I can’t say i wasn’t anticipating it, but I didn’t see it coming in this magnitude: A qualitative fieldwork experience in the North West Region of Cameroon

Abstract

This article draws explicitly on the fieldwork challenging experiences of an ongoing PhD study which seeks to explore the role of the community in the inclusion of people with disabilities in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. It is apparent that every qualitative researcher undertaking fieldwork anticipate being confronted with challenges and difficulties in the process. Nevertheless, in spite of the anticipation of these challenges and complexity that exist in the field, as well as prior preparation, fieldwork can still be a very intense and challenging experience. This is because many unanticipated encounters arise during fieldwork, which the researchers did not see coming. Whilst acknowledging that fieldwork in qualitative research can be challenging and complex, the unanticipated and underestimated magnitude and intensity of the challenges that occurred in undertaking qualitative fieldwork in the Northwest Region of Cameroon is the interest of this paper.