School violence
3.7. Instruments for data collection
3.7.1. Interviews
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by 80% of the learners because their parents just cannot afford to do so. At least 50% of the parents work as casual domestics because they are not educated to have better jobs. This labor brings in about R1000 per month for food and essentials. Poor learners are prone to stealing especially stationery because they cannot afford to buy these themselves. At least half the learners live with grandmothers or by themselves. The AIDS statistics for this area (as acquired from the Whetstone Community Health clinic nurses)is that at least 40% of the patients attending that clinic are HIV positive. This is an indicator of the high HIV statistics in this area. AIDS has resulted in many parents dying and little siblings are left to take care of each other. These child-headed households are perfect breeding grounds for violence because without adult supervision the children join gangs, engage in bad habits and spend most time after school in groups at taverns.
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According to Maree (2010, p.87), the aim of a qualitative interview is to see the world through the eyes of the participant as they can be a valuable source of information, provided that they are used correctly. He further contends that if the participants you are interviewing think that the topic is of importance and that they trust you, they will give you information that you will not be able to collect in any other way.
The data that I planned to collect was basically descriptive in nature and it reflected on the experiences of the participating principals, educators and school governing body members, learners and support staff of Alpha and Omega Primary Schools respectively. The methods of data collection needed to ensure that the participants are provided with the latitude and freedom to engage in the discussion from their own point of view in as much detail as they chose. Individual interviews were therefore the most appropriate method for data collection within this study, as they were successful in capturing the holistic experiences of the chosen participants. According to Nieuwenhuis (2007, p.87) an interview is a two way conversation in which the interviewer asks the participant questions to collect data and to learn about the ideas, beliefs, views, opinions and behaviors of the participant. Cohen, et al (2007, p.349) state that 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.
Maree (2010, p.87) concurs by stating that an interview is a valuable source of information as we see the world through the eyes of the participant. It obtains rich descriptive data. This research used a structured interview where questions were detailed and developed in advance. It ensured consistency in the data collection. The interviews were conducted with the Governing body chairpersons (x2), chairpersons of the safety and disciplinary committee (DSSC) (x2), the school principals (x2), the life orientation educators of grade seven (x2), 5 learners (x2) who were victims of violence and 5 learners (x2) who
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were perpetrators of violence in individual interviews in each school, cleaners (x2), clerks (x2) and security guards (x2). The interviews were conducted in quiet libraries that were free from a busy and noisy environment that eliminated any form of disruptions. Participants were informed accordingly of the date, time and venue of the interview to be conducted. The interviews were recorded on tape. The use of the tape-recorder allowed me to capture verbatim the words of the participant. Interviews captured on the recorder gave me the latitude to replay the recordings as often as is necessary to elicit the required data necessary for complete and objective analysis (Best & Khan, 1989).
One disadvantage of an interview was that it was time consuming. Another drawback was that possibly during the interview, the interviewer may have misinterpreted what the interviewee/participant was saying, therefore to minimize this each interview was tape-recorded so that I was able to recheck and listen carefully to the responses while completing transcripts. According to (Cohen et al, 2000) interviews are limited to the spoken word and to the inferences made by the interviewer. There is a possibility of bias creeping into interviews since interviewers are human and their mannerisms could have an effect on the interviewee. Bell (2003) contends that interviewing can pose a challenge considering that researchers have not found it easy to strike a balance between complete objectivity and trying to put the interviewee at ease.
As a researcher I took cognizance of these limitations and deliberately avoided succumbing to these shortfalls.
The sample for interviews in each school comprised of the following:
Educators: A purposive sample of two educators (the school principal and the life orientation educator in the Grade 7 classes).
School Governing Body: A purposive sample of 2 representatives of school governing bodies (the chairman of the school’s Discipline, Safety and Security Committee (DSSC) and the chairman of the SGB.
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Learners: 5 learners who were victims of school violence and 5 learners who were perpetrators of violence.
Support staff: A purposive sample of one cleaner, clerk or security guard.
At the interviews I recorded the discussions and then transcribed the data when I got home on the same day while all information was fresh. There were no translations as all participants spoke English which I had checked before.
The transcripts were analyzed where there was a re-reading and redundancies were eliminated, language transformed into the language of science and the insights synthesized into a description. Joseph (1998, p.11) states that questions posed carefully yields useful information. This instrument (interviews) is time-consuming yet highly effective because of the immediate verification of information. Greater sincerity in answers is evident because the integrity of the respondent will be kept in check.