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Chapter 3: RESEARCH DESIGN

3.2 Research Methods and Research Design

This study adhered to the following distinctions: a research method refers to the techniques that the researcher uses to gather information and research design refers to the blueprint that you prepare using the research method chosen (Bryman 2004). Research design delineates the steps that you need to take to conduct and report on the research. According to Blaikie (2009) this means taking into account all the aspects that are needed to conduct the research in a meaningful way such as:

Teachers must be seen and see themselves as occupying key roles in classrooms not simply as technicians who know how to run good discussions or teach encoding skills to beginner readers but as persons whose view of life, which includes all that goes on in classrooms, promises to be as influentialin the long run as any of their technical skills. It is this extended view of a teacher's responsibility that makes it appropriate to speak of teaching as a moral enterprise (Jackson et al., 1993, p. 277).

       

[89]  Formulating operational questions,  Deciding appropriate methodologies,

 Deciding which instruments to use for data collection,  Deciding on the sample for the investigation,

 Addressing reliability and validity in the investigation and instrumentation,  Addressing ethical issues in conducting the investigation,

 Deciding on data analysis techniques, and  Deciding on reporting and interpreting results.

3.2.1 Research design

In this study I have adopted a qualitative research design. According to Mc Millan and Schumacher (2006:315) a qualitative research design is especially appropriate to the investigation of social phenomena. Hewit-Taylor (2001) describes the aim of qualitative research as an endeavour to interpret the actuality of the phenomenon under investigation and to enhance understanding of the experiences of the actors in the space of action as well as the meanings and values attributed to these experiences by individuals.

In the research tradition, there are of course other research designs as well. The two dominant research designs are the qualitative research design and the quantitative research design. Quantitative research involves data that may be quantified and analysed using statistical techniques. Qualitative research on the other hand involves qualitative or non-numerical data.

Having indicated the two dominant research traditions, combining qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study is widely practiced and accepted in many areas for example, in health care research (Sale, Lohfeld & Brazil, 2002). This method of combining qualitative as well as quantitative research methods in one study is referred to as a mixed- methods approach (Bryman 2004).

       

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Table 14 illustrates the fundamental differences between the two dominant research designs:

Table 14: Differences between qualitative and quantitative research Research

orientation

Qualitative Quantitative

Principle orientation to the role of theory in relation to research Inductive; generation of theory Deductive; testing of theory Epistemological orientation Interpretivism Positivism

Ontological orientation Subjectivism; constructivism

Objectivism (Adapted from Creswell, 2013)

In order to fully comprehend the distinctions, I provide the following interpretations as supported by Sale, et al (2002) and Jonassen (1991), of the epistemological and ontological dispositions induced by the two dominant research traditions in Table 14 above.

Interpretivism: This is an epistemological stance that dictates that there are multiple realities or multiple truths, based on the researcher’s construction of reality.

Positivism: This is an epistemological stance that dictates that there is only one truth and that reality exists independently of human perception.

Subjectivism: This ontological stance views reality and truth as dependent on the researcher’s views and experience.

Objectivism: This ontological stance views reality and truth as independent from the researcher.

Constructivism: This ontological stance directs the researcher to accept that reality is socially constructed and therefore constantly changing.

       

[91] 3.2.2 Ontological and epistemological assumptions6

Ontology is the study of beliefs about the nature of reality and epistemology is the study of beliefs about the origin and acquisition of knowledge This research is based on the ontological assumptions that view social reality as the social construction of social actors (Blaikie, 2009). Based on the deliberations on qualitative versus qualitative research designs in section 3.2, my research certainly subscribes to the ontological and epistemological stances informed by interpretivism, constructivism and subjectivity. This implies that this study is predicated on the suppositions that:

(i) There are multiple realities or multiple truths, based on the researcher’s construction of reality.

(ii) The ontological stance I will adopt is one which views reality and truth as dependent on the researcher views and experience. (iii) This ontological stance directs the researcher to accept that reality

is socially constructed and therefore constantly changing.

The epistemological underpinning of this study is based on interpretivism: This is an epistemological stance that dictates that there are multiple realities or multiple truths, based on the researcher’s construction of reality.

3.2.3 The distinction between qualitative and quantitative research methodologies Regarding the distinction between qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, VanderStoep and Johnson (2010) expand further contrasts between the qualitative and quantitative research traditions. Table 15 below presents the main differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods as suggested by VanderStoep et al (2010):

 6 Ontology = ontos + logia, which means 'being' and 'study of' the nature of reality and truth.

Epistemology = originates from Greek epistēmē which means knowledge, from epistanai to understand, know, from epi- + histanai to cause to stand.

       

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Table 15: Contrasting the features of quantitative and qualitative research.

Characteristic Quantitative research Qualitative research

Type of data Phenomena are described

numerically

Phenomena are described in a narrative fashion

Analysis Descriptive and inferential

statistics

Identification of major schemes

Scope of inquiry Specific questions or

hypotheses

Broad, thematic concerns

Primary advantage Large sample, statistical

validity, accurately reflects the population

Rich, in-depth, narrative description of sample

Primary disadvantage Superficial understanding of participants’ thoughts and feelings

Small sample, not

generalisable to the population at large

VanderStoep and Johnson (2010, p.15)

Given the deliberations on qualitative versus qualitative research designs above, my research subscribes to the ontological and epistemological stances informed by interpretivism, constructivism and subjectivity. Furthermore my research may be characterised by the features of qualitative research espoused by VanderStoep and Johnson (2010), namely:

 Phenomena are described in a narrative fashion,  Identification of major schemes,

 Broad, thematic concerns,

 Rich, in-depth, narrative description of sample, and  Small sample, not generalisable to the population at large