4.8 Sampling and sampling technique
4.9.2 Data collection instruments
Werner (2004:37) noted that “the best strategy is to rely on the primary data as much as possible”.
Two instruments were used in this study: survey questionnaire and semi-structured interview. The study collected primary data through the use of interview schedules (see appendix 7 and 8) and questionnaires (see appendix 5 and 6). The questionnaires were used for the collection of quantitative data and the interview schedule was used for qualitative data (Quinlan, 2011:286).
Questionnaires were used for the collection of data from Grade 12 learners and ICT teachers, while the interview schedule was used on heads of ICT departments and librarians. The study combined a questionnaire with interview in order to bring high levels of confidence in the findings of the study (Gillham, 2007:2).
4.9.2.1 Survey questionnaire
Babbie (2014:262) defines a questionnaire as “a document containing questions and other types of items designed to solicit information appropriate for analysis”. He further argued that questionnaires are primarily used in survey research and applied in connection with many modes of observation in social research. De Leeuw (2008:316) upheld that a questionnaire is more than a collection of questions since “it contains instructions and texts to keep the flow of information going and to keep the respondents motivated”.
Kumar (2011:145) argued that a questionnaire should be constructed in a particular sequence that will make it easy to follow, read, understand, and make it look attractive in order to encourage
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more respondents to answer. According to Babbie (2014:299), to ensure a good questionnaire construction, items in a questionnaire should observe these guidelines:
• the items must be clear and precise;
• the items should ask only about one thing (double-barrelled questions should be avoided);
• respondents must be competent to answer the item;
• respondents must be willing to answer the item;
• questions should be relevant to the respondent;
• items should ordinarily be short;
• negative items should be avoided so as not to confuse respondents; and
• the items should be worded to avoid biasing responses.
A questionnaire is “an instrument designated to elicit information that will be useful for analysis”
(Babbie, 2011:243). Using questions suggested by prior research, theory, experience, or experts who are knowledgeable about the setting under investigation ensures the possibility of asking relevant questions (Schutt, 2006:253). It is worth noting that, each data element of a study should
“correspond to a single response to a question on the questionnaire” (Biemer and Lyberg, 2003:30- 31).
Questionnaires have the options of open-ended and closed-ended questions. Babbie (2014:263) defines open-ended questions as “questions for which the respondent is asked to provide his or her own answers” and closed-ended questions as survey questions in which the respondent is asked to select an answer from among a list provided by the researcher. He further maintained that “in- depth, qualitative interviewing relies almost exclusively on open-ended questions” and closed- ended questions are popular in survey research, since “they provide a greater uniformity of responses and are more easily processed than open-ended questions”. Dawson (2002:86) advised that, “if you’re sure that a questionnaire is the most appropriate method for your research, you need to decide whether you intend to construct a closed-ended, open-ended or combination questionnaire”. The questionnaire used for the current study contained both open-ended and closed-ended questions, however, majority of the questions were closed-ended questions (90%).
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The questionnaire for the current study was divided into seven main sections in order to collect the different categories of information. These were:
• Demographic data
• Internet accessibility
• Purpose(s) of accessing the Internet
• Selection and gathering of information from the Internet
• Internet searching skills
• Evaluation of Internet information sources
• Barriers to Internet information seeking
Questionnaires are popular among LIS researchers in collecting data for information behaviour research (Loose and Worley, 1994:144) and as noted by Cockburn and Mackenzie (2000:2), “the main attraction of questionnaires is the relative ease of gathering a large set of responses”. They further upheld that, the primary challenges of questionnaires include, “their narrow scope and their separation from the user’s task” since questionnaires report on the “user’s perceived, rather than actual, interaction”.
Advantages of using a questionnaire for a study as opined by Gillham (2007:5-8) are:
• it is low in cost of money and time;
• it gives respondents flexibility to complete the questionnaire when it suits them;
• it is easy and quick to use in obtaining information from many people;
• analysis of answers to closed questions are straightforward;
• it provides less pressure for an immediate response;
• it ensures respondents’ anonymity; and
• it eliminates interviewer bias.
Gillham (2007:8-13) further noted that research should look out for and possibly avoid the following disadvantages of questionnaire:
• problems of data quality in relation to completeness and accuracy;
• problems of motivating respondents;
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• the need for brevity and simple questions;
• poor development of questionnaire;
• seeking information by just asking questions;
• assuming respondents have answers available in an organised fashion;
• inability to control order and context of answering questions;
• problem of question wording; and
• literacy problems of respondents.
The study avoided these challenges by following Babbie’s (2014) guidelines on constructing questionnaire and through the use and combination of the interview technique.
4.9.2.2 Interview
According to Englander (2012:13), the use of interview for data collection has become the main procedure in qualitative human scientific research. Interviews are “believed to provide a ‘deeper’
understanding of social phenomena than would be obtained from purely quantitative methods, such as questionnaires” (Gill et al., 2008:292). Kvale (1996:174) defines an interview as “a conversation, whose purpose is to gather descriptions of the ‘life-world’ of the interviewee”.
Interview is therefore a “data-collection encounter in which one person (an interviewer) asks questions of another (a respondent). Interviews may be conducted face-to-face or by telephone”
(Babbie, 2014:281).
An “interview is an alternative method of collecting survey data” (Babbie, 2011:263). There are three fundamental types of research interviews - structured, semi-structured and unstructured. The purpose of the research interview “is to explore the views, experiences, beliefs, and/or motivations of individuals on specific matters” (Gill et al., 2008:291-292). Rather than “asking respondents to read questionnaires and enter their own answers, researchers send interviewers to ask the questions orally and to record respondents’ answers” (Babbie, 2014:281).
Ho (2006:4) argued that interview is an extendable conversation between partners and the aim is to have ‘in-depth information’ about a certain subject or topic in order to interpret a phenomenon.
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Interviews are therefore; “most appropriate where little is already known about the study phenomenon or where detailed insights are required from individual participants” (Gill et al., 2008:292).
The tool for conducting interview is called interview schedule. When designing an interview schedule, it is important to “ask questions that are likely to yield as much information about the study phenomenon as possible and also be able to address the aims and objectives of the research”
(Gill et al., 2008:292). Interviews afford researchers the opportunity to “observe respondents as well as ask questions” (Babbie, 2014:282). Mason (2002:1) noted that interviews help us to explore:
• the texture and weave of everyday life;
• the understandings, experiences and imaginings of research participants;
• how social processes, institutions, discourses or relationships work;
• the significance of the meanings that they generate.
Designing an interview is argued to be “flexible, interactive, and continuous, rather than prepared in advance and locked in stone” (Rubin and Rubin, 1995:43). Gill et al. (2008:293) maintained that “all interviews should be tape recorded and transcribed verbatim afterwards, as this protects against bias and provides a permanent record of what was and was not said”. In the course of the interview, interviewers need to maintain their “interviewee’s motivation by keeping boredom at bay” (Berg, 2007:210).