Sampling and Sampling Procedures

Sampling is the process of selecting a portion of the population to represent the entire population in a study as the population may be too large or too costly to study in its entirety (Frey, et al.

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2000).The subset selected is referred to as a sample and the selection of the subset required needed for the research questions is the act of sampling (Babbie, 2005). In this study, sampling involved the selection of respondents from the entire population and this involved decisions about which people, settings, behaviours and social processes to observe. In this study, the units of analysis were the experiences of the Varemba people in the context of the circumcision and initiation ritual.

To gather data, the researcher selected information-rich cases. These respondents participated in or had undergone the Varemba circumcision and initiation ritual. According to Valle and Halling (1989), the respondents selected should be people who are capable of providing rich descriptions of the phenomena and experiences under study. The respondent should have knowledge and experience of the topic under research and could provide complete and sensitive descriptions of the experience under examination.

This research used non-probability purposive sampling and convenience non-probability sampling. These methods depended on the availability of the population, their willingness to participate and their characteristics being studied (Blanche, et al. 2006). They also depended on those cases that are typical of the population in terms of the characteristics being studied.

The non-probability purposive sampling was used in the current study to select the respondents the society viewed as the custodians and cultural reservoirs of the Varemba traditional values.

The research also targeted those who were about to be initiated or who were about to go for initiation. To identify and obtain access to information-rich subjects, the researcher relied on a male local villager (aged 46) from Rinnete village Nine under Chief Maranda. The debutant belonged to the Varemba culture and he was a former school head at a local primary school. The former students and local villagers who formed the thrust of this research had confidence in the debutant and provided links to other necessary respondents. The researcher himself was a former high school teacher at the local schools under chiefs Negare and Mazetese. He also had a matrilineal uncle who is a mudzabhi [ritual leader] in the Mazetese area. Therefore, the researcher was known to his former students and some of the villagers who had gone through the Varemba initiation ritual knew him too. Most cultural leaders referred to the researcher as mwana wevhu [son of the soil] meaning he was not a stranger but one of them.

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The debutant was son to a local village head. He was also cousin to two chiefs, Neshuro and Chitanga through totems and matrimonial relationships. It therefore became easy to identify individuals who had undergone the initiation ritual, most who happened to be the researcher’s and the debutant’s former students. Therefore, local people had confidence in the researcher and the debutant when it pertained to discussions of their cultural secrets, which they are not usually at liberty to divulge to outsiders. The debutant new the respondents who were information-rich.

Being known to the respondents, the debutant helped them to build confidence in the researcher.

Consent had already been sought through the chiefs and the researcher was granted permission to carry out the research in their areas.

The research focused largely on male respondents except in one case where a female traditional healer was selected, primarily to provide an unbiased view of cultural practices. However, the traditional healer had undergone the komba initiation for women.

Five chiefs, each one of them representing his area, were chosen for this research. Fifteen village headmen, at least three from each chieftaincy formed part of the research. Five indigenous health practitioners were selected, one from each chieftaincy. The ritual leaders selected were, ten Nyamukanga and ten Vadzabhi, at least two of each from each chieftaincy. Traditional elders who had participated in the circumcision ritual were selected from the age group of thirty years and above. One hundred male respondents were selected within the age group seven to twenty-nine and those who underwent the Varemba initiation ritual or those about to take part in the initiation, were potential research subjects for the study. Respondents were chosen based on their relevance to the research questions and theoretical positions. Informal conversational questions were asked to determine the suitability of the respondents in line with the data that was to be gathered.

Non-probability purposive sampling was used since it offered respondents who could provide data that could help in the understanding of the role of the circumcision and initiation ritual of the Varemba people. To avoid bias associated with purposive sampling techniques, simple random sampling was used to select the actual research respondents from the potential subjects.

Convenience non-probability sampling was used to gather information from male respondents and caregivers or those respondents who could be sensitive to the questions and who wanted to

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neither disclose too much about their culture nor answer the questions honestly. This sampling method was suitable since situations could arise when ethical concerns would keep the researcher or the respondents from speaking to every member of a specific group. Convenience sampling relies on respondents who are readily available and those who had agreed to participate in the study. This included visiting the areas and surveying places where the initiates had gathered before going out for initiation and when they returned after initiation. It also involved visiting the areas where initiation rituals had taken place, that is, at Mazhou and Songogwe Mountains in Mwenezi. Individuals who went through the initiation ritual were preferred for the research.