CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND METHODS
3.7 Data collection
As research is generally relying on empirical information, this means that it is based on the collection of data or the collection of evidence. Data are the facts or information that the researcher gathers in order to find responses to a specific enquiry. Data collected in research is strongly influenced by the research question, research design and the paradigm. Once data had been collected for this investigation, the researcher examined and scrutinised the data, understood and interpreted it and then presented the analysis to the library management.
Data for the study was collected via a questionnaire-based survey. According to Babbie and Mouton (2011: 230), survey research is a very old research method in South Africa as the history of it dates back to the seventeenth century when demographic data was collected in Cape Town. It is very common as a tool of social research in South Africa.
Surveys may be used for descriptive, explanatory, and exploratory purposes. They are mostly used in research that has individual people as units of analysis (Babbie and Mouton, 2011: 232). Survey designs are often located within the positivist paradigm, although they have also been increasingly associated with the interpretive paradigm. A quantitative approach involves gathering statistical data to be counted and a data collection method that was used was the questionnaire (see below). Quantitative
research makes sense when we know in advance the important variables and when we are able to know how to control and measure them. The type of survey used in the study was a descriptive survey. The idea is to describe the characteristics of the
population being studied which, in the case of this study, was the UNISA students using the ARD of the MML. Their behaviour was studied to determine what kind of information they needed and used in order to fulfill their educational information needs.
46 3.7.1 The questionnaire
Bertram (2010: 56) defines a questionnaire as a list of questions which the respondents answer. Kalof, Dan and Dietz (2008: 118) describe a questionnaire as a set of
organised questions which can be easily responded to by participants. Gray (2004: 187) defines questionnaires as “research tools through which people are asked to respond to the same set of questions in a predetermined order.” Questionnaires are widely used as a primary data gathering technique (Gillham, 2007).
Burton and Bartlett (2009: 76) mentioned that designing a questionnaire is a complex task that needs good planning. When designing a questionnaire, questions that should be included are those that relate to the research questions, of which a researcher, according to Welman, Kruger and Mitchell (2005: 174), “should seek out as much previous research on the topic as possible; more especially if the study will have points of comparison with other studies, then data will need to be collected in the same
fashion.” Self-administered questionnaires were used as the data gathering instruments which were designed to obtain information on different aspect of library use. The
questions were mainly closed-ended questions with a few open-ended questions. The closed-ended questions required respondents to answer yes or no.
Other questions were multiple choice questions and respondents were given a selection of responses to choose from. Some of the questionnaire items were adapted from Ramasodi (2009) and Naidoo (2013) as they were able to describe more clearly what the researcher wanted to find out. In addition, they were still relevant to this study.
Likert scales were used where the attitudes of the students were assessed. The respondents indicated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with various statements. The questionnaire (see Appendix 3) was made up of six sections, namely:
Section one: focused on obtaining information on the respondents’ demographic data such as gender, age group, field and level of study, and home language.
Section two: focused on finding information on the purpose for using the ARD.
Section three: focused on obtaining information pertaining to information needs of the respondents.
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Section four: concentrated on information sources preferred by the respondents.
Section five: focused on the library services offered.
Section six: focused on challenges and barriers faced by students when using the ARD.
There are advantages that account for researchers using questionnaires in their studies.
The following advantages were mentioned by Gillham (2007: 6) as the popular ones:
they are low cost in terms of both time and money,
it is easy to get information from a lot of individuals very rapidly,
respondents can complete questionnaires when it suits them,
analysis of answers to closed questions is straight forward,
respondents’ anonymity is guaranteed, and
Questions are standardised.
The questionnaire was designed in such a way that respondents were able to complete it in less than 15 minutes. Survey questionnaires were personally distributed to a total of 130 students over a period of six days from 9 October 2017 to 14 October 2017. As a precautionary measure to ensure that none of the respondents completed the
questionnaire more than once was that each questionnaire administered to
respondents’ was attached with an informed consent form (see Appendix 2), where participants could write their names on the form and give consent to participate in the study. When the questionnaire was returned, the consent form was detached from the questionnaire to promote anonymity. The respondents returned the questionnaire to the library staff immediately after they were completed. The majority of students were cooperative and agreed to complete and submit the questionnaire on the same day.
Some students decided to take the questionnaires home and return them the following day.
3.7.2 Pre-testing of questionnaire
No matter how carefully the data collection instrument such as a questionnaire is designed, there is always a possibility of error (Babbie and Mouton 2011: 244). Pre-
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testing is crucial in eliminating errors, such as spelling mistakes and ambiguous questions which could result in respondents not fully understanding and incorrectly answering certain questions. The pre-testing was done using 10 MML staff members who were furthering their studies and registered as UNISA students. Relevant points were brought to the researcher’s attention and were rectified (see below) before administering the questionnaires to the respondents.
3.7.3 Changes made to the questionnaire
After the pre-testing, respondents shared their concerns about the data collection
instrument. The following were the changes that were made to the instrument to make it clearer and more understandable:
Question 1, which asked for the participants’ name which was optional, was cancelled.
Question 4.3, an extra two options were added – Internet and other, please specify (e.g. maps, encyclopedia, and dictionary).
Question 4.4, the priority level ranking of 1-7 scale had to be clarified by
indicating the meaning of the rankings (e.g. 1 - not at all satisfied and 7- highly satisfied).
When the necessary changes were corrected and saved, the questionnaire was printed and copies made ready to be administered.