The study adopted interpretive qualitative research methodology, where different kinds of data collection methods were used to collect information, namely analysis of documents, individual structured interviews, interviews, and observations.
I used triangulation to establish reliability and validity of data as a means of ensuring the trustworthiness of the research. According to Scott (2007:84), triangulation means comparing many sources of evidence in order to determine the accuracy of information or phenomena. It is essentially a means of crosschecking data to establish its validity. The principle of triangulation rests on the assumption that particular events are being investigated and that, if they can be investigated in a number of different ways that concur, then the researcher may believe that their account is a true account of those events. In this study, I adopted a data triangulation approach, where different data sets were collected at different times through participant observation, document analysis and structured individual and focus group interviews.
19 1.9.2.1 Analysis of documents
The term document may mean different things, depending on the context in which it was used. The term document refers to a wide range of written, physical and visual material, including what other authors may term artefacts (Ary, Jacobs and Razavieh 2006:282). Documents such as books, theses, articles, newspapers, etc. were used as part of the literature review.
In this study, the analysis of the policies was based on the preamble, aims and objectives of the policy, major areas addressed by the policy, and the expected output of each policy towards the provision of quality education in all public schools in Limpopo Province. In addition to analysis of education policies, documents as listed by Briggs, Coleman and Morrison (2012: 299-300) were analysed at provincial, district, circuit and school levels.
1.9.2.2 Observations
Observation is the most powerful, flexible and real data collection strategy because it is not dependent, like the survey, on the respondents’ personal views but seeks explicit evidence through the eyes of the observer directly or through a camera lens (Briggs and Coleman 2007:237). According to Marshall and Rossman (2011:139), observation captures a variety of activities that range from spending time in the setting, getting to know people, and learning the routines to using strict time sampling to record actions and interactions and using a checklist to tick off pre-established actions. Observation entails the systematic noting and recording of events, behaviours and artefacts in the social setting. (Brewerton and Millward 2012:96).
I designed the observation sheets on which I wrote field notes when I interacted with the participants who were sampled in this study. I am a school manager and gained an understanding of South African education legislation when I interacted with my colleagues who are members of the School Governing Body and educators who are staff members as they implement policies at school.
20 1.9.2.3 Interviews
Interviews are central to the data collection instruments in qualitative research. Johnson and Christensen (2011:178) define an interview as a data collection method in which the interviewer asks questions from an interviewee. I conducted a pilot study to be sure of the reliability of the interview as data collection instrument. I sampled five participants representing different groups of the entire sample. I conducted pilot study based on the advantages articulated by Samson (2004). Samson (2004) as cited in Marshall and Rossman (2011: 95), explains the importance of pilot studies as follows: It can be used to try out strategies, buttress the argument and rationale for a genre and strategy, refine research instruments such as questionnaires and interview schedules, help in understanding oneself as a researcher. Helps the researcher find ways to eliminate barriers such as resistance to tape recorders, reduce mistrust of the resercher’s agenda and strengthens the genre of generating enticing research questions.
1.10 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
According to Denscombe (2007:303), the researcher needs to be selective in what would be presented by prioritising certain aspects over others, because in the analysis of qualitative data, it is not possible to present all the data that was collected by means of the interview. According to McMillan and Schumacher (2006:364), data processing, through data analysis, makes sense of the collected data and thereby finds an answer or answers to the research question. In qualitative studies, data consists of interwoven and integrally related processes of data recording and management, analysis and interpretation (Marshall and Rossman 2006:151). This implies that there are no firm boundaries between these processes.
McMillan and Schumacher (2006:364-365) state that data analysis is an ongoing cyclical process that is integrated into all phases of qualitative research. They describe the steps of data analysis in qualitative research as follows: Fieldwork; recording; data coding and categorising; patterns, themes or concepts) and narrative structure or visual representations.
I therefore collected data by undertaking fieldwork, transcribed data, and categorised the data into patterns based on themes or concepts. Data was organised through coding. This aligns with
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Neuman’s (2003:441) assertion that “a qualitative researcher analyses data by organising it into categories on the basis of themes, concepts, or similar features”.The main form of data analysis in this study was of content analysis. According to Patton (2003:463), content analysis is the process of identifying, coding, categorising, classifying, and labelling the primary patterns in the data. Brewerton and Millward (2012:151) describe the qualitative content analysis process in roughly the same way as Marshall and Rossman (2011), but with a further deeper description of coding. In this study, I used a qualitative content analysis process as advocated by Brewerton and Millward (2012) and Marshall and Rossman (2011). I analysed data collected through observation, interviews and document analysis. Document analysis included a literature review of previous researchers on the topic. Data was tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed with the intention of seeking understanding that would lead to sound conclusions and recommendations.
1.11 TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE RESEARCH
Research must respond to canons that stand as criteria against which the trustworthiness of the project can be evaluated (Marshall and Rossman 1995:145-146). The findings and recommendations derived from data collected must be proved valid and reliable. In the next section I discussed two criteria met by this qualitative research study, namely reliability and validity.
1.11.1 Reliability
Research can be tested against its level of reliability. According to Wilkinson (2000:42) reliability refers to a matter of consistency of measure; the likelihood of the same results being obtained if the procedure is repeated. In addition, Bellis (2000:137) believes that tests, exams or others must test what was supposed to be tested and not something else. There is wide support for the view that reliability relates to the probability that repeating a research procedure or method would produce identical or similar results. It provides a degree of confidence that replicating the process would ensure consistency. According to Scott and Morisson (2006:208), these notions underpin the definition of reliability: “A measure is reliable if it provides the same results on two or more occasions, when the assumption is made that the object being measured
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has not changed…. If a measure, or indeed a series of measures when repeated gives similar results, it is possible to say that it has high reliability.