Pilot study

A pilot study of phase one, the MBI-ES, and phase two, the semi-structured interviews was conducted with eight TESOL teachers who fitted the criteria of the research study. These teachers were not included in the actual research study due to having completed the MBI-ES and the semi-structured interviews during the pilot study. Sampson (2004: 383-4) states that a pilot study can be used to enhance the primary research study by leading the researcher to refine the research instruments and discover potential research problems early on so that the researcher does not face the actual research in a state of “blind ignorance.” Thabane, Ma, Chu, Cheng, Ismaila, Rios, Robsen, Thabane, Giangregorio and Goldsmith (2010: 2) maintain that it is vital for researchers to conduct a pilot study as it is an often neglected component of a research study with the reality being that “pilot studies receive little or no attention in research

training…many just mention it in passing or provide cursory coverage of the topic.” There are several advantages to conducting a pilot study including:

Identification of gaps in the research design which can be rectified sooner rather than later when the research study has already commenced;

Helping researchers to spot ambiguities in the content of the surveys, in the interview questions or in the administration of the surveys and interviews;

o Researchers need to assess their interview questions in order to confirm that the questions do yield the desired information and to detect possible weaknesses in the questions such as ambiguity and redundancy. This supports Hesse-Biber et al. (2011) who suggest pre-testing interview questions in order to reword, refine and validate the questions. Morse et al. (2002) state that verification strategies may be problematic in pilot studies where data are thin. However, Morse et al. (2002: 20) continue saying, “the purpose of pilot studies, if used in qualitative inquiry, is to refine data collection strategies rather than to formulate an analytic scheme or develop theory.”

By going through a ‘practice run’ by means of the process of analysing and evaluating a limited amount of data, the researcher can achieve the distance required to focus on the wider issues of importance;

o Sampson (2004: 392) states that it is invaluable that researchers reflect in

greater depth on the nature of the activity in which they are engaged. She refers to this as “being prepared and being better prepared.” and

Thabane et al. (2010: 4) state that pilot studies enable researchers to assess the

feasibility of the processes that are key to the success of the main study, highlight time and resource problems that may damage the main study and serve to uncover potential human and data management problems.

The researcher’s main aim in conducting the pilot study was to determine whether the participants found the MBI-ES and the semi-structured interview questions unambiguous. Confusing questions would have a negative impact on the results of the study. The researcher also viewed the pilot study as an opportunity to practice the data analysis and interpretation. In terms of the MBI-ES, the eight participants stated that the MBI-ES was straightforward and they were able to complete the survey in less than fifteen minutes. Two of the participants did, however, state that they had found the survey questions to be rather simplistic and would have preferred questions that were TESOL-specific rather than questions related to teaching in general. The researcher decided not to adapt or revise the MBI-ES questions as the MBI-ES is a standardised survey instrument with a scoring key based on the original questions as conceived by the creators of the survey. The researcher was concerned that changing the format of the questions may have resulted in distortion of the data and the way in which the data was scored. All of the participants found the semi-structured interview questions easy to understand and answer and felt that the gathering of biodata at the beginning of the interview served to relax the interviewees. None of the participants said they had felt uncomfortable during the

interviews or advised that the questions be rephrased.

Furthermore, the researcher discovered that while the MBI-ES data analysis was reasonably straightforward, the thematic analysis of the semi-structured interview data was much more complex and time consuming. This alerted the researcher to allow for more time for data analysis during the actual research study.

3.12 Conclusion

The choice of a mixed methods design was a result of the way in which burnout was

conceptualised. According to Van Tonder et al. (2009), the quan→QUAL research design should overcome the implicit bias that stems from single-method, single-observer and single-theory research studies. Furthermore, mixed method studies are informed by several paradigms, most commonly the positivist with quantitative methodologies and the interpretive with qualitative methodologies.

Quantitative studies reveal certain ‘laws’ with which to understand behaviour and these are obtained through data-gathering methodologies such as experiments and surveys. The social world which is patterned and regular is, therefore, perceived as existing outside of the researcher. Burnout is thus viewed as a patterned and recurring phenomenon that is

measurable using established, reliable and valid surveys such as the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Van Tonder et al., 2009). The quantitative phase was appropriate for establishing the burnout levels of the TESOL teachers working at private language schools in Johannesburg.

Qualitative studies rest on the belief that socially ascribed meaning is the actual reality and that the subjective experience of a participant is real and holds the key to understanding

phenomena (Van Tonder et al., 2009). Thus the advancement of scientific knowledge implies interacting with and listening to people to obtain a complete understanding. Meaning,

according to Van Tonder et al. (2009: 208), can only be discovered through “a detailed study of the narrative or…transcript of research participants derived from a situated activity where the researcher is in, and not outside, the world.” In-depth semi-structured interviews were

conducted with the twenty participants who tested highest for burnout, that is, whose scoring profile fitted the established pattern for the burnout syndrome. These interviews represented a more natural form of interacting with people which complemented the MBI survey.

Quantitative and qualitative approaches are linked in the conceptualisation of burnout for the purposes of this study. Burnout is believed to be a discernible and measurable phenomenon of generally known parameters, that is, it is possible to measure and detect noticeable and consistent patterns in the phenomenon at a general level. At the same time, it is also believed that the nature and onset of stress and burnout, for any person, is individual and the result of a variety of factors, including perceptions, interpretations and internalisations of the meaning of situations. From this perspective, it follows that the investigation of burnout should encompass both paradigms and that knowledge of the phenomenon should be both objectively and

subjectively discernible. Methodologically, knowledge of burnout and, specifically, of the levels and incidence of burnout can be accessed through a well-established survey such as the MBI, while the origins and sources of burnout can be established through qualitative procedures such as semi-structured interviews.

In the following chapter, the findings of the research study are presented. Firstly, the findings of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey are presented and then the findings of the semi-structured interviews are presented by theme and sub-theme. The findings reveal what factors cause teachers to feel stressed thereby contributing to burnout, what kind of support structures are available for stressed teachers and what type of coping strategies stressed teachers use to manage stress and burnout.

Chapter 4: Research findings