The researcher is of the view that, in undertaking a research project, researchers are driven by a need to answer clearly stated research question(s). Elucidating the foregoing, Grove, Burns and Gray (2013:708) define research questions as “concise, interrogative statements developed to direct studies”. Similarly, David and Sutton
(2011:12) explain the research question as the guiding star that helps the researcher to navigate through the research process.
The main research question asked in this study is as follows: “How can one use an understanding of the nature of the African family raising a child with DS, its experiences and coping mechanisms, and the opinions of social workers providing services to the family in order to develop indigenous social work practice guidelines for assisting such families in raising children with DS?” In order to cover the above broad research question comprehensively, the researcher has posed the following research questions:
• What is the nature of the African family raising a child with DS?
• What is the recollection of African family regarding its experiences and coping mechanisms with regard to raising a child with DS?
• What are the perceptions of African families regarding children with DS?
• What are the perceptions of African families in relation to the social work services received whilst raising a child with DS?
• How would African families raising a child with DS like to be assisted by social workers in a culturally appropriate manner?
• What are the opinions of social workers regarding the level of congruence between social work services, the identity, and the experiences and coping mechanisms of African families raising a child with DS?
• What suggestions do social workers have for the improvement of social work services for African families raising a child with DS?
Following the discussion of the research question above, the aims of the study are now outlined. The word ‘aim’ was used for the purpose of discussion in this regard. “The goal is a dream the researcher wants to achieve in research.” (Fouché & De Vos, 2011:104). Furthermore, Fouché and De Vos (2011:105) state that a goal is a “broad and abstract idea towards which research efforts or ambitions are directed”. According to Creswell (2013:134), the aim of the study refers to the statement of the major goal, intent or roadmap.
The broad aim of this study was to develop an in-depth understanding of the identity, experiences, and coping mechanisms of African families raising children with Down syndrome (DS) as well as the opinions of social workers assisting them in an attempt to distil the implications of such and use them to develop practice guidelines for social work practice when assisting the African families with regard to comprehending and dealing with DS. The specific aims of this study are as follows:
To develop an in-depth understanding of the identity, the experiences and coping mechanisms of African families raising children with DS; To develop an in-depth understanding of the perceptions of African
families regarding their experience of raising a child with DS as well as the nature of social work services received whilst raising children with DS;
To explore the views of African families raising a child with DS about how they would like to be assisted by social workers in a culturally appropriate manner;
To develop an in-depth understanding of the opinions of social workers regarding the level of congruence between their interventions and the nature of the African family, its experiences, and coping mechanisms when raising a child with DS;
To establish social workers’ opinions on how social work services for African families raising a child with DS can be improved and
To develop practice guidelines directed at social workers providing professional services to African families raising children with DS.
Having outlined the research questions and aims, it is imperative that one also states what the research objectives that were formulated to assist the researcher in answering the research questions were. Grove et al. (2013:708) refer to research objectives as declarative statements that are expressed to direct a study. On the other hand, Fouché and De Vos (2011:94) state that objectives refer to practical steps taken to achieve the aim of the research. All of these statements concur with what is stated by Mouton (2005:240), who argues that research objectives serve as a route to a destination.
Thus, the objectives of this study are as follows:
To obtain a sample of African families raising children with DS as well as social workers rendering a service to these families, found in and around the provincial boundaries of Gauteng, North-West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa;
To conduct semi-structured individual, family, and focus group interviews with the African families in order to explore their experiences and perceptions in relation to raising children with DS and how they received professional support provided by social workers;
To conduct semi-structured individual interviews with social workers rendering services to African families raising a child with DS in order to explore their opinions regarding the level of congruence between the services they provide and the nature of the African family, its experiences and coping mechanisms of raising children with DS;
To sift, sort, and analyse the data, using steps in the methods for qualitative data analysis adapted from Terre Blanche, Durrheim and Painter (2006:33). To draw conclusions regarding the implications of the experiences of African
families raising children with DS and the opinions of social workers providing a service to them for the indigenisation of social work practice with such families and
To develop guidelines on how social workers providing social work services to these families could serve them in a manner that would allow them to understand, own and control the help received.
The above objectives enabled the researcher to reach the research goal by answering the research question.
The following section outlines the ethical considerations that were applied in the process of executing this study.