Because this study aimed at investigating the effect of school governance and parental involvement on raising Grade 12 achievement in Mpumalanga rural schools, in-depth interviews were useful. This is because the study wanted detailed information about the participant’s thoughts and behaviour or exploring new issues in depth.
According to Boyce and Neale (2006:3), an in-depth interview is a qualitative research technique where intensive individual interviews with a small number of respondents are conducted in order to explore their viewpoints on a particular phenomenon. Boyce and Naele (2006:3) further state that in-depth interviews have an advantage of providing much more detailed information than the data that are collected through methods such as surveys. In-depth interviews are also perfect in creating a more relaxed atmosphere in which information is collected and makes participants feel more comfortable in conversing with the researcher about the issues at hand.
According to Boyce and Neale (2006:3), in-depth interviews are advantageous because a researcher is able to gain detailed information about the participants’ thoughts and behaviours about the topic or phenomenon. When in-depth interviews are conducted, detailed information can be obtained if one wants to explore issues in- depth. These kinds of interviews often provide context to other data and pictures of what happened in the study area that are more complete may be created. The in-depth interviews are mostly used in places of focus groups especially if participants are not comfortable in talking openly in the group, or when the researcher wants to distinguish between individuals’ opinions about the phenomenon. Therefore, an in-depth interview suits the above situation better. In-depth interviews are often also used to refine questions for future research of a particular group.
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In-depth interviews were suitable for this study as it aims at collecting in-depth information from the participants using semi-structured questions. The use of the in- depth interviews assisted the researcher to interact with the principals, teachers, SGB members, Grade 12 learners and parents effectively. The researcher in this study asked participants’ unrestricted questions based on the role of SGB and parental involvement in secondary schools for better academic performance in Grade 12. In these interviews, participants were then able to respond in their own words. All participants in this study gave descriptive information, which contributed a lot in answering the research questions and their responses to probed questions were elaborated and fully explained for a better understanding.
Booyse et al. (2011:3) argue that interviews are referred to as conversations between the researcher and the person being interviewed, who is referred to as an interviewee. In this study, the person that will be interviewed will be referred to as participant. In the interviews, it is vital to consider rules and ethical considerations that govern the way in which the interview takes place. During the interview, the researcher records the conversation with a promise of confidentiality. Therefore, confidentiality and anonymity are important during interviews.
The careful use of language should also be considered, for instance, the use of jargon and making sure that questions are clear or paraphrased if need be. Hence, the researcher in this study used in-depth interviews, but questions were used, meaning that there were questions that were drawn prior to the interview. Member checks and participants’ validation were used to create a more accurate account of what happened during the interviews. This is because the researcher was very aware that answers given to the questions asked could be influenced by the dynamics that might have been created between the researchers and the participants.
It is important as a researcher to build a trusting relationship between him or her and the participants (Katanga, 2016:43). Therefore, in this study, not only good questions were asked during the interviews; the researcher was also mindful of establishing a logically feasible location for the interviews as interviews took place in the participants’ places. In addition, the researcher made sure that the atmosphere was comfortable for him or her to engage in an honest, open and honest fun dialogue.
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It is outlined by Roller and Lavrakas (2015:32) that, for a researcher to minimise unintentional variations in the data associated with the business of the researcher, the following skills should be considered. These will actually maximise the validity and reliability of the data. In this study, the researcher considered these skills, namely:
Rapport was built with the participants
Listen actively to the participants and showing interest in their answers
Focus on the research objectives but allow flexibility
Be considerate of verbal and non-verbal cues that add meaning to the data collected
Ensure accuracy and completeness of data during interviews 3.5.2 Document retrieval
Besides interviews, various sources such as text and documents, both published and unpublished sources were used to collect data. These documents are rich sources of data, of which may include letters, reports, minutes of meetings, policy documents, correspondence, memos, oral history and so on from people’s actions so that the phenomenon studied is understood more clearly (Triad, 2016:2).
Triad (2016:2) and Alshenqeeti (2014:39-45) define collection as the process of compiling and accumulating objects that are closely related to the study. The collection mostly takes place when the researcher is in the field, collecting data and from other sources like libraries and electronically based sources.
The collected documents can include the participants’ produced items, which would then complement the information gained from interviews with participants. Most documents that this study used were related to the main question of the study, namely:
How could the SGB and parents work adequately together to raise Grade 12 academic achievement in Mpumalanga rural schools?
Those documents included minutes of meetings, correspondence between SGB, parents, teachers and principal as they work collaboratively in improving Grade 12 academic achievements. The documents that the researcher used helped the
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researcher to understand the role of the school governance and parental involvement and the strategies that SGB and parents should employ to improve the academic achievement of Grade 12 learners.