Survey methodology in violence-prone Khayelitsha, Cape Town, Couth Africa

Abstract

This article discusses the methodological challenges of a service delivery survey in Khayelitsha, atownship in Cape Town, South Africa. The survey aimed to gain a better understanding of the relationshipbetween citizen participation and the environmental challenges facing residents in this urban area.Khayelitsha is a township prone to violence. Encountering violence during fieldwork can alter the wayresearchers execute research, yet this often remains unacknowledged in ‘objective social science’, especiallyin probability sampling. The article examines the effects of the risk felt by researchers on the researchmethod employed in quantitative surveys. It shows that deliberating on this aspect of the research process isboth necessary and useful, especially in terms of recognising the need to factor fear or uncertainty into theways in which research processes unfold.