1. Introducción a la inteligencia artificial (IA)
1.1. Neuronas y transistores
Every research has its peculiar problem(s). The data collection process of this study was not without a number of limitations, setbacks and difficulties. It is worth mentioning first of all, that some of the respondents whose children were not living within the household at the time of the survey were not ready to provide any detailed information on them. This is because of the current criminalisation and campaign against child trafficking in Ghana. Hence, it was initially not possible to ascertain the credibility of individuals‘ responses in terms of the whereabouts of their children and what they do. It was, however, possible to obtain some relevant information through other sources, such as the FGDs, workshops and OVSD and informal interactive sessions.
Secondly, the difficult conditions in which community members live have generated the misconception that discussions related to their situation should attract offering.
Consequently, some of the respondents constantly asked for incentives or were expecting to be offered money or physical handouts, such as food or cloths. In fact, some of them even thought that I was relatively rich when they got to know that I was studying in Europe. Thus, my inability to give out money or distribute gifts of
20 The Traditional chief of Adina and all the Chief Fishermen from the various study communities, however, permitted me to either identify their names or positions with all information that they provided. Thus, apart from the names of the above informants, other names used in this study are just pseudo names that do not reflect their original names.
157 any kind made many of the respondents to think that I was insensitive and mean.
Initially, I tried to ignore their unreasonable expectations but I was compelled later to show reciprocity by occasionally providing them with a drink or giving out bread and biscuits to their children. However, I was very careful in doing this and tried as much as possible to prevent respondents from establishing a link between our discussions and the giving out of money and gifts (see also Kraan, 2009).
Those that I could not offer something kept on asking me about the main purpose of my study and how it would bring an end to their current miserable situation. A few of them, who were not satisfied with our explanations, initially did not allow us to interview them. One of them who refused to be interviewed had this to say:
My son, what I am thinking about now is how to get something for my family to feed on.
Telling you how hungry and poor we are or what I have or not have will not bring food on our table now. Please, I am about to go out to look for money to feed my family. I will, however, sit down and provide answers to whatever questions you have for me on condition that you give us some money for food (Field note, 2011).
Moreover, as I was regarded an outsider by some of the respondents, they found it difficult or uncomfortable to give the true picture of their situations and experiences at the initial stage of the data collection process. These and other similar problems were, however, solved later through our extensive interaction with them, and the explanation of the essence of this study and its intended results.21
Thirdly, my attempts on several occasions to interview the Director of Fisheries at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture failed because each time I called, his secretary told me that he was too busy to give me audience or attending a meeting or travelling. I had a similar problem with some of the local NGO officials working in the field of child trafficking within fishing communities in the country. In fact, it
21 Most of these problems were solved together with my field assistants through a thorough deliberation during our evening meetings where we shared our problems, experiences and also discussed the research findings for the day. The meetings also enabled us to revise the research procedure for the next day.
158 came to a time where I began to suspect that some of the local NGO officials were either not ready to grant me audience or they wanted some form of reward before attending to me. Although it was impossible to elicit information from these officials the result of this study has not been flawed, since my interaction with the District Fisheries Director and the Department of Social Welfare at Ketu South District provided me with enough information.
Fourthly, a study like this generally requires spending an extensive period of time in the study location. This was, however, not possible for me due to time and visa constraints. This situation resulted in stress, fatigue and over spending, leading to sickness and total exhaustion of my budget during the data collection. I could also not meet my deadlines.
In addition to the above mentioned problems, there were also other more general ones. For example, the data collected was no doubt influenced by my own preconceptions, ―for despite all efforts at objectivity, it is difficult to completely suppress the human mind‘s extraordinary capacity to see and hear only what it experts to, resolutely suppressing the ‗noise‘ of ordinary contradictory instances‖
(White, 1984: 18). Thus, despite my frantic attempts to come out with authentic reports on the respondents‘ perceptions and experiences, my discussions and interpretations of data cannot be completely free from the influence of my personal perceptions.
Language is another avenue of misrepresentation. The survey questionnaire and semi-structured and structured interviews employed in eliciting information were phrased in English and translated into Ewe, and the responses were translated back into English for analysis. Therefore, there may be problems of discrepancies and misinterpretations due to the translation. Direct translation of some of the questions
159 and concepts were quite difficult; part of the responses equally created problems for translation into English.22
Despite the above mentioned problems, the fieldwork had been a successful experience. I had the opportunity to elicit information on the wide range of issues bedevilling livelihood and insecurity of children in fishing communities of the Ketu South District of Ghana that reflects the voices, opinions and perceptions of the participants within and outside the study locations.
4.15 Conclusion
This chapter focused on a detailed description of the research process that was employed in this study. I described how and where the research took place and how it was set up. I also discussed and justified in detail my research methodology, including the design, sample frame, instruments and method of data collection and analysis. In addition, I described the manner in which I adhered to ethical principles, as well as the challenges I faced during the research and the ways I attempted to address such challenges. Furthermore, I presented some selected background characteristics of the sampled household heads in the survey. The next chapters present the findings, including their discussions and interpretations.
22 Direct translation of concepts like vulnerability and livelihood from English to Ewe was a bit problematic. For instance, we had to use a combination of words in Ewe (dedienornor kple egakpornuwo) to help the respondents to capture its meaning of livelihood.
160 CHAPTER FIVE