McMillan and Schumacher (2001:408) suggest that “most interactive researchers employ several data collection techniques in a study, but usually select one as the central method.” Furthermore, they are of the opinion that these multi-method strategies permit the triangulation of data across inquiry techniques; that they may yield different insights about the topic of interest; and that they increase the credibility of the findings (McMillan &Schumacher, 2001:408).
In this study interviews and a literature study, which included research articles and publications, were used for data collection. Apart from the interviews and the literature study the researcher constantly compiled field notes. Data appearing in print only is not, necessarily, trustworthy and this belief informed the interviews and the literature study of research articles and publications. The two forms were used to establish the following:
How well the selected participants identified – in the interviews - the most commonly euphemised topics in Tshivenḓa; what strategies are, generally, used to create euphemisms; and the motives behind the use of euphemisms.
Whether the data elicited in the interviews corresponded with the information from various literature and other publications.
3.8.1 Interviews
Merriam (1998:71) is of the opinion that interviews are used in situations where the researcher tries to ascertain what is in the mind of another person. According to Maree et al. (2007:87), the aim of the qualitative interview is to “see the world through the eyes of the participant” and to extract rich descriptive data that will assist in understanding the participant’s construction of knowledge. Similarly, Marshall and Rossman (1999: 109) define an interview as “a conversation with a purpose; it is a useful way of getting large amounts of data quickly.” In this study a description of the semantic and socio-pragmatic value of euphemism in Tshivenḓa needed to be ascertained.
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Interviews are seen as a means to generate knowledge between humans, often by means of conversation (Kvale, 1996:11 - as suggested by Cohen, Manion&
Morrison, 2005:267). Furthermore, Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2005:267) argue that “interviews enable participants – be they the interviewers or interviewees - to discuss their interpretations of the world in which they live, and to express how they regard situations from their own point of view.” An interview allows the interviewer to explore more deeply by following the response of an interviewee with a probing question. The posing of open-ended questions during the interview allows the researcher to gather data that could lead to textual and structural descriptions of experiences to, ultimately, provide an understanding of the common experiences of the participants (Creswell, 2007:61). It is for that same reason that Rubin and Rubin (1995:53) believe that, through qualitative interviews, the researcher finds out what other people feel and think about their world and the interviewer is able to understand their experiences and reconstruct events and problems in which s/he has not participated. In this study, the researcher was able to understand how participants value the use of euphemisms in their language, Tshivenḓa.
The researcher chose to collect data from the participants in this study by using semi-structured interviews because they provide an opportunity to ask individual participants questions and record their answers (Creswell, 2002:215); they also allow the interviewer to use follow-up questions to the responses of the participants. A set of predetermined open-ended questions on an interview schedule was developed for use during the interviews and these questions guided the participants when sharing their thoughts about the semantic and socio-pragmatic value of euphemism in Tshivenḓa a with the researcher. Open-ended questions were selected because of their inherent characteristic of permitting a free response from the participants, who used them as a frame of reference (Ary et al., 1990:418). The interviews were less controlled by the interviewer which gave the participants a space to voice their opinions. Open-ended questions allow respondents to answer the same questions and, therefore, promote an increasing comparability of the responses (Cohen, Manion& Morrison, 2005:271). All the participants were asked the same questions (see Annexure 3a). The participants were asked the questions in the same order because, according to McMillan and Schumacher (1993:426), this reduces
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interviewer bias. In this study the researcher used probing in cases where the implementation of this technique was considered to be necessary.
Appointments were arranged with the participants and preparations for the interviews were made prior to the actual meetings. Each interview with a participant was scheduled for 30 minutes. Not all the interviews lasted the allocated time as some of the participants talked more extensively on certain points than was initially expected.
Data related to disease euphemisms, love and unconventional sexual behaviour and women and pregnancy was elicited from the group of the traditional healers; data related to euphemisms that promoted and preserved the status of chieftainship in African languages was gathered from the group of chiefs; and the group of pastors provided the researcher with data related to words related to religion and superstition. The elderly women and men were a source of data related to euphemisms of death, sexual intercourse, professions and common euphemistic words.
The interviews were audio-taped with the researcher’s handwritten notes to support the recordings. The purpose of the audio recordings was to serve as a backup of the responses of the interviewees and for the accurate transcription of the verbal interaction that took place. The use of the audio recorder was discussed with the participants prior to its being used.
At the end of each interview the researcher summarised the session and gave the interviewee an opportunity to comment on it; they were thanked for their participation and were promised an electronic copy of the final results of the study.
3.8.2 Research Articles, Journals and Dissertations
Other sources of data, such as a literature study of relevant available research articles, journals and publications, related to the research problem and the phenomenon that is being investigated could provide the study with further invaluable information. Henning et al. (2004:99) argue that even though the collection of documents and other artefacts is often neglected in qualitative research, they are a valuable secondary source of information - if available.
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Any secondary source - both old and new - whether in printed form, handwritten or electronic that relates to the research question may be of value (Henning et al., 2004:99). The analysis of these secondary sources may provide information that fills the gaps that are left after the interviews (Henning et al., 2004:100). In this study the secondary sources that were consulted included library books, research articles, unpublished dissertations and archived material that contained euphemisms.
3.8.3 Field Notes
Field notes were compiled during the interviews which also recorded the behavioural patterns of the participants. Hittleman and Simon (2002:148) highlight the importance of taking field notes by the researcher during the periods of gathering data and the researcher made field notes while observing the participants during the interviews. According to Ary et al., (2002:431), the notes should include information pertaining to the behaviour of people, interpersonal relationships, places, activities, conversations as well as the feelings or impressions of the researcher. These notes supplement the information that is acquired from the interviews and the document analysis (Hittleman and Simon, 2002:148). In this study the field notes were edited immediately after the interviews and comments were marked as Researcher’s Comments (RC).