Feasibility Study of Proposed Tourism Dev in Shewula, NE ...

Chapter 1 - Introduction
development concept. This limited the intended research, and it became necessary
to take on a more strategic, pre-feasibility focus.
b) Time constraints
The six-week field research period made in-depth, continuous interaction with the
community impossible. As a result there was too short a period to build up strong
trusting relationships with community members as a whole. This had an affect on the
quality of the qualitative research. The sense of urgency to spend the British Council
grant, and meet project deadlines, also placed tremendous pressure on those
involved in the planning and development process to produce results, with the
potential that the findings of a feasibility assessment could become redundant or be
disregarded.
c) The broader socio-political and cultural context
There was a possibility that the potential advantages and benefits of the proposed
tourism development could raise expectations in the Shewula community to
unrealistic levels. To avoid creating unrealistic expectations a degree of 'intervention'
was required, which could arguably be seen as an impact of the study on the
community. While it was the intention of the study team that the research should not
have significant negative impacts on the Shewula community, the actions taken to
prevent high expectations could be interpreted as placing a limitation on the
objectivity of the study.
The resistance and negative responses of some members of the community to the
proposed project resulted in a degree of resistance to the study, and sometimes
resulted in a lack of co-operation with, or deliberate hindrance of, the researchers'
activities. 27 Resistance was also experienced because of criticism levelled at the way
in which the planning for the development was initiated, which some described as
'not people-driven'. 28 Such comments referred specifically to the contrast between
the role of the traditional leadership in initiating plans for the proposed project and the
lack of participation by other members of the community. This contrast reflects the
larger socio-political and cultural picture in Swaziland. The resistance encountered
when attempting to separate issues pertaining to the project from the broader sociopolitical
and cultural context, therefore created another limitation for the research.
1.6.1.2. Limitations resulting from the research process
The research process itself was limited by the social context in Shewula in terms of
the numbers of people involved, language barriers and lack of attendance at
meetings.
a) People contacted or involved in the research
Extensive consultation with all members of the community was not a viable option,
since time was a constraint and the whole population of 10,000 could not be
involved. However, the study team attempted to obtain opinions and perceptions
from as wide a range of people as possible and across as wide a geographical
area as possible.
b) Translation between English and seSwati
The use of translation to overcome the language barrier poses a possible threat to
data reliability, especially in terms of the level of detail contained in the translators'
interpretation of peoples' responses. Some nuances in what people are saying, for
example the linguistic jokes and profound meanings of some proverbs,
were
27
This was particularly the case when the issue of poaching was discussed.
28
Alfred Mabila, Shewula Community member, pers. comm.