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Education of respondents
Figure 4.5 indicates that the majority of the respondents have matriculated (62%) whilst 22%
have some schooling and 16% have a Diploma/certificate.
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effectively access the views and opinions of the respondents regarding the research problem at hand and to quantify the data as the researcher intended.
4.5.1 Description of the questionnaire
Questionnaires are tools that help researchers get information about what people do, what people have, know, and what people want (Babbie, 2015). The questionnaire in this study comprised of a list of questions, which included clear instructions and provided space for answers. The questionnaire in this research had an intention that related to the objectives of the research and was rigorous from the beginning because it determined the validity and reliability of the results. The aim of a questionnaire in this study was to acquire proof and perceptions about experiences from people concerning an issue. In this study, the questionnaire was used as the main tool of data collection.
The design of the questionnaire was given thorough consideration which demanded effort and detailed planning by the researcher in order to ensure the collection of useful information.
The researcher followed a series of stages in the development of the questionnaire ranging from initial considerations, question content, phrasing and the format of response, the sequence of questions, the overall layout, pre-test (Pilot testing) and the final questionnaire, as prescribed by Bernard and Bernard (2012).
4.5.2 Construction of the questionnaire
The construction of the questionnaire was split into three different elements:
Determining the questions to be asked
Choosing the question type for each question and,
Constructing the question sequence and overall questionnaire layout
The questions in the questionnaire were titled and not cluttered up with unnecessary headings and numbers. However, a brief introductory statement that explains the upcoming questions was useful, especially in circumstances where the introductory letter could be lost. Contact details of the researcher and the return information was contained in the questionnaire. The questions and answer choices were attractively and neatly laid out in the questionnaire. The researcher was consistent in aspects such as the wording of questions. The factor that affected the way in which respondents answered the questions was the length of the
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questions. Long questions can discourage and confuse the respondents (Sarantakos, 2012).
Therefore, the researcher used short questions that are easy to understand and to answer.
In order for the respondents to complete the questionnaire, the researcher began with questions that are of interest to the respondent. The sequence of the questions was designed in the sense that, interesting and easy questions were at the beginning in order to get the respondent in to the mood of completing the questionnaire.
The questionnaire that was used in this research is made up of five sections:
• Section One: Biographical data
The biographical data required participants to provide information on their age, gender, marital status, level of education, job category and number of dependents.
• Section two: Employee benefits
Seven items were phrased to assess employees’ views on their employee benefits.
• Section three: Collective bargaining
Six items tapped into employees’ views on the degree of collective bargaining in their employment process.
• Section four: Communication
Four items were designed to tap into employees’ perceptions of the nature of communication in their job.
• Section five: Open ended questions
One open ended question allowed employees to report the things they may want to say regarding the factors that influenced labour unrest at the URICS.
The items in Sections 2, 3 and 4 were constructed using a five point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Disagree (1), Disagree (2), Neither agree nor disagree (3), Agree (4) and Strongly Agree (5). The participants indicated the level to which they agree or disagree by crossing the block in the spaces provided. For example, high scores displayed stronger respondent perceptions of labour unrest at the URICS. Short question displayed what construction employees think about the factors that influenced labour unrest at the URICS.
4.5.3 Administration of the questionnaire
In this study, pilot testing was conducted by the researcher as a small scale, trial run of preparing for the main research. Pilot testing is often used to pre-test or try out the research
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instrument to assess if it measures what it is supposed to measure (Punch, 2013). However, the pilot study does not guarantee the success of the research, but it increases the probability that the study will be successful (Matthews & Ross, 2014). Pilot study addressed the following issues before the actual study was conducted.
The comprehensibility of research instructions;
Checked whether the researcher was sufficiently skilled throughout the process
The wording of the questionnaire
The effectiveness and efficiency of the statistical and analytical processes
And lastly, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire.
Before the researcher conducted the actual research, a pretest was conducted whereby friends, family members, and colleagues were used as research participants and the questionnaire was then piloted using 8 employees from the study environment. In this research, the advantage of conducting a pilot study was to give warning in advance to the researcher concerning the reliability and validity of the research outcomes and identify errors in the entire research project. Pilot studies provide the researcher with warnings as to why the study may be useless or fail (Zikmund, Babin, Carr, & Griffin, 2012).
The value of the pilot study cannot be underestimated because things do not always go the way researchers have planned even if they have done it before (Babbie, 2015). Hence, it became clearer to the researcher that pilot study was to be conducted in order to prevent the unnecessary errors. The following three values of a pilot study were taken into consideration:
• Pilot studies are compulsory in order to identify possible flaws in the procedure and in the operationalisation of the independent variables. The above value of the pilot study is very much applicable, especially in the current research studies (Bernard & Bernard, 2012).
When utilised in this study, it confirmed that the only way to reach the employees was via the headman.
• Pilot studies are significant because they detect ambiguous and unclear items in a questionnaire. This is important in order to ensure questionnaires are easy to understand and are completed with valid answers. Ambiguous items in a questionnaire may lead to respondents giving invalid and misleading answers (Bryman, 2015). This was valuable in
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the current study to ensure that the questionnaire was understood by the respondents as translation was required.
• Respondents display non-verbal behavior during the pilot study which may give valuable information about any discomfort that may be experienced regarding the wording of the questionnaire. Therefore, pilot studies give advance warnings regarding where the research can fail. Pilot studies also show, where research rules may not be followed (Matthews & Ross, 2014). In this study, the pilot study proved that not only the words had to change in translation but also identified pitches/expressions.
A pilot study was conducted in order to ensure that the respondents fully understood the questionnaire despite any challenges and that they were able to complete it in a correct way.
A pilot study was conducted with questionnaires already translated into isiZulu. The pilot study was conducted on 8 construction employees. The pilot study was conducted by the researcher in order to check the appropriate wording of the questionnaire, whether it makes sense to the respondents and whether the questions asked were relevant and appropriate (Bryman, 2015).
The results of the pilot study suggested that employee benefits, collective bargaining and communication are core factors that led to labour unrest. After the pilot study was completed, the researcher was confident to conduct the actual research because the results of the pilot study were as expected in the actual study. Once the pilot study was completed, the questionnaires were distributed to the employees residing in the Quarry Road West Informal Settlement. Each questionnaire had a consent form attached to it outlining the nature and purpose of the entire project and that participation in the study was voluntary with no monetary benefits. The respondents were required to sign the consent form. However, the study focused on construction employees who worked at the site and had not included important stakeholders such as employers and SANRAL representatives. Questionnaires were translated into isiZulu due to the illiteracy level of the respondents residing in the informal settlement who were not versed in the English language.