BROAD OUTLINE OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The approach taken in this study is to include all aspects of the research process under the heading of methodology. Therefore, the research design, the approach taken in this study, the type of data collection methods selected and the means of data analysis are all considered to be part of the study's methodology. According to Kobus (2008:60), research is a method of providing answers to a question that has not yet been answered using collecting facts in order to obtain a clear understanding of the subject being researched. According to Kavari (2012:9), research design serves to explain how the researcher anticipates approaching and exploring the research problem that has been articulated. In order to address the research problem of this study the current research design was followed:

• Research activity and time-based plan.

• The research question.

• The type of information and sources needed.

• Framework for specifying the relationship amongst the study components.

• Procedure for this particular research study.

Researchers consider methodology as the overall approach that is adopted when undertaking a research study, and research methods as the various means by which data is collected and analysed. Mason (2002:30) explains that the concept of methodology differs from the method in that a method forms part of the overall methodological strategy.

Methodology is a theory of how a research study should be undertaken and that it entails the study design and the methods that are used for data collection and analysis (Saunders, Srinivasan, Bharath and Dahiya, 2009:3; Collins and Hussey, 2009: 11 ).

Welman and Kruger ( 1999:39) defines research methodology as the structure through which a researcher can gather, examine and understand data for the purposes of meeting the research aims. According to Van Niekerk (2007:24), the methodology provides the operational framework in which facts are· placed in an order that will expose their significance in a meaningful, clear way. The methodology followed in the research study reveals how the data was gained, and it leads the research design, as stated by Chisango (2014:81). The researcher must carefully consider the choice of a research design as it has clear implications for the potential of a study to have a practical impact. According to Scandura and Williams (2000: 1260), research design is also crucial to the accumulation of appropriate data.

Mouton and Marais (1992:155) outlines the two approaches that the researcher can adopt, namely: quantitative and qualitative methodology. These two approaches have the following characteristics; data that is formulated numerically, a quantitative approach has been applied, whereas data articulated in words, objectives or pictures apply to a qualitative methodology. Hemming (2008:152-162) states that the quantitative methods place the emphasis on the generalizable considerations of research participants and, upon analysis, the associations between variables. Establishing how one variable affects another in a population is determined by quantitative research. Examples of such variables are gender, height, performance rate and timing of measurements (Kobus, 2008:63). Before applying the quantitative method, Leedy (1989:100) suggests, the following requirements must be taken into consideration in order to apply this research method:

• Properly defining the research problem.

• Careful and comprehensive problem.

• Methodically, reasonably, deliberately, scientifically and realistically applying the chosen methods solution.

According to Hemming (2008:152-162), qualitative methods focus on perception, points of view, description and expansion - thereby creating sufficient in-depth data for a more profound investigation of human experience. According to Welman and Kruger (1999:186), inductive reasoning, detection and survey logic are what qualitative research is orientated according to. The researcher needs to visit the research population and witness or record aspects such as the natural setting. In qualitative research, the researcher also needs to take into consideration that the information to be gathered takes the form of documentation or scripts. The researcher used the qualitative component of the research is to produce and identify accessible and practicable perceptions and attitudes about animal welfare that are present within the research population. The qualitative component of the research consists of open-ended questions designed to elicit those perceptions and attitudes about animal welfare that are commonly held within the research population i.e. small-scale piggery farmers in the Nelson Mandela Bay metropole.

3.3.1 Triangulation

For this study, both the quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were used in order to improve and fully understand the dimensions of the scenario. This mixture of the qualitative and quantitative methods is known as triangulation (Jick, 1979:602). According to Foss and Ellefsen (2002:242), triangulation entails applying multiple viewpoints in the gathering and explanation of data in a research study. According to Bryman (2004:1), triangulation is the use of several approaches as the means of scrutinizing the research question so that the researcher can be sure on the findings. Triangulation also entails applying both the qualitative and quantitative methods to ensure better, reliable findings whereby this research method also provides validation of the study (Bryman, 2004:3).

Hussein (2009:3) affirms that triangulation offers the researcher greater, more in-depth understanding of the study while also ensuring its validity and correctness. According to Hemming (2008: 152-162), triangulation gives the researcher the advantage of understanding more context-independent and particularistic phenomena that -are comparatively detached from the "natural" and general involvements of individuals' experience. Hussein (2009:2) defines triangulation as studying the same phenomenon by using multiple approaches mainly a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods with the aim of increasing the trustworthiness of the study.

Bryman (2004:2) identifies four types of triangulation, namely:

• Data triangulation: using numerous sampling strategies as the tool for data collection and thereby ensuring that all the data is collected from the different sources.

• Investigator triangulation: as a way of collecting the data, making use of several researchers in the field.

• Theoretical triangulation: when interpreting data, making use of more than one theoretical position. question, and evaluate outcomes. According to Mouton (1996:107), data collection refers to the way in which information has been gathered or the way in which the researcher intends gathering the information. For this study, data was gathered primarily through surveys and focus groups. Befile (2009:50) states that the gathering of evidence accumulated for a precise determination is obtainable by the data collection.

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3.3.3 Survey methods

Surveys are a popular and systematic approach to collecting quantitative data that will provide statistical information about a population. In the social sciences, the mostly widely used method of gathering data is known as the research survey (Moore, 1993:10). To gather data that can be examined to produce findings and conclusions is the function of the survey. There are two types of research methods of survey namely, the questionnaire and the interview. The difference between these two research methods is that interviews are conducted and respondents' answers recorded by the interviewer, whereas questionnaires are completed by the respondents themselves filling in their answers on the printed form. Moore (1993:10) points out that the main advantage of them they provide the researcher with a considerable quantity of data at relatively low cost.

3.3.4 Design of survey questionnaire

Van Niekerk (2007:35) stresses that the critical component of good survey research is the sound design of the questionnaire. It is vital that the questionnaire be relevant in terms of the study objectives and also the respondents participating in the study. The questionnaire for the current study was designed in a simple and understandable format for the benefit of participants and could be answered in a short period. In this research the questionnaire questions where formulated in English, but during the interviews the researcher would translate into isiXhosa for the benefit of those small-scale piggery farmers who do not understand English well.

The researcher understood and took into consideration that some of the small-scale piggery farmers were not well educated. Befile (2010:41) confirms that 34.4% of Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole's adult population have only primary school education; 83.9% do not have Grade 12, and approximately 96% no tertiary education. For research purposes, the questions were translated some to isiXhosa for those participants that needed clarity and to allow the participants to speak in their home language.

The questionnaire consisted of two sections: Sections A and B. Section A canvassed demographics, as well as farming methods and animal welfare procedures followed by each small-scale piggery farmer. Section B consisted of open-ended questions administered in the focus groups to examine the detail the perceptions and attitudes of small-scale piggery farmers towards animal welfare. The investigation was conducted in three separate focus groups drawn from the population of the Nelson Mandela Bay metropole. The questions that were asked during the main research were designed according to probe perceptions and attitudes about animal welfare.

The results were processed and analysed against the theories of animal welfare and the corresponding conceptual framework and perspectives thereof. Such an analysis allowed the researcher to form an understanding of the structure and formation of the small-scale piggery farmer's perceptions and processes towards animal welfare. Thus this investigation also contributes to potentially improving both the social legitimacy and economic viability of piggery faming.

3.3.5 Pilot study

According to Van Niekerk (2007:35), it is vital that questionnaires be carefully designed and formulated and tested before being applied to a study. The current questionnaire was designed with the assistance of an experienced piggery farmer, who made recommendations on how the questionnaire · could be improved to ensure that the necessary data needed was gathered. The pilot study was then conducted in the Peddie area, where small-scale piggery farmers were asked the questions with regards to their perceptions and attitudes towards animal welfare. After the pilot study, the questionnaire was refined and corrected.

3.3.6 Target population

Chisango (2014:13) defines the research concept of the target population as the collection of objects, events or individuals sharing some common characteristics that the researcher is interested in studying. The target population of this study was small-scale piggery farmers aged 18 to 55 farming around the Nelson Mandela Bay metropole area and who are actively farming and engaging with the pork market. These small-scale piggery farmers, with a minimum number of 20 pigs per farm and maximum of 100 pigs qualified for participation in this study. The farmers were also selected according to the criteria that they interact regularly with livestock and housed pigs in a built structures (not free-range animals). The participants are all small-scale farmers aspiring to be commercial farmers and are susceptible to a higher risk of conceding animal welfare requirements.

3.3.7 Sampling method

Until now, agricultural censuses and surveys have largely concentrated on commercial agriculture and not small-scale and subsistence agriculture (Statistics South Africa, 2011 ). Thus, the total number of piggery farmers in the survey area could not be ascertained. Based on the researcher's experience and engagement with the industry, the number of small-scale piggery farmers in the survey area was estimated to no more than 100 for the metro. The sample population eventually comprised 62 small-scale piggery farmers that were willing to cooperate and available to participate in the study.

3.3.8 Components of questionnaire

The questionnaire was designed to gather a range of data to answer the research question and meet the study objectives. The data gathered include the following:

• The demographic data of each small-scale piggery farmer -- i.e. age, education level achieved, gender and race.

• Farming experience, the number of livestock, farm facilities, farm management and animal health.

• Probing questions on the farmers' understanding of animal welfare and how the perceptions towards animal welfare affect farming systems and production.

• Stakeholder involvement and government support

3.3.9 Focus groups

The focus groups enabled the researcher to gain insight into farmers' opinions and perceptions and the ways in which farmers are influenced by each other in a group context. The selection criteria used to establish focus groups were designed to ensure that small-scale piggery farmers from different socio-demographic and lifestyle backgrounds and ages were included thus allowing the study to explore the full range of discourses associated with piggery farming. The focus group research involved organised discussions and predetermined questions to discuss.

3.3.10 Data analysis

The data were analysed as quantitative data and qualitative data respectively. With regard to categorical variables, one-way frequency tables were used to obtain the frequency and percentage responses in each category. To analyse the connection between the two categorical variables and comparison of responses of different groups in terms of the categorical variables, the two-way cross-tabulation was used. From the data collected from the focus groups interviews, the prominent themes and patterns among the themes were identified. The prominent themes were then coded, the data was analysed, and then data from small-scale piggery farmers was quoted.

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