3.1.3. Secondary Data
According to McNeill (1985), secondary data may come from
various sources including, data from previous studies, official documents
(such as government gazettes and reports), mass media (press releases
or television and radio programmes), books, and articles (McNeill,
1985). All sources of data collection can be used in order to
provide evidence and make more credible arguments.
3.1.4. Application of the Above-Mentioned Methods for
this Report
This subsection aims to provide details about the case
studies, the interviews, and the participant observation methods that were
applied. It will also include some of the difficulties that I encountered when
applying different methods in my study.
a) Case Study Research
Hillbrow and Yeoville were the case study areas chosen
for this research in order to gather primary data on both male and female
FMs living in the inner city for more than three years. Their ages varied
between 25 and 60; and interviewees were nationals from the
following
regions: Central Africa (DRC), West Africa (Ivory Coast
and Nigeria), and East Africa
(Burundi, Tanzania, and Ethiopia). Interviewers were
also chosen based on their representation (in terms of number) and
influence in the inner cit y of Johannesburg.
b) Interviews
The outcomes of interviews that I will present in
this chapter come from 20 in-depth and semi-standardised interviews
that done with 10 FMs (males and females), 7 members of CSOs, one
official of the DHA, one police officer from the Hillbrow Police Station, and
one local government official. Among the 10 in-depth interviews done with FMs,
five were done this year and the five other were selected from the
2005's interviews done in collaboration with Kihato.
As already said, data presented in this study are a result of
in-depth (or open-ended) and semi- structured interviews (see section
3.1.2b). All my interviews began with a few structured questions (as
mentioned in Chapter One: Introduction). In general, I was interested in
stories and experiences of refugees and asylum seekers living in the
inner city, as well as their relationships with CSOs. Regarding interviews
with members of CSOs, the most significant elements were their mission,
activities, and their relationships with FMs and the State, and well as
their relationships among themselves through their networks.
c) Participant Observation
This task was accomplished through my day-to-day
interactions with FMs at schools, in Hillbrow and Yeoville, and at the
offices of some CSOs. I participated in migrants' religious meetings and
observed some of them in community forums, particularly in Yeoville and I also
spent hours in public parks observing and learning from conversations.
In August 2006, I joined FMs at the DHA to observe
documentation process. This also provided an opportunity to interview an
official from the Department who preferred to remain anonymous. Apart from
three informants (the Home Affairs official, the LG official, and the Wits
students) who preferred to remain anonymous, all others informants, in turn,
agreed to
the use of their names in this document.
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