Page 41 - EVOLUTION OF THE SUDAN PEOPLE’S LIBERATION MOVEMENT(SPLM),

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This research study adopted qualitative research method. It is equally exploratory as we had pointed out

earlier in the literature review that SPLM/A is under researched area. Qualitative research encompasses
rigorous data collection over an extended period of time in a natural setting (Tromp & Kombo, 2006).
It involves discovery of the views of respondents which are not always quantifiable. Qualitative

research includes techniques, designs, and measures that do not produce discrete numerical data.
More often the data occurs in the form of words rather than numbers and these words were organized
chronologically through interviews, and focus groups. In the field work, the researcher met, interviewed
and interrogated both senior and junior SPLM/A officers, government officials and ordinary people
who experienced or participated in the liberation struggle as combatants or administrators after 2011

political independence.

Accordingly, historical analysis was preferred for this study because of the need to understand and
interpret the various historical processes and documents. Historical analysis allowed the researcher

to reexamine and interpret sources to discover intentions and behaviors of strategic elites and actors
within the SPLM since its founding in 1983. To answer the research question, the unit of analysis
was the SPLM as a liberation movement and government. This was achieved through focusing on the
struggle era (1983-2005) when the CPA was signed. Qualitative method was used since the research

problem involved key informants and political actors within SPLM, and as such this work did not
involve measurement of variables. The choice of informants was dictated by position within the
movement and willingness to be interviewed. The research method also relied on published works,
reports, and archival materials.

3.1 Study Design

The aim of this study was to investigate how the SPLM has addressed both the social and national
question once in power from 1983-2015. The study sought to investigate whether the promises the

movement made to the people of South Sudan as a liberation movement were translated into reality
after capturing state power. The study utilized historical analysis and case study of SPLM. Thus,
the case study design was the most appropriate and suitable for this study. A case study is a detailed

examination of an individual, group, institution or organization. It is therefore a comprehensive
investigation of a single entity, cluster or occurrence. Therefore, case study attempts to describe a unit
in detail, in context and holistically.

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