2. Sign Supported English (SSE)
3.5. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
3.5.2. Qualitative Research
(i) Introduction
Wimmer and Dominick (1988:19) state that qualitative research describes or analyses a phenomenon without specifically measuring variables. No statistical analysis is involved in qualitative research although the data might be expressed numerically.
Qualitative research deals mainly with unmeasurable features of research (Barnes 1992:108). According to Rudestam and Newton (1992:31), qualitative studies imply that
the data are in the form of words. This programme is useful in those categories concerning the understanding of human phenomenon and for the investigation and interpretation of the meanings people attach to different events.
Creswell (1994:162) states that qualitative research occurs in natural settings where human behaviour and events normally occur. The implementation of this approach is relevant to this study in the sense that the focus of qualitative falls on the participants which are:
(i) The learners with a hearing impairment (LHI); and (ii) The educators of LHI and education officers
(iii) Parents and SGB
Mouton and Marais (1990:163) state that in qualitative research, the researcher tends to become involved with the phenomenon. Since in qualitative research the ―data is in the form of words‖, the spontaneous sketches and the focus group interviews, which will be used as data collection techniques in this research, will be expressed in the form of words.
A holistic perspective permits a broader view of the complex issues facing educational researchers. In general, qualitative research interprets data without numerical analysis.
Some qualitative research interprets data without numerical analysis. However, some qualitative research includes limited quantification e.g. counting the number of occurrences in an event.
Based on the constituents of qualitative research as discussed above, it becomes apparent that the aim of this study namely, to investigate the problems of management, educators in SLHI would also be served by a qualitative research paradigm. The techniques for data collection and data analysis therefore fell within this paradigm.
(ii) Advantages of the qualitative research approach
According to Mouton and Marais (1988:205), the qualitative methods advocate an approach to examining the empirical world, which requires the researcher to interpret the real world from the perspective of the subject of this investigation. Qualitative methods seek to understand phenomena in their entirety in order to develop a complete understanding of a person, programme or situation.
Rudestam and Newton (1992:39) assert that one of the advantages of qualitative study is that it emphasizes the ―thick description‖ of a relatively small number of subjects with the context of a specific setting.
Keeves (1988:59) states that qualitative research is advantageous because the researchers are able to develop their own personal interpretations of the educational field in which they work. If data is collected through interviews, the researcher is in control. Further advantages highlighted by other writers are indicated below:
Qualitative research is ―more flexible‖ and to some extent emerges as the research is conducted (Wiersma, 1991:96). The flexibility of qualitative research is relevant to this study in that data gathered can change depending on the circumstances, since this study deals with human beings, namely LHI and their educators.
Participation and observation provide first hand information. Leedy (1992:142) indicates that the qualitative researcher focuses on the perspective of the respondents and is interested in first hand experiences because it provides the most meaningful data. In this study, information was direct and first hand since it comes from the spontaneous sketches and from the focus group interviews.
In this study an in-depth analysis of the problems of LHI is the classroom in an attempt to understand what they experience in their day-to-day lives in the classroom. This is relevant to what Rudestam and Newton (1993:32) describe:
―the researcher tries to understand the phenomenon in their naturalistic environment‖. The classroom setting where data will be collected in this study is the natural one.
According to Bogdan and Biklen (in Tuckman, 1994:366), data collected from interviews is mainly made up of verbal information. Verbal information obtained in qualitative research enables the researcher to understand a phenomenon as perceived and interpreted by the researcher to understand phenomenon as perceived and interpreted by the research subject‖.
(iii) Disadvantages of the qualitative research approach
Barnes (1992:107) explains that every research method has its advantages and its disadvantages, but once a particular style of research has been assimilated, it is all too easy to forget the assumptions on which it rests, and thus to regard it as the main research method.
Creswell (1994:151) indicates some of the disadvantages regarding data collection through an interview. If data is collected through interviews, the presence of the researcher may lead to a biased response from the subjects. Telephone interviews may also have a negative impact since information is provided in a restricted surrounding and not in a natural environment. In this study an independent interviewer will be employed to conduct the interviews.
Another disadvantage of the qualitative research paradigm concerns the techniques for data collection, administration of interviews and transcription of interviews from the tape recordings.
According to Crabtree and Miller (1992:235) these research actions associated with qualitative research are both time consuming and labour intensive.
In conclusion, the reasons to justify the use of both paradigms irrespective of some of the disadvantages are discussed below.
The use of both approaches conformed to the view of Foster and Louw-Potgieter (1991:31) that ―no one technique is better than any other, because any method has advantages and disadvantages‖. Finally, as indicated in chapter 1.9, a multi-directional approach was adopted. This is in accordance with the suggestion formulated by Rudestam and Newton (1992:39) that a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies is often a good choice of research; the research report combined a quantitative analysis of the responses to the questionnaire with a qualitative analysis of themes generated by the discussion during the interviews. (Rudestam & Newton, 1992:40) (See figure 2.1. of this chapter).