4.4.1 Conducting the interviews
Purposive sampling was used to select the participants. This type of sampling occurs when, according to the researcher’s understanding of a certain subject, certain people fit the criteria for “desirable participants” (Henning 2004:71). Interviews were held with members of management of CAS, representing ODL accounting academics at Unisa during February and March 2015.
The selected interviewees (see section 4.5.1) were asked if they would be willing to participate in the interview. After they had consented, an appointment was set up confirming the date, time and venue. A letter handed to the interviewees informed them about the purpose of the study. This letter is included in appendix A. Trust is important and should be maintained throughout the interview through professionalism and respect (Newton 2010:6). Interviewees were asked to sign the permission letter. The anonymity of the participants was guaranteed and they were informed that they could choose to cease to participate at any point during the interview. Participants were informed that they would have access to the results of the study if they so wished. All of the interviews were conducted in English.
Interview questions should be clearly structured (Cohen et al 2007:129). The researcher had a set of predetermined open-ended questions (see appendix B), but was also guided by the interviewees’ responses in order to learn more about their role in teaching or enhancing ODL students’ pervasive skills. The interviewees were not provided with the questions beforehand. This was done to prevent pre-empted responses. According to Babbie and Mouton (2001:520), social research should not
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interrupt people’s lives. For this reason the duration of each interview was limited to between 10 and 25 minutes, and they were all conducted at Unisa in the interviewees’ offices in order to minimise any inconvenience.
Participants were encouraged to describe in their own words their experiences (if any) of teaching or enhancing pervasive skills in an ODL institution by means of case studies. They shared their personal experience and perceptions of the responsibility to develop pervasive skills, current or proposed practices at Unisa, and the challenges and benefits of incorporating case studies in an ODL environment (see appendix B).
4.4.2 Development of the questionnaire
The self-administered structured web-based questionnaire was designed to assess the perceptions of ODL accounting students on the use of case studies for pervasive skills development in ODL accounting education. A cover letter explaining the purpose of the survey and the confidentiality of the responses, accompanied the questionnaire (see appendix C). A hyperlink to the URL where the questionnaire was hosted was e-mailed to the MAC3701 students. The invitation to participate in the online survey was sent out via SurveyMonkey. The students’ e-mail addresses were obtained from the Unisa database with permission from the university (see appendices D and E). The link to the survey was e-mailed to students on 8 May 2015 and followed up by an e-mail message one week before the closing date of the questionnaire, namely 31 May 2015. The participants could complete the questionnaire at a time suitable to them.
The questionnaire (see appendix C) was divided into three main sections. Section A covered the sociodemographic information of the participants. Section B comprised statements and questions relating to the students’ perceptions or experience of pervasive skills development. Section C consisted of statements and questions relating to the students’ perceptions or experience of case studies during their Unisa studies.
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letter to confirm that he or she would be willing to participate in the research and that he or she understood the purpose the study. The cover letter mentioned that the anonymity of the participants was guaranteed and they were informed that they could choose to cease to participate at any point during the completion of the survey. Participants were informed that they would have access to the results of the study if they so wished.
In order to obtain background information (sociodemographic information - section A of the questionnaire), the respondents were asked to indicate their gender, language of learning and age. They were also required to indicate whether they were full-time or part-time students. Their employment status and intended further qualifications with certain professional accounting bodies enabled the researcher to compare different groups of individuals’ perceptions when analysing the data.
In sections B and C of the questionnaire, participants were asked to answer a set of questions based on their perception or experience of pervasive skills development and case studies during their Unisa studies. Students were also asked to indicate to what extent they believed certain pervasive skills could be developed or further enhanced by incorporating case studies into ODL accounting education. The statements in section B and C mostly required the students to respond to “yes/no” questions or to rate statements based on a five-point Likert scale: ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
4.4.3 Pretesting
Before the interviews were conducted and the questionnaire was distributed, a pilot study was conducted. Pilot testing is an important step in conducting successful survey-based research (Cohen et al 2007:341; Wiid and Diggines, 2015:174). A pilot test is conducted to determine weaknesses, clarify questions and increase the reliability and validity of the questionnaire (Cohen et al 2007:341). This was accomplished by discussing the interview schedule and the questionnaire with an ODL expert, Professor Paul Prinsloo, at Unisa. His valuable insights, ideas and suggestions were incorporated into this study and informed the final interview schedule. The questionnaire was changed to clear up any misunderstandings after
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feedback had been received. Valuable input and suggestions from a qualified statistician were also taken into account.