Ethnographic field work in Botswana.

The fieldwork in Botswana will cover most Research Questions, and is well suited to shed light on long–term changes (especially in relation to gender, household dynamics, local politics and religion/health). Principal Investigator, Helle-Valle and co-researcher Storm-Mathisen will spend  6 months doing fieldwork in two sites in Botswana: a Kweneng village and the capital Gabarone.

Data gathering will consist of ethnographic field work in both sites, additional interviews of core individuals, as well as two surveys. One will be modelled after an extensive survey conducted in the rural Kgalagdi village in 1990 (cf. Helle-Valle 1996), but with added questions on consumption of new media. The other survey will build on the first but be adjusted to urban conditions in. The latter will be led by Monageng Mogalakwe and designed in a way that maximizes comparativity with the rural survey. A MA student will also take part in the urban fieldwork. The fieldwork will undoubtedly reveal links between the rural and urban sites, thus mobility and networks – and how they are upheld by digital media – will be an important part of the research. The work done in Boswana will also serve as a reference case to which data from the the other research sites will be compared.
 

The data gathering will take place between October 2015 and April 2016.

Researchers active in Botswana

Jo Helle-Valle
Project PI
Head of research team, Botswana.
University of Oslo

Monageng Mogalakwe
Co-researcher, Botswana
University of Botswana

Ardis Storm-Mathisen
Co-researcher, Botswana
University of Oslo

Lentswi Tutwane
Co-researcher, Botswana
University of Botswana

Gabriel Faimau
Co-researcher, Botswana
University of Botswana