Ethical Considerations in Primary Research

This risk of re-igniting tensions that had been largely laid to rest is clearly at least as much an ethical problem as a limitation of the research approach, and relates also to the trust built by the researchers with a range of informants. In that context, the fact that the primary research de- scribed in this thesis was undertaken with the support and involvement of both management and staff of the Hargeysa-based NGO, the Academy for Peace and Development, proved ex- tremely important. The Academy’s role as a forum for discussion on how the primary research should be carried out, who should be interviewed, where the research team should travel and so on were vital in enabling the establishment of a programme that covered sufficient ground, and included representatives of the primary, and as far as possible secondary or tertiary per- spectives on the conflicts, meetings and negotiations under consideration.

The involvement of Academy researchers, Koss Mohammed and Mahamoud Omer Ali, in the research programme itself was equally vital as they provided ‘real-time’ input into the interviews that were taking place. Indeed, in an environment in which clan and sub-clan play such a large part, it is perhaps worth noting the affiliations of the researchers. This is recorded advisedly: every effort was made by each of the three researchers to transcend the immediate concerns of ethnic or clan affiliation. However, Mahamoud Omer Ali’s Habar Awal lineage and Koss Mo- hammed’s eastern Habar Yoonis identification did inevitably lend a flavour to the approach taken. Similarly, the author of this thesis, Michael Walls, identifies as a New Zealander, and so is outside the Somali lineage system. That fact too, had a direct influence on the manner in which the research was conducted, questions were formulated and asked and responses inter- preted. It is also noteworthy that this trio included one person permanently resident in Hargeysa, one a member of the Somali diaspora temporarily resident in Hargeysa, but since returned to London, and the third, the thesis author, a non-Somali visitor permanently resident in London. If nothing else, the research team represents a mix of gender, ethnicity/kinship and residency affiliations.

These influences are, of course, inevitable, and they are stated here only for the record.

One further role played by the Academy was in facilitating informal and formal peer review of the case study material prepared. Considerable input was sought by the researchers, and provided by Academy management in the form of confirmation and clarification on key points. A formal peer review process was then instigated by Interpeace, working with the Academy, in which four peers with knowledge of the case study period were asked to read the case study re- port and to comment on its accuracy, to highlight points on which they agreed and so on. These comments were incorporated where appropriate into the report, which has been separately pub- lished as Walls et al., 2008.

These formal and informal review processes were vital in checking perspectives, identifying po- tentially sensitive material and generally in improving the accuracy of the case study as a rep- resentation of the perceptions of those who took part in the events described.

It is largely inevitable that research of this type will engage primarily with elites. The topic itself demands an understanding of the actions and motivations of those who assumed leadership roles in the various conferences, meetings and conflicts. In a society with as patriarchal a cul- ture as that of the Somalis, it is also ineluctable that that elite will be dominated by men, and that was indeed the case in this instance.

Effort was made on the part of the researchers to include the voices of women, in particular. However, those efforts were not wholly successful. A number of women approached for inter- views were not willing to take part formally, and of those who did, they were not always comfort- able speaking in detail about the events under review, let alone their own roles in them. This was not always the case, but women interviewed individually tended to be less forthcoming than those who took part in the group discussion that was convened for the research (Anab Omar Ileye et al., 2007).

In numerical terms alone, the domination of men is clear: 56, or 86% of respondents, were men and that domination is even more pronounced when the greater willingness of men to talk openly is taken into account.

As is common practice, all interviewees were told the nature of the research and were given the opportunity to decline to take part. Most interviews were recorded on either a digital or cassette recorder, or in a few instances, on video. In all instances, permission was sought for the record- ing, and the recorder was used openly.

A few of those approached for interviews did decline. Initial contacts were often made through local colleagues (typically those at the Academy for Peace and Development), as this ensured that the context was explained fully and in a setting in which the prospective informant could comfortably decline.

In only one instance did an interview subject ask that he not be cited, and he subsequently res- cinded this request.

The vast majority of those approached for interviews seemed to readily accept that the research goal of understanding the processes that occurred between 1990 and 1997, and the ways in which they contributed to the establishment of what has become a durable stability, was a worthy one and there was no evidence that informants were reluctant to contribute to that pursuit.