Data Collection

The primary data for analysis and the core of the thesis consists of ten (10) semi-structured interviews with WfC members, conducted during a nine-day seed multiplication workshop in the Choma district of southern Zambia in December 2006.

My secondary data consists of four (4) semi-structured interviews with representatives of the Zambian women's movement, more precisely from the core organisations of the “Vote for Women!”-campaign, conducted in January-February 2007 in Lusaka. I have also used WfC's organisational documents: annual reports, strategic plans, workshop guidelines and notes, and organisations' other information materials to form an understanding of the historical, political and organisational context. Also, as a part of secondary data, I have

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used my notes of personal communication and discussions throughout my internship at WfC between August 2006 – February 2007.

The interviews with both of the participant groups were focused semi-structured interviews (see Appendix I) which could be defined as an interview that focuses on certain topics and themes, and questions around these topics yet offers the researcher some freedom to change the wording and order of the questions according to the interview situation

(Hirsjärvi and Hurme, 2008, p.47). Most importantly, I chose to use this particular method as it focuses on the participants’ own experiences and views on a topic that was considered an important

Focused semi-structured interviews start from the assumption that the participants have experienced a certain event, and can give their personal accounts about it, and that way the interviews serve to gather data on events that the researcher has no access to, to observe the event (Hirsjärvi and Hurme, 2008, p. 48). In this case, the wider context was the 'Vote for Women'-campaign, that includes also the organisations’ preparations and activities, before and during the elections, as well as the individual decision-making process of each participant in the actual elections.

The ten interviews with WfC members in the rural areas were conducted in the Zambian villages of Kayoba and Mapunza in the Choma district of the Southern Province of Zambia, on two days during a nine-day workshop in December 2006. The interview

questions are in Appendix I. The participants were all active members of WfC: five women and five men, who had taken part in WfC’s “Civic Education, Gender PEM (Popular Education Methodologies), and Leadership Training” in 2005 or 2006, lived in the Choma district, and were ethnically Tonga. All participants lived in the rural areas, and their main income source was agriculture, mostly subsistence farming. The participants’ education levels were similar, all had attended school to at least to the equivalent of current Zambian school system's grade 7⁷, and majority to grade 10, all were literate and had a t least basic conversational knowledge of English. The age range was more diverse: 36 years to 75 years, although six out of ten participants were in their 40's.

7 Grades in the current Zambian education system: primary education go up to grade 7, basic up to 9, and fee-paying grades of senior secondary from 10 to 12 (From my notes, 2006).

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Sex Age Education according to current school

system

R1 M 36 Grade 9

R2 M 44 Grade 9

R3 F 48 Grade 9

R4 F 41 Grade 9

R5 M 47 Grade 9

R6 F 42 Grade 7

R7 M 51 Grade 9

R8 F 47 Grade 7

R9 F 85 Grade 8

R10 M 50 Grade 7

Table 2: Interview Participants

Identifying participants for the interviews in the rural areas was relatively easy as I found out that the WfC members, and people in general, were keen to share their views about politics and to answer my questions. As was previously mentioned, I conducted the interviews during a nine-day workshop organised by WfC and the interviews proved popular, offering myself, the interpreter, and the participants an opportunity to take a break from the classroom setting of the sometimes laborious seed workshop. My position as an intern with WfC was, no doubt, also very helpful in peaking the participants’ interest as WfC as an organisation had a very good reputation in the rural areas where they worked.

This was quite evident from the warm welcome the WfC vehicles and staff received in every household they visited.

The interviews lasted between 20 and 30 minutes and covered the main topics of the training the participants had previously attended but also voting and the participants’

opinions on Zambian politics in general, and the September 2006 elections. The final section of the interviews was particularly focusing on women’s political participation in Zambia and how the participants viewed the issue of gender in relation to politics. The interviews were conducted in English when possible, and when the participant felt more comfortable using Tonga⁸, then through an interpreter whom I had carefully instructed on

8 The most common language in Choma district (From my notes, 2006)

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the interview process. All the interviews were recorded and transcribed, and later checked for accuracy by a translator who is fluent in both Tonga and English, who then verified the interpreter's translations to be accurate and giving a full account of the participants’

responses.

The four interviews with the Zambian women's movement's representatives, three women and one man, were conducted between 30 January – 1 February 2007. The three female participants: Executive Director Emily Sikazwe from WfC, Communications and

Advocacy Coordinator Leah Mitaba from Non-Governmental Organisation Coordinating Council (NGOCC), and Executive Director Priscilla Mpundu from Zambia Association for Research and Development (ZARD), were at the time active and central figures in the women's movement, and all had a long professional history in development and gender related work in Zambia. The male participant, Public Relations Officer Nelson Banda from NWLG then, had a history in working in NGOs in Zambia but was relatively new to the field of gender activism. I chose not to use these interviews as part of the analysis but they form an important part of the larger body of data for contextual and historical

understanding.

The main reason for interviewing these participants was that the organisations they represent, were all local Zambian NGOs, but also formed the core of the “Vote for

Women!”-campaign and had a role in the campaign’s organisational body. The interviews lasted from 35 to 60 minutes and covered issues of the Zambian women's movement and the organisation of “Vote for Women!”-campaign. All the interviews were conducted in English and recorded and transcribed. I also made notes by hand during the interviews about the points that were strongly emphasised during the interviews.

As an intern at WfC, I was not merely observing my working environment but actively participating in the office life and all activities. I had open access to the organisation's information materials, and other relevant materials that I have also included in the body of data without specifically referring to them. The WfC team was a close-knit community and we spent time together in and out of the office and as a result, I felt I had built good

working relationships and friendships with the staff. Engaging in my working environment in that manner then also gave me new perspectives on the issues that the organisation dealt with, and 'how things worked'. Writing a research diary and field notes about the

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day discussions and activities at the office and especially, while in the villages, then helped me reflect – or to introspect on - my findings and develop my thoughts further.

I was assigned to the information and advocacy department at WfC and I was therefore a member of the campaigns team, designing information and promotional materials for the

“Vote for Women!”-campaign, but we also designed and produced information materials on other more general focus areas of WfC. I had access and permission to make use of the organisation's strategic plans, annual reports and training materials, all of which I

familiarised myself with to gain better understanding of their methods and approach.