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educators and 14 non-teaching staff. Learners pay R1050 as an admission fee at the beginning of the year, the parents and SGB agreed on this amount. There is no feeding scheme in this school. The school is well- resourced, well-built and there are technical classes for learners. Learners in this school do nine subjects and the pass rates always range between 85-90%. The school has a number of sponsors who help in the development of the school. In this school they have a large number of learners in commerce department. There are four classes doing commerce and there are 6 teachers who majored in Accounting. The pass rate in Accounting always range between 65% and 80%.The researcher chose these research sites because they are in the same clusters with the participants and they have worked together as a cluster for a long time. This made it easy for the researcher to access information because the participants are the people they have with for quite a long time.
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researcher and the participants, in which information is presented to the researcher (Cohen et al., 2007). On a similar note, Mbatha (2016) defined interview is an extendable conversation between partners that aims at having an „in-depth information‟ about a certain topic or subject, and through which a phenomenon could be interpreted in terms of the meanings interviewees bring to it. Interviews enable participants to discuss their interpretations of the world in which they live, and to express how they regard situations from their own point of view. Interviews are a flexible method of collecting data which can be done both verbally and non-verbally. Cohen et al., (2007, p. 29) add that interviewing is “a valuable method for exploring the construction and negotiation of meanings in a natural setting”. In this study, the interviews took place after school and during weekends because the researcher wanted a quiet place where the interviewer and the interview would have enough time. The interview lasted between 45 minutes to an hour. Interviews allow the interviewee to speak their own voice and express their feelings and thoughts.
There are four types of interviews which are frequently employed in qualitative research. The first one is the structured interview which consists of direct questions with an answer of yes or no. The second one is the open- ended interview which is also called the unstructured interview. This type of an interview is unlike the structured interview, where the interviewer and the interviewee are open in discussing the question. The researcher has the right to explain the question further for the development of a good answer. The third type is the semi- structured interview; this where a researcher is more flexible by expanding the responses of the participant. The last type is the group interview; this is where a group is selected purposefully to answer the questions based on the phenomenon (Alshenqeeti, 2014; Bertram
& Christiansen, 2014; Cohen et al., 2007). According to Cohen et al., (2007), study there are other types of interviews that have been added. These are as follows: standardized interviews, in-depth interviews, ethnographic interviews, elite interviews, life history interviews and focus groups interviews (LeCompte & Preissle, as cited in Cohen et al., (2007). Patton, 2002, as cited in Cohen et al., (2007) outlined four types: informal conversational interviews, interview guide approaches, standardized open-ended interviews and closed quantitative interviews.
This study employed semi-structured interviews because the researcher aimed at collecting in- depth information. The type of an interview in this study provided an opportunity for a
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researcher to expand and provide clarity on answers. Cohen et al., (2007) stated that the semi- structured interview might include: the topic to be discussed, the specific possible questions to be put for each topic, the issues within each topic to be discussed, together with possible questions for each issue. In this study the issue being discussed is teachers‟ experiences.
3.7.1.1 Purpose of the interview
According to Cohen et al., (2007 p. 351), the interviews can be used for different purposes such as:
To evaluate or assess a person in some respect.
To select or promote an employee.
To effect therapeutic change, as in the psychiatric interview.
To test or develop hypotheses.
To gather data, as in surveys or experimental situations.
To sample respondents‟ opinions, as indoor step interviews.
3.7.1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of using interview
Advantages Disadvantages
high return rate time-consuming
fewer incomplete answers small scale study
can involve reality never 100% anonymous
controlled answering order potential for subconscious bias
relatively flexible potential inconsistencies Table 3.7: Advantages and disadvantages of using an interview
Source: Brown (2001, p.89)
According to Gray, Sussan, and Grove as cited in Alshenqeeti, (2014), the following advantages are noted about interviews:
Interviewing is a flexible technique that allows the researcher to explore greater depth of meaning than can be obtained with other techniques.
Interpersonal skills can be used to facilitate co-operation and elicit more information.
There is a higher response rate to interviews than questionnaires, leading to a complete description of the phenomenon under study by the participants.
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Interviews allow collection of data from participants unable or unlikely to complete questionnaires, such as those who are reading, writing and ability to express them is marginal.
An interview involves two people, the interviewee and the interviewer. In this study, the interview involved the researcher and the participants (teachers). Before conducting the interview, the researcher had to prepare for the interview. Some of the areas in which the interviewer has to prepare, are; the selection of participants, setting questions, organise a venue for the interview, checking date and time. During the interview, the researcher had to thank the participants for being willing to participate in the research study, explain the procedure of the interview and explain the purpose of the study. Teachers were asked the same questions during the interview. During the interview, the researcher clarified questions to avoid short answers and unclear answers. The aim of this study is to gather rich information about teachers‟ experiences of teaching Accounting in Grade 12 in the context of curriculum changes. Hence, the interviewer has to be well prepared in this study. Neuman (2006) concurs that in qualitative research study, interviews generate a large amount of data.
Audio taping was used to record the interviews with the participants. This helped the researcher to transcribed information accurately. Two audio taping devices were used to make sure the data Department of Educations not get lost. Interviews were installed in the computers and laptops with passwords to ensure safety of the information.