Phase 2: Quantitative research

As indicated in the research method section, phase 2 of this study involved quantitative research.

Babbie (2001:25) is of the opinion that the quantification of data often provides better clarity on observations. Phenomena are thus measured by assigning numbers to the qualities of things (Babbie & Mouton 2001:49). It also simplifies data collection and data review (Babbie 2001:25).

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With quantitative research, the emphasis is placed on the quantification of constructs (Babbie &

Mouton 2001:49). For this phase, the population was the residents of Soshanguve.

4.3.2.1. Sample and context

As indicated in the qualitative phase, a population is the theoretically specified aggregation of study elements (Babbie & Mouton 2001:174). In addition, Wimmer and Dominick (1991:64) emphasise that if a sample represents the population in quantitative research, the outcome of the study can be rightfully generalised to the population. In this study, the sampling unit was the human being, which could be a woman, a man, a girl or a boy aged 17 years and older in Soshanguve. Soshanguve is one of the townships in the Tshwane metropolitan. It is about 25 kilometres from Pretoria‟s central business district in Gauteng, South Africa. The Tshwane metropole comprises seven regions, namely: Soshanguve, Hammaskraal, the Inner City, Centurion, Culinan, Mamelodi and Metsweding. The region where Soshanguve is located includes Rosslyn, Orchards, Karen Park, Winterveld, Kopanong and Ga-rankuwa. According to Statistics South Africa‟s 2007 Community Survey (Statistics South Africa 2008), the Tshwane metropolitan was estimated to have 713 407 households, with a population of 2,5 million.

Around 112 000 people were estimated to be in Soshanguve. This area mainly comprises low-income and middle-low-income households. It is therefore necessary to discuss how the sample in this phase was derived.

There are three types of sampling, namely probability, quasi-probability and non-probability sampling (Du Plooy 2002:106). In this phase of the study non-probability sampling was used because every unit of the population in Soshanguve did not have an equal and probable chance of being selected as part of the sample. As a result, the sample was not representative of the target population (Du Plooy 2002:113). While in non-probability sampling there are four labels for samples (namely convenience, purposive, volunteer and snowball samples) (Du Plooy 2002:114), in this study convenience sampling was used because data collection was dependent on the availability and accessibility and it was at the target population‟s convenience (Saunders et al 2007:594; Leedy & Ormrod 2005:206).

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4.3.2.2. Sample size

While Soshanguve has more than 35 sections, this study focused on 12 sections and data was collected in all these sections. The sample size was derived from the following 12 sections (called blocks): FF, GG, LL, DD, KK, SS, K, L, M, YY, ZZ and AA. The minimum sample size that was used in this study was 400 respondents. This sample size was based on Krejcie and Morgan‟s (1970:3) sample size table. After defining the sample, it is significant to illustrate how the data was collected (as discussed below).

4.3.2.3. Data collection

Neuman (1997:30–32) point out that that there are four techniques to collect quantitative data:

experiments, surveys, content analysis and existing statistics. This study used a survey. A survey is a systematic method to gather information from entities (a sample) for the purpose of constructing quantitative descriptors of the attributes of a large population of which the entities are members (Groves, Fowler, Couper, Lepkowski, Singer & Tourangeau 2009:2). The quantitative descriptors are called “statistics”. Statistics are quantitative summaries of observations on the set of elements. Some are “descriptive statistics”, which describes the size and distributions of various attributes of the population.

For this study, a questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. Brace (2008:5) defines a questionnaire as the medium of communication between the researcher and the subject.

In this study, questionnaires were distributed in the Soshanguve community by the researcher with the help of a trained field worker. The questionnaire comprised both close-ended and open-ended questions. The advantage of close-open-ended questions is that they bring forth a standardised set of responses from all the respondents, creating patterns and thus allowing for comparative data analysis (Babbie & Mouton 2001:233). The close-ended questions were used to ascertain the respondents‟ knowledge of GBV, the communication channels used and the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, and their attitudes towards the campaign as depicted in table 4.2 below. The open-ended questions focused on the view of the respondents regarding the government programme on GBV and the perceived impact of the campaign.

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Table 4.2: Research objectives as aligned to the research design, data collection technique and data collection instrument 2

Quantitative Survey Questionnaire 1. To determine the participants‟ knowledge and understanding of government programmes to combat violence against women and children.

2. To determine the participants‟ views on the communication tools used to promote the 16 Days of Activism Campaign.

3. To determine the participants‟ views on the impact of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign.

4.3.2.4. Pilot study

A pilot study was conducted with this questionnaire among 12 students and eight staff members of the Department of Communication Science at the University of South Africa (UNISA) on 28 August 2012. The participants of the pilot study made some changes which were consequently incorporated into questionnaire. (For the detailed sections, the actual questions of the questionnaire and the specific questions which were changed, refer in Appendix C of this dissertation.) The eight staff members occupied positions ranging from administration officers to senior lecturers. These respondents were chosen due to the fact that they are aware of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign and because they would be able to complete the questionnaire without any assistance from the researcher. Furthermore, the staff members were convenient to reach since they were the researcher‟s colleagues.

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As indicated in the introduction to the data collection phase, the 400 questionnaires were distributed and administered by the researcher and a trained field worker in Soshanguve.

Approximately 36 questionnaires were completed per day, which resulted in a total of 11 days (i.e. between 3 September and 14 September 2012).

4.3.2.5. Data analysis

In contrast to the qualitative research, quantitative research refers to the analysis of numerical data to clarify, forecast and/or control particular phenomena (Gay et al 2006:9). Non-interactive methods are therefore used as there is little or no interaction with the participants. As previously indicated, in general, data analysis refers to a search for patterns in data – recurrent behaviours, objects or a body of knowledge (Neuman 1997:426). In quantitative research, the information obtained from the respondents is expressed in numerical form. For example, the number of items that are recalled, reaction times or the number of aggressive acts (Welman & Kruger 1999:193).

In this study, the raw data collected with the questionnaires was coded and entered onto an Excel spreadsheet so that the researcher could identify and manage the data. Quantitative data analysis by means of the SPSS statistical program was used to obtain the following information. Firstly, the descriptive statistics included frequencies, measures of central tendencies and dispersion.

Secondly, correlation analysis and a t-test were used.