A Rigorous and Ethical Methodological Framework for Navigating Cultural Differences with Police Officers in a South African Rural Community

Authors

• Masefako Andronica Gumani, University of South AfricaFollow

Abstract

Research contexts pose different challenges during research processes, and these challenges may affect the credibility of study findings. This was especially the case when, as a researcher, I interacted with police participants from different cultural backgrounds from my own. This paper reflects on my experience as a female Sepedi‑speaking researcher conducting a Ph.D. qualitative, grounded theory study with male and female South African Police Service (SAPS) officers from the Venda and Tsonga cultural backgrounds. I used a reflexive autoethnographic research design to purposively look at myself as the subject of inquiry and analyze my reflexive journal using reflexive thematic data analysis. The results show a journey of navigating cultural differences and reveal various directed research actions that I adopted during the research process. I recommend a methodological framework for rigorous and ethical research training for postgraduate students and practice by qualitative researchers, which is informed by local knowledge and African relational moral theory, including ubuntu.

Keywords

autoethnographic research, culture, ethics, local knowledge, police, rigour, ubuntu

Author Bio(s)

Prof. Masefako Gumani is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Africa (UNISA). She obtained a DLitt et Phil Degree in Psychology from UNISA. She has supervised several completed Master’s and Doctoral projects and has served in several research and ethics review committees. She has also presented her research work on police and corrections research and victim empowerment at several national and international conferences, and published research articles in national and international accredited, peer reviewed journals and a conference proceeding. Please direct correspondence to gumanma@unisa.ac.za

Acknowledgements

The Ph.D. study from which this paper was extracted was supported by a grant from the University of Venda Research and Publications Committee, titled: “A Grounded Theory of Police Critical Incidents Impact Management Amongst SAPS Officers in the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province.” The University of South Africa is also funding research presentation and publication for this paper.

Publication Date

4-27-2026

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended APA Citation

Gumani, M. A. (2026). A rigorous and ethical methodological framework for navigating cultural differences with police officers in a South African rural community. The Qualitative Report, 31(4), 5616-5639. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2026.7543

ORCID ID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6433-3977