'Day Labour' and 'Xenophobia' in South Africa: the Need for Mixed Methods Approaches in Policy-Orientated Research

摘要

Much policy-orientated research in South Africa relies solely on large-scale surveys. Little or no case study research is undertaken as part of studies despite broad international acknowledgement of the benefits of mixing methods. In the South African poverty and demographic literature, strong arguments have been made for the incorporation of case study approaches to arrive at a deeper and more accurate understanding of social phenomena. This paper, which draws on an ethnographic study of 'day labourers' (both South African and foreign) in Cape Town, together with an extensive range of relevant literature, extends this line of argument to research on casual employment and relations between South Africans and foreign nationals. It highlights a number of questionable assumptions and superficial analyses present in previous survey-based research on these topics. It also discusses the potential contribution of more case study work and some of the practical issues associated with linking methodologies in development research.