The research design

A research design can be defined as a plan for conducting the study (Creswell, 2013: 49). A similar view has been expressed by Babbie and Mouton (2009:55) earlier on when they explained a research design as being a plan or blueprint for how one intends conducting a study. For Fouché and Delport (2011:64), a research design is a plan to guide the researcher in collecting, analysing and interpreting observed and collected data. In line with the spirit of the research questions, aims and objectives outlined earlier, the researcher adopted a phenomenological, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design. The above designs were followed from the premise of an interpretive paradigm which is based on the belief that multiple realities exist for interpretation. In this case, the multiple realities of African families were explored and interpreted. The following section gives details on how each of the selected research design was employed:

2.3.1 Phenomenological research

Phenomenological research refers to any qualitative description of a phenomenon as seen through the eyes of the people who experienced it at first hand (Fouché & Delport, 2011:317). While, Grove et al. (2013:703) defined phenomenological designs as inductive, descriptive qualitative methodologies describing experiences as lived by the research participants. The study sought to unearth contextual lived experiences of African families raising children with DS so as to inform social work practice. The focus on lived experiences of African families has been instrumental in assisting the researcher to uncover real experiences from the point of view of the people experiencing instead of using external explanatory tools that look at a situation from afar. The use of phenomenology enabled the researcher to learn from the participants as both subjects and scientists of their own experiences. This research strategy yielded rich and in-depth insights including how they dealt with, and the subjective meanings attached to, such experiences.

2.3.2 Exploratory research

According to Grove et al. (2013:370) explorative research is conducted to gain new insights, discover new ideas and/or increase knowledge of a particular phenomenon. Put differently, Fouché and De Vos (2011:318) postulate that exploratory research

focuses on the “how” and the “why” questions. Furthermore, Neuman (2006:23) maintains that the primary purpose of exploratory research is “to examine a little understood phenomenon to develop preliminary ideas and move towards a refined research question by focusing on the “WHAT” question. As argued by Babbie and Mouton (2009:191) exploratory research is often undertaken to satisfy the researcher’s curiosity and the desire for better understanding. The research study undertaken sought to explore a phenomenon, deemed less understood, which is, the African families raising children with DS, their experiences and coping mechanisms as well as suggestions for culturally appropriate social work interventions as a vehicle to arrive at the destination of practice guidelines for appropriate social work interventions to these client systems.

The researcher reviewed numerous studies conducted in several countries perceived to be more inclined to a different cultural orientation than that of the Eurocentric and western individualistic cultures. The reviews revealed that countries perceived to be following a more collective cultural orientation such as Japan, China, Singapore and India, are amongst those that have undertaken indigenisation studies in social work practice (Osei-Hwedie, 2011:138; Gray & Coetes, 2008:3; Gray, 2005:231; Yip, 2005:593; Cheung & Liu, 2004:56; Tsang & Yan, 2001:63). In contrast, very little has been done in Africa, particularly in South Africa, to address the need for the indigenisation of social work practice. This situation thus called for initial exploratory studies that would assist in determining the baseline for further studies towards the development of indigenous practice models in South Africa. The present study managed to achieve the objective of determining the basis for indigenous social work practice with African families raising children with DS by developing indigenous practice guidelines for social workers practising in this field. This provides an important starting point that would serve as a precursor for further follow-up studies that might attempt to develop new indigenous theories and models for practice.

2.3.3 Descriptive research

On the one hand, Grove et al. (2013:632) proffer an explanation that descriptive research is a research strategy that provides an accurate portrayal or account of the characteristics of a particular individual, event or a group in a real life situation for the purpose of discovering new meaning. Neuman (2006:35), on the other hand, describes

the purpose of descriptive research as being “to paint a picture using words or numbers and to present a profile, a classification of types, or an outline of steps to answer questions such as whom, when and how”. In this study, the researcher sought to paint a picture using the text of what the nature of experiences and coping mechanisms of African families are in relation to raising children with DS, as well as a picture of the perceptions of social workers in this regard. A detailed account of the characteristics of the research participants and their experiences raising children with DS (the phenomenon being studied) in a real life situation is provided with the findings to allow for the discovery of meaning for indigenisation of social work practice. All of the above provided for the descriptive nature of the study as it allowed the researcher to gain an in-depth insight into the phenomenon studied. The researcher then proceeded to describe it in detail, including the various dimensions and dynamics of the phenomenon that emerge. As indicated earlier in the motivation for an exploratory study, very little is known, or has been studied, in relation to the indigenisation of social work with African families raising children with DS. As such, the study contributed towards closing the knowledge gap in this regard by describing the actual characteristics and experiences of African families raising children with DS.

2.3.4 Contextual research

The researcher viewed the context of the study as a critical and integral part of qualitative research. By their nature, therefore, qualitative studies are contextual (Grove et al., 2013:632). Furthermore Grove et al. (2013:632) articulate that contextual studies focus on specific events in “naturalistic settings”, while according to Hennink et al. (2011:288), the context of the participants must be reflected throughout the research process. The aforementioned authors further highlight specific contexts that are crucial, including the subject context, and the theoretical, cultural, physical and methodological as well as issue context.

This study was indeed contextual and observed all the contextual dimensions as postulated by Hennink et al. (2011:288). The contextual dimensions included amongst others: the African families raising a child with DS context (nature of the family, challenges and coping mechanisms), and the context of social work assistance to the African families raising a child with DS context. Through an in-depth exploration of the above contexts, the researcher was able to arrive at the destination of practice

guidelines for indigenous social work intervention for these client systems. The notion of context was important in the sense that the study sought to explore the significance of the context in determining how social work practice with families raising children with DS could be indigenised. It is based on the belief that social work practised in different contexts cannot be delivered the same way because contextual factors differ and that related contextual influences need to be understood and considered. The researcher decided on specific theoretical lenses, consistent with the research approach and paradigms followed, to enable the interpretation of meaning in the study.