Given Hapunda

109 may not yield much data. This also applies to focus group discussions with participants of the same sex but different age groups. Studies conducted on water projects in Zambia and Zimbabwe show that young women could not take a lead in local water project meetings attended by older women for fear of being perceived as being disrespectful (Mwale, 2016; Dikito-Wachtmeister, 2000). Due to local norms of appropriate behaviour, young people waited to be invited to speak by the elders or asked for permission to speak. Therefore, in as much as the young people may have important points to share in the discussions, the fact that they are put in a heterogonous group limits their participation. Depending on the nature of topics or dynamics within the participants, focus group discussions can take about 60 to 90 minutes. Just like any other interview, before beginning the discussion, the facilitator needs to fully introduce and explain the purpose of the discussion and encourage the participants to freely express themselves by sharing their views and opinions. The discussion can be recorded. However, it is recommended that the facilitator is accompanied by a well-skilled note-taker to ensure that all the deliberations are captured. Focus group discussions can be used at any point of monitoring or evaluation of projects. For instance, at the end of a project for small scale farmers, a focus group discussion can be conducted to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a project outcomes and impacts by getting the views and perceptions of farmers. However, in situations where participation in a homogenous group is low, the facilitator needs to make sure that a select few do not dominate the discussions. The facilitator is advised to probe the participants further in order to allow an atmosphere of discussions. Probe questions may include the following:  Can you elaborate on that?  Why do you think that is so?  What do you mean by that?  Would you give an example of that? In project evaluation, focus group discussions can also be used to complement quantitative data collected or provide interpretations to quantitative data (CDC, 2008a). Direct Observation When preparing for fieldwork, researchers spend a lot of time designing questionnaires or interview guides. However, a lot of rich data can be collected simply by observing situations. The process of directly observing what is happening constitutes the method of direct observation. United Nations (2005) states that direct observation is, ‘using your eyes to observe people and their environment, situations, interactions or phenomena and recording what you see as data’. This means that observation