Sample criteria

It is important to decide the appropriate sample selection criteria, not only their nature but also their number. The number of selection criteria needed is a consideration that affects the outcomes of the research and should therefore be related to factors such as the intensity of the study, any requirement for multiple samples to generate sufficient evidence, the need for a control sample and the resources available to conduct the study. Determination of the appropriate sample size is not always straightforward (Ritchie and Lewis, 2003).

In this study, the criteria were prioritised in order to ensure that the purposive sample provided answers to the research questions and fulfilled the research objectives. In addition to pragmatic considerations of geography, there were three selection criteria for schools, namely primary schools, schools from contrasting socio-economic environments and schools which had an active learning difficulties programme for children with dyslexia and other mild to moderate learning difficulties. The two main sample criteria were the influence that individuals have on inclusion (in terms of policy and practice), individuals such as education supervisors who were influential in informing and enacting inclusion policies, and the influence they had on children with and without SEN in fully inclusive settings, for example special education and general teachers. The third criterion was the requirement for the sample to contain a range of perspectives on inclusion, by involving generalist and specialist teachers, parents of children with and without dyslexia or other learning difficulty, and children with and without dyslexia or other learning difficulty. The reason for selecting children with dyslexia was that, in the absence of statistics, dyslexia was said by a special education lecturer to be the most frequently encountered special educational need and therefore maximized the number of children with SEN in the sample. The fourth criterion, which applied to children only, was that they should be old enough to be able to adequately express their views and feelings and should therefore be recruited from among final year primary pupils.

A strategic selection of the cases to be studied is important (De Vaus, 2001), therefore criteria were drawn up for selecting schools. In Saudi Arabia, all primary schools, unlike secondary schools, are required to comply with the national policy concerning inclusive education, therefore the first criterion was primary schools. The average size of a primary

school in Saudi Arabia is 150 children, ranging from twenty in isolated villages to over two hundred and fifty in major cities. Some differences were to be expected between schools due to differing socio-economic contexts, although the majority of differences were likely to arise from facilities, individual teachers and head teachers, since the curriculum, teacher education policy and procedures are determined centrally, with little scope for variation. The second criterion was to include contrasting modern city and small country town schools in the study in order to explore potential relationships between inclusion and the socio-economic setting of the school. Teachers’ and parents’ attitudes towards inclusion required investigation of the factors that influence those attitudes, such as observed practice and individual teachers’ experience of general and SEN teaching, as well as the content of policy documents. The exploration of attitudes was required to account for possible differences in perceptions of parents of children with and without SEN and the perspectives of children themselves, whether assessed as having SEN or not. Therefore the third criterion was to include schools that had potential participants in all these categories. In addition, there were serious logistical and practical considerations involved in conducting this study in Saudi Arabia: sociocultural, logistical (with the problems of logistics closely linked to sociocultural norms and expectations), and the position of a female researcher. Firstly, the study focuses exclusively on girls; at the time of writing, only women are permitted to teach girls because schools are segregated by gender. This makes it impossible for a female researcher to interview anyone in a school for boys. Since it is not allowed for women to travel alone or drive cars, a female researcher must be accompanied by a brother, husband or father when carrying out a field visit. This evidently cannot be done unless a male close family

member has the time to act as chauffeur or the researcher has the financial resources to pay a male family member to undertake this work, which in this instance was not possible. In practice, this means fieldwork is constrained geographically and logistically as well as having to comply with the sociocultural norms and thus in this study the selection of the case studies was determined not only by the research focus but also by a realistic evaluation of what was achievable. A summary of selection criteria for participants is provided in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Summary of selection criteria for participants

Sample criterion Applied to Influence on inclusion Education supervisor (general and SEN)

Headteacher General teachers SEN teacher Influence on children with SEN Headteacher General teachers

SEN teacher(dyslexia and/or other categories of SEN) Parents of children with SEN (dyslexia and/or other categories of SEN)

Parents of children without SEN

Children with SEN (dyslexia and/or other categories of SEN)

Sample criterion Applied to Influence on children without SEN Headteacher General teachers SEN teacher

Parents of children with SEN (dyslexia and other categories of SEN)

Parents of children without SEN

Children with SEN (dyslexia and other categories of SEN) Children without SEN

Range of perspectives All of the foregoing plus

Education supervisor (general and SEN) Children with dyslexia

(specific subgroup)

Children with SEN (dyslexia)

Old enough to be able to adequately express views and feelings

Children with SEN (dyslexia and other categories of SEN) Children without SEN

Primary age group Schools Had a learning difficulties programme Schools Contrast of socio- economic environments Schools Geographically accessible (realism) Schools