3.7 SAMPLING
3.7.3 Qualitative sampling
129
Regarding the participants’ home language, 99 were English speaking, 30 were Afrikaans speaking, 23 were IsiZulu speaking, and 4 indicated “other” as their home language. With regard to the age of the deaf child, 27 fell into the category 1-5 years, 99 were between 6 and 13 years of age and 27 were older than 13 years. 4 participants did not indicate the age of the deaf child.
Regarding the age of the child when deafness was diagnosed, 120 children were diagnosed as deaf before thirty months of age, 28 were over thirty months old when diagnosis of deafness was confirmed, while 9 participants did not indicate the age at which the child’s deafness was diagnosed.
130
the way it is used to construct meaning (Flick, 2003: 133-134). Qualitative researchers adopt the position that “no individual or group is ever only an individual or group”, and that each case must be studied in context, taking into account the background of more universal social experiences and influences (Strydom & Delport, 2005: 328). This view concurs with Bronfenbrenner’s (1992; 1998) ecological systems theory which was revised and later became known as the bioecological model of human development (c.f. 2.2).
Creswell (2003: 220) states that criteria for the selection of participants need to be clearly identified and formulated. Morse (1998: 73) specifies several general criteria for a “good informant” especially for interviews. Those who fulfill all the criteria are regarded as a
“primary selection”, whereas those who do not, are considered “secondary selection”.
These criteria comprise the following: they should be knowledgeable and have experience for answering the questions about the issue being investigated; they should be capable of reflecting and articulating; they should be able to give of their time for the interview, and they should be ready to participate in the study. In the case of this study I am confident that the participants have met all these criteria.
The non-probability sampling procedure involving a combination of techniques was used in this study. These included snowball or chain sampling (in which potential participants were identified by the principals of six schools for the Deaf in Gauteng, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal who knew the participants); criterion sampling (participants had to fit the criterion of being hearing parents of deaf children attending one of the six schools for the Deaf so that they could contribute to the understanding of the research problem through their parenting experience); as well as convenience sampling (involving participants who were accessible and willing to participate in the study), which according to Creswell (2007: 127), “saves time, money and effort, but at the expense of information and credibility”.
However, Strydom and Delport (2005: 329) state that it is important for the researcher to think critically about the parameters of the population when choosing the purposive sampling technique. Creswell (2003: 220) makes the point that in qualitative data
131
collection purposeful sampling involves the selection of individuals who have experienced the central phenomenon under investigation, and that the “purposeful selection of participants represents a key decision point in a qualitative study” (Creswell, 1998: 118). The purpose of conducting semi-structured, one-to-one interviews with 20 hearing parents of deaf children was aimed at finding answers to the main research questions.
For this reason the chairpersons of the governing bodies of the six school’s were contacted for permission to conduct research at the school, and the principals were requested to provide names of hearing parents who would be willing to participate in interviews, and share their experiences of raising deaf children who had attended, or were currently enrolled at a school for the Deaf. The biographical details of the 20 interview participants follow:
132
Table 3.2 Biographical information of participants interviewed
NO.
CODE NAME RACE GENDER MARITAL STATUS EMPLOYED RELOCATED NO. OF CHILDREN NO. OF DEAF CHILDREN GENDER OF DEAF CHILD POSITION OF DEAF CHILD IN FAMILY AGE OF DEAF CHILD AGE AT WHICH DEAFNESS DIAGNOSED GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
1 Amy W F M Yes No 2 1 M I 14 6 months Gauteng
2 Barbara W F M Yes Yes 2 1 M 1 20 2 weeks Gauteng
3 Constance B F M Yes Yes 1 1 M 1 8 6 months Gauteng
4 Devi I F M No Yes 1 1 F 1 7 6 months Gauteng
5 Edna W F M Yes No 2 1 F 1 13 6 months KZN
6 Frieda W F M Yes Yes 3 1 F 2 8 24 months KZN
7 Grace W F M Yes Yes 4 1 F 4 3 6 months KZN
8 Hemma I F M Yes No 2 1 M 1 8 30 months KZN
9 Indrani I F M Yes No 1 1 M 1 9 24 months KZN
10 Judy W F M No Yes 2 1 F 1 7 24 months KZN
11 Kate W F M Yes No 3 1 M 3 8 18 months W Cape
12 Lydia W F M Yes No 1 1 F 1 8 24 months W Cape
13 Marie W F M Yes No 2 1 F 2 20 18 months W Cape
14 Nico C M M Yes No 2 1 F 1 14 18 months W Cape
15 Olivia W F M Yes No 4 1 F 1 13 11 months W Cape
16 Patricia W F M Yes Yes 2 1 F 2 15 8 months W Cape
17 Queenie W F D Yes Yes 2 2 M 1 13 42 months W Cape
18 Rene W F D No No 1 1 M 1 16 18 months W Cape
19 Stefan W M M Yes Yes 3 1 F 1 18 14 months W Cape
20 Tanya W F M Yes Yes 3 1 M 3 4 6 months W Cape
133
The names assigned to participants are pseudonyms, to protect their identity. In terms of race, 15 participants were White, 1 was Black, 1 was Coloured, and 3 were Indian. 18 participants were female while 2 were male. With regard to marital status, 18 were married, and 2 were divorced. 3 participants were unemployed while 17 were employed.
10 of the participants resided in Western Cape, 4 in Gauteng and 6 in KwaZulu-Natal.
The number of children per participant ranged from 1 to 4, with an average of two children per participant. Each participant had one deaf child, with the exception of one, who had deaf twins. Of the participants’ deaf children 9 were male and 11were female.
Their ages ranged from 4 years to 20 years, the average age being approximately 10 years.
The ages at which deafness was diagnosed ranged from 2 weeks to 42 months, with the average age being approximately 20 months. 10 of the 20 participants relocated to another province or within the same province for the sake of the deaf child’s education.
In concluding this section on sampling, suffice to say that Erlandson, Harris, Skipper and Allen (1993: 118) emphasise the need for the search for data to be guided by processes that will maximise the range of information and provide rich detail regarding the specific context being studied. Therefore, a combination of probability and non-probability sampling techniques were used in this mixed methods study, namely, multi-stage cluster sampling, purposive sampling, snowball sampling, criterion sampling, as well as convenience sampling techniques, in order to generate rich data which would provide an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of hearing parents raising deaf children.