CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY
3.8 DATA COLLECTION TOOLS
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3.8.1 Questionnaire
A questionnaire (See Annexure 2), was used as a data-collecting tool, which according to (Grove et al., 2013:406), is a printed self-report form designed to elicit written or verbal responses from the respondent. The rationale for using a questionnaire as one of the data
Research Objectives Conceptual framework Method and Question
1. To describe the utilisation of clinical skills laboratory in line with self- directed learning principles
Self-Directed Learning principles
Quantitative
a. Questionnaire: Q33-Q57 Qualitative
b. Interviews c. FGD 2. To explore undergraduate nursing
students’ views regarding clinical skills laboratory as a learning environment.
Perception of CSL space
Quantitative
a. Questionnaire: Q21-Q32 Qualitative
b. Interviews c. FGD 3. To explore the academic self-
perception of undergraduate nursing students of learning in the clinical skills laboratory.
Academic Self- Perception
Quantitative
a. Questionnaire: Q13-Q20 Qualitative
b. Interviews c. FGD 4. To describe the undergraduate
nursing students’ perceptions of learning in the clinical skills laboratory
Perceptions of Learning in Clinical Skills
Laboratory
Quantitative
a. Questionnaire: Q1-Q12 Qualitative
b. Interviews c. FGD 5. To explore the utilisation of the
clinical skills laboratory in line with the South African Nursing Council requirements.
South African Nursing Council Requirements
Qualitative b. Interviews c. FGD
6. To explore how the utilisation of the clinical skills laboratory as a learning space can be strengthened.
Learning in SDCSL
Qualitative b. Interviews c. FGD
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collection methods was that it enabled the investigator to obtain answers from the respondents to address the study objectives (Brink et al., 2012:154). In addition, the use of a questionnaire enabled data to be obtained from a selected sample of respondents in a consistent manner. It is also quick way of obtaining data from a large group of people, is relatively inexpensive in terms of time and money, is one of the easiest research instruments to test validity, and the format is standard and is not dependent on the mood of interviewer.
The researcher adopted the Dundee Ready Education Environment Method (DREEM) questionnaire, (Sindi, 2011:360), a questionnaire the Queen Mary University of London used to assess the undergraduate dental students learning approaches and the dental laboratory environment. The questionnaire is available to the public and consists of three sections made up of 32 questions of Cronbach’ alpha value of 0.89. The second questionnaire was the Approach to Learning and Studying Instrument (ALSI) of Cronbach’s alpha of 0.93 with 25 individual questions adopted from the same study. The DREEM and ALSI were used to form one questionnaire with ALSI was used to measure the self-directed learning principles, whereas the DREEM was used to measures the clinical skills laboratory environment, learning in the clinical skills laboratory and students’
academic self-perception.
The choice of the questionnaire was guided by the research objectives, conceptual framework and the reviewed literature. The instrument was in simple and clear English, was easy for the respondents to complete (Brink et al., 2012:160), and was checked by experts from the School of Nursing. The questionnaire consisted of the following categories:
demographic data (questions A1 – A5): age, gender, year of the study, race and religion
Self-directed Learning Principles in the clinical skills laboratory (questions 33- 57) (Objective 1): e.g. I constructively self-assessed my work as a learner
Students’ perception of learning in the self-directed clinical skills laboratory (questions 1-12) (Objective 2): e.g. I am encouraged to participate in the
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clinical skills laboratory.
Students’ academic self-perceptions (questions 13-20) (Objective 3): e.g. I feel I am being well prepared for this profession.
Students’ perceptions of Clinical Skills Laboratory as a learning space (questions 21-32) (Objective 4): e.g. the atmosphere in the clinical skills laboratory motivates me as a learner
For questions 1 – 32, a five-point Likert scale was used to rate the responses that covered students' perception of learning in the self-directed clinical skills laboratory, their academic self-perception and their perceptions of Clinical Skills Laboratory as a learning space. The Five Likert scale contained options such as: strongly disagree, disagree, uncertain, agree and strongly agree.
For questions 33 – 57, a four point Likert scale was also used for the Self-directed Learning Principles in the clinical skills laboratory with the following options available:
Agreed, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat and disagree.According to Brink, (Brink et al., 2012:157) , a Likert scale “is an example of a summated rating scale which is frequently used to test attitudes or feelings”.
3.8.2 Interviews
An open-ended semi-structured individual interview guide (See Annexure 4), was used in this study. In qualitative research, interviewing is a major source of qualitative data gathering that assist in understanding the phenomenon under study (Sharma, 2010:4).
Interviews gather data in a tangible way that assists the researcher to explore and describe the phenomenon in details, the supplementary question is always ‘why’, which gives detailed explanations (Cohen et al., 2011:97). Responses are usually rich and honest, as their nonverbal communication is also relevant and taken note of.
Semi-structured interviews are qualitative research techniques that involve conducting intensive discussions with a small number of participants individually to explore their perspectives on a particular idea, program, or situation (Boyce & Neale, 2006:3). Semi- structured interviews were relevant due to their ability to provide valuable information for
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programs, particularly when supplementing other methods of data collection (Boyce &
Neale, 2006:3). Open-ended questions were used on the selected clinical facilitators to explore their unique points of view and their distinctive understanding of the use of the CSL resources.
3.8.3 Focus Group Discussion
Focus groups are a form of group interview, where the reliance is on the interaction within the group to discuss a topic supplied by the researcher and provide a collective instead of an individual view. The participants interact with each other instead of with the interviewer, such that the views of the participants emerged (Cohen et al., 2011:376).
Cohen and colleagues believe that Focus Group Discussions (FGD) are unnatural settings, bringing together a specifically chosen sector of the population to discuss a given theme or topic, where the interaction with the group leads to data and outcomes. Their contrived nature is both its strength and weakness, as they are unnatural settings yet very focused on a particular issue, and therefore provide insights that might not otherwise have been available in a straight forward interview. They are economical, punctual and produce a large amount of data in a short time, (Christenhusz, Devriendt, Van Esch & Dierickx, 2015:249; Cohen et al., 2011:376). The researcher set four focus groups of eight students, as maintained by Polit and Beck, (Polit & Beck, 2010:341), one group from each year (first, second, third and the fourth). Each group had the opportunity to discuss questions and gave their opinions regarding the phenomenon in question. The FGDs allowed the researchers to capture rich qualitative data that would otherwise be challenging to obtain with quantitative surveys and questionnaires. (Woodyatt, Finneran
& Stephenson, 2016:741).