According to Leedy and Ormrod (2005, p.88) ‘data are those pieces of information that any particular situation gives to an observer, and are manifestations of reality. Furthermore, these authors maintain that reality is assumed as not easily divided into discrete, measurable variables’.
‘Qualitative researchers cannot be divorced from the volume of data they collect because through interviews and observations they become directly and personally involved. Only a small number of subjects who would provide better insight into the inquiry expressed verbal data (including interviews, explanations, documents and field notes) and non- verbal including drawings, photographs and video-tapes) may be collected’ (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005,p. 96). Hennink, Hutter and Bailey (2011, p.17) point out that ‘data are textual and generated through different methods such as interviews, focus group discussions or participant observation’. For this particular study personal interviews, observation, document analysis and personal narratives were employed as data gathering techniques. These data gathering instruments were chosen because with the personal interviews social cues such as voce variation, intonation, body language and so on can be easily detected, the answers or responses are more spontaneous, without an extended reflection. With personal interviews, there is an advantage of tape recording the conversation which is more accurate in the event of any information getting lost or forgotten when written down. With regards to observation, I gained more information from that obtained during personal interviews and also obtained a different perspective on the issues and behaviour of individuals within the particular setting. Document analysis provided me with the necessary information which enabled me to understand what, how, when and how educators conduct their lesson and also a wider insight into the expectations and demands of the curriculum. Written narrative afforded me the opportunity to understand each participant’s background knowledge, their perceptions, their fears and their aspiration regarding the teaching of sexuality education.
1.8.1 Personal interviews
Personal interviews are an information gathering tool used when the interviewer and interviewee meet in person (Cavana, Delahaye & Sekaran, 2001). In order to yield rich data, semi- structured interviews were employed to allow manifestation of individual viewpoints. An interview guide/schedule constructed focused on broader areas of concern around key research questions /issues in the study. ‘An interview guide is a list of questions used by the interviewer, mainly as a
memory aide during the interview’ (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011, p.112) [APPENDIX A].
During the interviews, audio-recording was used. All participants consented to the use of audio- recordings after I had indicated what procedures would be followed during and after the recordings.
Transcripts were handed back to the participants for their perusal and to confirm the accuracy of the recordings. A neutral venue which in this instance was the office, was used to conduct the interviews after school hours, as this venue was free from distractions and participants felt comfortable and relaxed. The participants were also familiar with the venue, therefore there appeared to be less intimidation. Prior to the commencement of interviews, I explained in detail what the study entailed and an approach to be followed while confidentiality of their responses and anonymity was ensured by using pseudonyms.
1.8.2 Observation
Observation was another data collection instrument employed in this study. Maree (2007, p.83) argues that ‘observation is the systematic process of recording the behavioural patterns of participants, objects and occurrences without necessarily questioning or communicating with them’.
As a qualitative data gathering technique, observation was used to afford me a deeper insight of phenomenon being observed. Observation was used to triangulate what participants said in the interviews with what was observed. Classroom interactions of these Life Orientation and Life Skills educators teaching sexuality education were observed during their lessons using an observation checklist [APPENDIX E]. The researcher was a non-participant observer. Non-participation refers
‘to conducting an observation without participating in the activities that you are observing. In order to do this, you often observe people, activities or events from a distance so that you are not part of the situation you are observing’ (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011, p.185).
1.8.3 Document analysis
Document analysis was used as another data gathering tool. Maree (2007, p.82) points out that
‘when you use documents as a data gathering technique, you will focus on all types of written
communications that may shed light on the phenomenon that you are investigating. Written data sources may include published and unpublished documents, company reports, memoranda, agendas, administrative documents, letters, reports, email messages, faxes, newspaper articles, or any document that is connected to the investigation’ . Documents that were requested from the educators included work schedules, daily forecasts, policy documents, teacher and learner portfolios and assessment records. Data gathered from these documents were transcribed anonymously. This was done in order to protect the identities of participants by using pseudonyms.
1.8.4 Written narratives
Written narratives were the last data collection technique used. Clandinin and Connely (2000) preferred the term narrative inquiry. They define narrative inquiry as a process of entering into lives in the midst of each participant’s and each inquirer’s life’. For the purpose of this study, the term written narratives will be used. Participants were asked to write about their experiences as educators teaching sexuality education in Life Orientation and Life Skills. Authenticity of these stories was presented by using the first person account thereby preserving the actual words written by individuals. These stories revealed versatile insights about how the individual attaches meaning to his own views, aspirations and perceptions. Such revelations would provide the individuals with an understanding and an appreciation of themselves and learn to embrace differences and similarities within themselves and their fellow men.
1.9 Data analysis
Data analysis is the process whereby the researcher brings structure and order to the vast amount of data collected and looks for patterns in the data in order to make sense of it, leading to the interpretation and meaning-making (De Vos, 2005; Somekh, Stronach, Lewin, Nolan & Stake, 2005; Creswell, 2003). Data was analysed to identify the general patterns across participants or cases. Qualitative data analysis was carried both by narrative reconstruction of the participant’s accounts and experiences and categorizing of individual accounts that emerged. Both the common
and different themes were identified and analysed. Data gathered from personal interviews was analysed in conjunction with the data collected from observations in order to understand whether there was a correlation between what the educators say and what actually happens in the classroom during lesson teaching. Data gathered from personal interviews was audio taped and transcribed verbatim thereby providing precisely the exact words from the participants, and was later replayed for clarification and understanding of what was said.
Given that some of the participants would be threatened by the use of the tape-recorder, the researcher continuously reassured them that all that was said during the interviews was strictly confidential and would not be used for any other purpose without their consent should the need arise. Codes were used to elicit what was discussed from personal interview data. Coding assisted to reduce the vast amount of raw data collected and focused on the meaning attached to participants’
experiences as sexuality educators in Life Orientation. ‘Coding is the process of organising data into small units or segments in order to attach meaning into each segment’ (Creswell & Clark, 2007, p.131; Creswell, 2009, p.186; 2003, p.192). The aim of open coding is ‘to express data and phenomena in the form of concepts’ (Flick, 2006, p.297). Categories and themes that emerged from the data were generated using an open coding process. The goal was to identify commonalities and differences of experiences among educators.