Sampling Procedures

A sampling criterion is important both from a theoretical and research design perspective. According to LeCompte, Millory and Preissle (1992:69) it is necessary to create a list of the attributes essential to one’s study. In educational research Cohen et al., (2000:93) include the following four factors, which they argue, must precede decisions on sampling:

• Sample size;

• the representativeness and parameters of the sample; • access to the sample; and

• the sampling strategy to be used.

In this study, the selection of different schools using school type, school category and school class/grade as a criterion was found to provide diversity of schooling.

The sampling procedure began with document analysis. According to Creswell (2003:186) documents “represent data that are thoughtful in that participants have given attention to compiling”. In education public and private records are useful as both provide historical and current information.

Documents according to Cohen et al., (2000:175) help to establish trends, patterns of change and even predictions of the future. I began this study by creating a sampling frame through document analysis of “readily available” (Oppenheim, 1992:39) material on single-sex girls’ schools in Murang’a district. I examined academic performance records specifically KCSE examination results (Murang’a District Education Office, 2000c; 2001b), student enrolment, subjects offered in the school curriculum, teacher qualifications and experience. I also

119 examined the quarterly reports for teacher turnover (Kenya, Murang’a District Education Office, 2001a; 2001b). The data provided me with the first criterion for selection of three schools for case study.

Other important documents examined include class registers, staff registers, letters of admission, school fees schedules, school governing body and the parents/teachers’ association membership. The documents provided the information on which I built the profiles of each case study. Data obtained from this analysis also served as a constituent part of methodological and data triangulation.

4.4.2.1 School type

At the onset of this study in 2002, Murang’a district had more girls than boys enrolled in secondary school. Of the 87 secondary schools in the district there were, 69 mixed-sex, 11 single-sex girls’ schools and 7 single-sex boys’ schools (Kenya, Murang’a District Education Office, 2001a). Because the overall purpose of this study was to give in-depth understanding into girls’ experiences of schooling, what they choose, prefer and aspire with regard to school subjects, higher education and careers, by design the study does not compare girls and boys. The research design is explicit on this even in the theory. The selection of single-sex girls’ as research sites is made on the basis of the social organisation and because of claims that they offer enabling environments to girls for academic achievement.

Yellowwood, Fort Hall and Dominican are obviously a purposive sample. Apart from being a “typicality” that serves a particular research objective (Cohen et al., 2000:103), the three had the following features which were central to the choice of school:

• size of the school, i.e. the student and staff population;

• academic history of the school i.e. examination national results; • religious affiliation i.e. the church that sponsors the school; and • location of the school.

Yellowwood is both the largest girls’ school in the district and the largest of the three in the sample (see details in section 5.1). It was selected for these reasons and because the school curriculum is broad. Fort Hall is a medium size single-sex girls’ school (see details in section 6.1). Dominican on the other hand is among the smallest single-sex girls’ schools in the

120 district (see details in section 7.1). School size is important because it breeds certain kinds of dynamics inside the school.

The second criterion is academic history. Yellowwood’s top academic position in KCSE and the wavering performance in Dominican and Fort Hall warrant their choice.

The history of education in Kenya shows that the church has played an active role in the establishment of schools in the country (see section 2.2.1.2). For this reason, the third criterion considers the affiliation of schools to a particular religious ordinance as important. Among other factors school ethos, social and family dynamics are interwoven by religion therefore religion is likely to play a vital role in girls’ educational experiences. The three schools have affiliation to mainstream churches, Yellowwood and Dominican to the Anglican and Fort Hall to the Catholic.

Murang’a district is predominantly rural and there has been conscious attempt to ensure that the broader context in terms of social, cultural and economic dynamics has been captured through the sample, through the selection of rural schools.

Finally, rural settings present their own challenges when selected as sites of research. The geographical terrain in Murang’a district is difficult to negotiate and because of this, pragmatic decisions had to be made. This district also has a poor road network so access to schools located in the interior areas requires many hours on foot. For my research, schools had to be accessible by means of public transport, as I had no car and did not want to take security risks by walking long distances, sometimes during late evenings. In fact, with only six months allotted to field study there was really no time available for me to traverse the length and breadth of the district on foot. These reasons influenced my selection of a small sample of located close to the main road. Yellowwood is located next to an all weather road while Fort Hall and Dominican are three kilometres off the main road on a dirt road.

4.4.2.2 School category

National, provincial, district and harambee are administrative classifications for secondary schools in Kenya. Yellowwood falls under ‘provincial’ and Fort Hall and Dominican under ‘district’ schools. The three were selected because the categories they fall into have historical and social significance (see section 2.3.2.1.1; 5.3.2.1; 6.4.1 and 7.4.1).

121 4.4.2.3 School class/grade

My third selection criterion was grade. The research opted for study subjects in the third (FIII) and fourth (FIV) year of secondary education rather than the first (FI) and second (FII) year. Girls in FIII and FIV have made subject choices and are preparing for KCSE examinations. They also have a reasonably high level of academic maturity and are at a point in their secondary education where they are thinking about their future careers. The choice of girls in these two grades directly responded to the research questions.