Data Collection Procedure 49

It started by a visit to the research site to survey and familiarize myself to the area. A research assistant who happened to come from Keta but not from the research site specifically accompanied me. We went round the field, look at things and also have some informal conversation with some few people that we come to contact with. The next day, we were able to find the assemblyman in the area who received us very well because, to him, he knows everything about what I wanted to do. He assisted me by directing me to a man who is one of the unit committee member in the area in order to take me round during my interview so that people will be willing to grant me interview. Through the assistance of this man, I was able to get in touch with people who express interest in what I am doing and willing to grant me interview. Most of my interviews took place usually between 8am to 11am since most of the community members go to fishing after that time. My assistant help book appointment during the afternoon and the interviews were conducted in the morning. Data for this study came from three main sources, primary source, secondary sources.

4.6.1 Primary Sources

Interview: Interviewing is defined as “a set of techniques for generating data from individuals and / or groups utilizing structured, semi-structured, unstructured questioning formats” (Jackson, Drummond, & Camara, 2007, p. 25). The interview questions were open-ended. Every participant who took place in the study was interviewed in his or her free time. This was made possible by the help of a research assistant. With the help of the research assistant, I was able to get in touch with the Assemblyman in the area who then gave me a general overview of the problem. The research assistant informed me that before we can get people to talk to us without any

fear, we have to first see the Assemblyman because he is the community head. This was very necessary not to only show respect to the community head but also to gain trust and cooperation from the community members. After we have met the Assemblyman and everything set for the interview, the research assistant always book appointment with people we will talk to since he lived in the community before and he is familiar with the people. He always books the appointment in the late afternoon when people came back from work and the interviews conducted the next morning. This is because the time that I conduct the research (June - July) was a rainy season so most of the residences do not go to work early in the morning. They wait for the sun to appear before they go to fishing. Choosing early ours in the morning was efficient because we were able to meet the people their homes. Each interview conducted was tape-recorded for accuracy. I spent 25 to 40 minutes per interview. Few interviews were not tape-recorded, as the interviewees did not accept to be recorded. Semi- structured interview guide (See Appendix 1) was used in order to give room for flexibility and allowed room for new questions to be brought to bare during the interview.

One difficulty I encountered on the field was getting the officials in the Keta Municipal Assembly to be interviewed. I initially planned to interview the Municipal Chief Executive and the Planning officer but all attempts to interview them was not successful. This was due to their busy schedule which was the reason they gave. They directed me to read some literature on the resettlement. The official I interviewed in the Municipal Assembly did not give me deeper insight into the topic. This was because there was a change in government and all the officials involved in the project were no more in the Assembly. The official I interviewed in the Assembly only gave me insight into present developments in the community. However, he recommended some books for me to read.

Field Walks and Observations: Non-participant observation was used during the observation. I observed the activities going on in the community but did not participate in any of them. According to Gray (2004) observation enable the researcher to note the attitude and behavior of the people. I employed a passive way of observing activities in the community. I observed without participating in what

round the community looking at how things are done. This was done daily after the interview section. I observed the structure of the houses, how they do their livelihood activities and works in progress in the community. I also observed the schools and roads and other structures that they have in the community. I recorded all the observations made in a field note for easy remembrance during the analysis of the data. In my observations, I appreciate some of the difficulties that some of the community members are going through in relation to the new houses. During windy days, the win blew the sand into some of the houses which did not have fence wall around them. This is because the land is sandy and they did not have many trees to serve as protective cover for the soil. I also saw some houses whose sealing broke down because of substandard materials used by the contractors. I also visited some the new houses which are under construction in the community. I observed that, within the two months I spent in the field, there was no progress. One thing I also observed was that, most of the households construct fence walls around their houses which was not part of the initial construction. Some of these observations were interrogated in the interview and was addressed in the subsequent chapters

4.6.2 Secondary Sources

Secondary data was conducted from published or unpublished literatures on the topic, policy documents, maps, thesis, articles and journals. Some of these resources or documents were available online while others were assessed in libraries. Secondary data often plays an important role in a research because it provides the background and the theoretical context of the research. The secondary data sources for this research looks at the theoretical background of resettlement and livelihood and what other people done in this field. To have a better understanding of the topic, it was necessary to look at some of these documents, review it and pick some of the necessary information relevant to the research topic.