time. Our time in the field was restricted by University term times both in Uganda and the UK; we could not go to Kampala until term began due to our fourth (in-country) team-member being unavailable, and had to return in time for the beginning of the academic year at Sussex. Limitations were expected, thus we prepared for this by networking prior to our arrival in Kampala. Similarly, punctuality proved problematic, the phrase “this is Africa” (TIA) was frequently used in reference to participants being late for arranged meetings. Altered plans We were unable to access Watoto Church because of all the bureaucracy in place, despite numerous meetings and communication before we arrived in Uganda. As a result our participant observation within that organisation was limited and we were unable to gain more than a surface impression of their workings. Instead we made contact with another evangelical Church, which proved to be most fruitful. On the 1 st of September it was announced that the University of Makerere had been closed indefinitely as a result of strike action by university lecturers, and neither the media nor our contacts were able to anticipate when it would reopen. This was where our gatekeeper worked and where we were to meet many of our initial participants; it was also where we were able to network and arrange meetings. The strike thus created many difficulties for the team. Due to the strikes we were not being able to fully explore the lived experience of “campus life”. We acknowledge that our aim to discover the influence of the university as a social institution and its influence on informing identity was limited. Campus was dangerous during the strikes as there was threat of violence and ‘tear gas’, we overcame this by texting students at Makerere to inquire as to the safety of travelling through town onto campus. Methodology The use of a flexible sampling methodology and volunteerism obviously affected the data collected as it is likely that students who volunteered their spare time to answer research 22
Page 1 and 2: Summer 2011 FIELDWORK REPORT: PERFO
Page 3 and 4: Research Site The Ugandan capital c
Page 5 and 6: At St Annes, interviews were conduc
Page 7 and 8: Key findings: The increasing focus
Page 9 and 10: to undergraduate and postgraduate s
Page 11 and 12: the ways in which staff and pupils
Page 13 and 14: The Experience of Home University a
Page 15 and 16: creates a cyclical problem as girls
Page 17 and 18: Fig 1: 16
Page 19 and 20: Fig 3: 18
Page 21: Fig 5: Limitations The method used
Page 25 and 26: One of us was almost mugged in the
Page 27 and 28: Kane, E. (1995)Seeing for Yourself:
Page 29: APPENDIX 1: 28

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