Abstract
The quest for Africanizing qualitative research is grounded in how the neglected African indigenous epistemology and philosophy could complement and enrich qualitative research. I argue that for research to be meaningful to Africans and contribute to their emancipation and decolonization, research frameworks need to be informed by African culture(s), languages and worldview(s). The academic landscape and contexts in which qualitative research is conducted are changing, necessitating innovation and multidimensional methodologies beyond the propagation of homogeneous Western dominant approaches. Considering African cultural longevity in the face of colonization and globalization, denial of the existence and relevance of African epistemology and philosophy is fallacious and ethnocentric. The convergence of African indigenous knowledge and predominant scientific Africanizing research methods would enable African and Western researchers alike to gather rich data. The chapter seeks to meet three objectives: (1) recognizing African indigenous knowledge systems and methodologies of knowledge investigation as independent sources of knowledge, (2) integrating African indigenous knowledge systems into the research process for their theoretical and philosophical potential to contribute to knowledge innovation, and (3) Africanizing qualitative research approaches to counteract the colonial and neocolonial tendencies that propagate Western intellectual hegemony, thereby challenging the traditional ways of conducting research in Africa.
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Notes
- 1.
Authors own interview.
- 2.
Schwandt (1999) highlights the difference between knowing and understanding qualitative inquiry. Understanding is relational and requires openness, dialogue and listening. Understanding is learning rather than reading, with the possibility of misunderstanding.
- 3.
I use plurals (realities, systems, etc.) because of Africa’s diversity of fifty- five nations, thousands of ethnic groups and languages, yet with enduring similarities constituting unity in diversity (Asante and Asante 1990; Gyekye 1997). Diop (1962), observes a profound unity of African culture and knowledge “beneath the deceptive appearance of cultural heterogeneity” (p. 7). Africans have a common philosophy and methodologies of investigation (Gyekye 1997; Mbiti 1990) that reflect their epistemology, their axiology, and their ontologies.
- 4.
Age is associated with wisdom and knowledge, although not all old people are considered wise.
- 5.
Freeman (2011: 547–548) explains the meaning and importance of dialogue in qualitative inquiry as a key to discovering knowledge.
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Mayanja, E.N. (2021). The Quest for Africanizing Qualitative Inquiry: A Pathway to Methodological Innovation. In: Afolayan, A., Yacob-Haliso, O., Oloruntoba, S.O. (eds) Pathways to Alternative Epistemologies in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60652-7_3
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