Values and Validity: Navigating Messiness in a Community-Based Research Project in Rwanda

Abstract

Community-based research in technical communication is well suited to supporting empowerment and developing contextualized understandings, but this research is messy. Presenting fieldwork examples from an interdisciplinary technical communication/medical anthropology study in Rwanda, this article conveys challenges that the authors encountered during fieldwork and their efforts to turn the messy constraints of community-based research into openings. Explicitly considering values and validity provided a strategy for our efforts to democratically share power, maximize rigor, and navigate uncertainty.

keywords:

• community-based research
• cross-cultural
• interdisciplinary
• qualitative methods
• Rwanda
• translation
• visual methods

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to the Rwanda National Police who provided institutional support for this research, as well as to the Rwanda National Ethics Committee members and staff, especially INGABIRE Valentine, for their expertise in making this international, cross-cultural research possible. The authors deeply appreciate BANAMUNGU Idi, and all the leaders and members of Counseling Volunteers Club-Rwanda, for their willingness and patience in partnering with us, the generous Rwandan youth who shared their experiences with us, and UWITONZE Fabrice for his invaluable contributions to the research. The authors also appreciate Ras Banamungu, SMS, Ras Kayaga for inviting us into their brilliant music-making. The authors thank undergraduate research scholar Audrey Merrill for contributing to the day-to-day reflecting and decision-making in the field, and Nzete for the hard work of taking care of the house and the authors during the fieldwork. Lastly, we acknowledge the anonymous reviewers who read and commented on earlier drafts of this article, which was significantly advanced by their insightful suggestions.

Notes

In its entirety, this study explored the connections between youth quality of life as it was perceived and experienced by youth in relation to three topic-based research branches: information and communication technology use, cannabis and other drug use, and religious expression.

In this sector of the capital, we rented living space, conducted data collection, held community events, and met with community partner organizations, but not every research participant lived in this sector of the city.

See their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CounsellingVolunteersClubcvcRwanda.

To clarify, the primary writing voice is Walton and Zraly, and unless otherwise specified, “we” refers to Walton and Zraly.

For more information about our process of crafting the institutional review board application, see Walton, Price, and Zraly (2013).

Fabrice UWITONZE was consulted on this article and requested to be represented by name as shown: Fabrice UWITONZE upon first mention; Uwitonze thereafter.

Youth unemployment and underemployment in Rwanda is extremely high (42%, according to African Development Bank, 2011, pp. 7–8), and social networks are key to finding employment opportunities, so this serendipitous encounter is in line with the way that much hiring occurs in Rwanda.

Because of time constraints, recordings with three Kinyarwanda-speaking participants were transcribed more quickly. This process involved playing the recording for a few seconds, Walton reading aloud the corresponding portion of the interview notes, Uwitonze briefly confirming or correcting the translation, and Walton making any changes to the notes.

Other lyrics during the 5-min 19-s track are sung/rapped in Kinayrwanda.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca Walton

Rebecca Walton is an assistant professor of technical and professional communication in the Department of English at Utah State University. Her research interests include social justice, qualitative methods for cross-cultural research, and the design and use of information technology in resource-constrained environments.

Maggie Zraly

Maggie Zraly is an American medical anthropologist interested in promoting well-being and social justice, and ameliorating illness and suffering, especially in collaboration with conflict- and/or violence-affected people. She has worked primarily in Rwanda with an eye toward developing anthropological applications for recovery from humanitarian disasters.

Jean Pierre Mugengana

Jean Pierre Mugengana is a Rwandan, multilingual jack-of-all-trades in fieldwork. His interests are in promoting peace for all, especially survivors of genocide.