Zapf Chancery Publishers Africa Ltd.

Chapter Title: Appendix 2: Researching a Sensitive Topic – Some Field Guidelines

Book Title: Researching AIDS, Sexuality and Gender

Book Subtitle: Case Studies of Women in Kenyan Universities
Book Author(s): Nyokabi Kamau
Published by: Zapf Chancery Publishers Africa Ltd.. (2013)
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvgc60rb.18

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 Appendices 245

Appendix 2
Researching a Sensitive Topic – Some Field
Guidelines

Based on my readings and experience from my pilot study, the following were
my field guidelines:
▪ Must have a diary with me all the time and make notes on it as soon as I can
find space to do so. This will especially be helpful for my observations.
▪ Negotiating access – What am I ready to give back? If asked I will promise
to give a summarised report of the findings, and some guidelines on best
practices for university based on the findings of the study.
▪ Being wary of gatekeepers – Experiences from the pilot taught me on the
need to have more than one gatekeeper; the need to avoid over reliance on
one or two persons.
▪ Being very careful about the selection of the interview context – and this will
depend on the respondents, in the introduction and request letter of telephone
conversation. I will ask them to decide the best place and most comfortable
for them. If they allow me, I will also suggest venues.
▪ My introduction to the respondents: be careful on the amount of information
given about the study; will be different for the women participants and the
decision makers. Given the sensitivity of my topic touching on issues like
gender and sexuality and in a sensitive context on such matters (university)
it will be helpful that I attend seminars and conferences, continue writing on
these topics in the newspaper so that potential respondents can understand
my position. This has been shown by other researchers as a way of helping
to reduce suspicion when dealing with a sensitive issue. In dealing with
a sensitive topic and context, it is important that potential interviewees
understand the researchers’ values and ideals as this gives them the confidence
to share experiences about their lives. I have experienced this with the kind
of feedback I get from people who read my opinion articles in the newspaper.
Some of those I interviewed kept referring to some of these articles and they
felt they could trust me with their own experiences. I will attend seminars

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246 Researching AIDS, Sexuality and Gender

throughout the research period where I can present papers and also get to
meet more potential respondents.
▪ On consent – I need to be aware that it is very difficult to have a fully informed
consent especially for the interviews with women, it is not possible for a
respondent or even a researcher to really be clear of what the consequences
of talking about private matters can entail (Hollway and Jefferson, 2000). I
will try my best to ‘do no harm’; nevertheless I need to be aware that it may
be difficult to predict whether talking about some intimate and emotional
matters will do no harm not just for my participants, but also for myself. The
only solution I can offer is to provide a list of agencies where further help can
be assessed. This will apply also to myself. I will require some debriefs if and
when I need them. I will ask some close friends to keep an eye on me and alert
me if they notice that I am getting stressed out. I will also ‘listen’ to signs of
stress.
▪ On power relations – I need to be constantly aware of the power relations
between my research participants and myself. Some of the factors that will
have an effect on this are positions of the interviewee in relation to me, the
context of the interview, gender and age.
▪ On disclosure of sensitive issues by my participants and myself. I need to be
aware of the need to keep assuring them that the information will be treated
with outmost confidence and all details will be kept anonymous and where
necessary, I will change some of the details (e.g., age, ethnicity, position at
university, etc) as long as these changes do not affect the quality of the data.
▪ Endings – I will be very careful about ending the relationship with the
interviewees. I will do a well summarised closer with ‘thank you’ messages,
after every interview and send a ‘thank you’ note to each one of them. I will
not refer to the interviewees if I meet these people after that unless of course
they initiate a discussion in this.
▪ How will the findings be disseminated? In case this question is asked, I will
say that it is first and foremost for my thesis. However, after the PhD I intend
to publish articles in journals and hopefully write a book that can be accessed
by those outside academia. If the two case universities request for a report of
the research, I can give them a summary of the findings, recommendations
and some guidelines for good practice after completion of my studies.

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