Methodological Approach

The research project is based on a set of methods consisting of qualitative and quantitative instruments of empirical social science. The causes of high labour turnover and absenteeism will be analysed through the use of narrative problem-focused interviews. The interviews are designed to be group-specific and broken down by gender/sex. There will also be an accompanying quantitative survey of participants’ socioeconomic backgrounds, personal life situation, their working conditions, work satisfaction etc. Additionally, managers as well as government and non-government actors in development cooperation will be included in the research process via expert interviews. Along with other formats, workshops with labourers and managers will be used to devise problem-solving strategies.

The research project builds on the foundation of an extensive data collection and analysis at various locations of the Ethiopian textile industry: The focus of the study will be on the Hawassa Industrial Park (HIP), the Bole Lemi Industrial Zone (BLIZ) and Mekelle Industrial Park (MIP). Finally, in order to enable a comparative perspective, three local textile businesses outside of industrial parks shall be included in the research: 1) the MAA Garment & Textile Factory in Mekelle, 2) Desta in Addis Ababa, and 3) Arbaminch Textile (AT) in Arbaminch and Hawassa.

Interviews with (ex-)labourers and relatives are conducted to find out more about their perspectives, experiences, interests, and motivations concerning the job in the textile sector. In the three different parks and the three local garment businesses, a total of 74 interviews will be conducted with labourers. In addition to that, another 50 interviews will be conducted with ex-labourers, recruiters, factory managers, experts, relatives, scientists/researchers and government executives at the industrial parks.

Furthermore, a quantitative survey (mainly consisting of standardised questions) will be conducted at a total of 5 textile factories (in Hawassa and Addis Ababa). This representative sample (with a total of 380 questionnaire interviews with labourers) is to create a broader data basis, which is meant to supplement and secure the findings from the qualitative survey.