Research, according to Denzin & Lincoln (2003), is carried out according to ones feelings and beliefs of how the world should be studied and understood. Research in the quantitative and qualitative approach present a challenge on which method would be most appropriate for my research study. These two approaches provide different ways of thinking in research (Holliday, 2007), and will now be explained.
Historically, quantitative research was the preferred method due to much emphasis being placed on quantification in science (Holliday, 2007). According to this approach, there is much focus in this field of either falsifying or verifying some hypothesis (Guba & Lincoln, 1994), but there has been little need for the traditional deductive reasoning of the quantitative approach to research whilst there was an increasing need for the use of inductive reasoning
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(Flick, 2006). There are less quantifiable areas of study such as the social sciences which rely on other contextual variables, which cannot be fulfilled by the quantitative research approach (Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Holliday, 2007). Therefore the qualitative approach redresses this imbalance by gathering the contextual information of the study (Guba & Lincoln, 1994).
Whilst, in quantitative research, the researcher reports on established procedures, the qualitative researcher must justify how the strategy adequately fits the research setting (Holliday, 2007). Since my study involved uncovering empirical data of participants’
experiences of implementing CAPS in the grade 11 Mathematics class, the qualitative approach best suited my research study. Using this approach I collected verbal data as participants revealed their experiences in a focus group interview, converted the verbal data to text, and then interpreted and analysed textual data to find answers to my research question (Morse & Richards, 2002). This approach is in keeping with Kitto, Chester & Grbich’s (2008) description of qualitative research as being concerned with “collection, ordering, description and interpretation of textual data generated from talk” (p. 243). There is therefore clear justification that the qualitative approach was appropriate, since it “provides rich insight into human behaviour”, by uncovering emic data within the context of my research study (Guba & Lincoln, 1994, p.106). The reflection on the essence of qualitative paradigm establishes that my research was engaged with empirically (Flick, 2006).
Since my study is a qualitative research, I made sense of “the situation through the eyes of the participant” as they related their experiences (Cohen et al, 2011, p. 293). Maykut &
Morehouse (1994) believe that qualitative research focuses on people’s words and actions, and my research study attempts to capture what participants revealed about their experiences during the implementation of CAPS in the grade 11 Mathematics class when trying to interpret their world. It can therefore be said that qualitative research has relevance in the social sciences and attempts to search for the truth in a multicultural society, and acknowledges diversity in people’s individuality (Flick, 2006). However, according to Morse
& Richards (2002), the qualitative approach to research is a demanding and challenging one because it is rigorous and leads to conclusions that are considered to be useful and defensible, as well as coherent and robust to enhance understanding. It was therefore a challenge for me to undertake this study. The challenges will be discussed later in this chapter as limitations of my study. I will now progresses onto explaining how the study was done.
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In order to make sense of qualitative research, the experiences of the participants was organised as they occurred in the participants’ natural setting (Morse & Richards, 2002), since qualitative data gives meaning and purpose to human actions and allows us to understand their lived experiences (Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Holliday, 2007; Denzin &
Lincoln, 2003). Holliday (2007) further elaborates that research in the qualitative paradigm invites an array of variables and directly investigate them. Realities of people will remain mysterious unless it is told to others. This research study provided participants with the opportunity to reveal their hidden experiences of implementing Mathematics in a grade eleven class, through a focus group interview. Since the realities of the participants in my research study were mysterious, qualitative research attempted to understand and make sense of them by interpreting their realities (Holliday, 2007). My research interpreted the phenomena of teachers’ experiences according to the meaning that the participants within this study gave to them, by bringing about “psychological and emotional unity to an interpretive experience” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003, p.7).
The psychological and emotional unity evolved as the participants in my study revealed the mystery of their experiences during the implementation of CAPS in the grade eleven Mathematics class. When participants realised that there were similarities in their experiences, they were able to relate to each others’ experiences. In terms of Holliday’s (2007) characterisation of qualitative research, this qualitative study provided me with the opportunity to make an in-depth study of the “quality of social life” of the participants as they interacted with the policy document, learners and resources during the implementation of CAPS (p.6). “Good qualitative research requires purpose, skill and concentration” (Morse &
Richards, 2002, p. 29), and therefore I ensured that the purpose of this research adequately satisfies the requirements of qualitative research. In keeping with the requirements of good qualitative research, my research study explored meanings of the experiences that participants had as they interacted with the curriculum policy document, learners and resources (Kitto et al 2008). I systematically collected verbal data using a focus group interview (Kitto et al, 2008). The verbal data was transcribed to textual data, then interpreted and analysed to provide answers to the research question (Kitto et al, 2008).
Skill and concentration, essential for making this a good qualitative research, was applied by obtaining help and guidance from a professional experienced researcher to act as the moderator (Janesick, 2011). The moderator is a senior lecturer in Criminology and Forensic
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Studies Cluster at a university in South Africa with thirteen years experience moderating qualitative focus group discussions for market and academic research. To maintain a good qualitative research, I was actively involved in the creation, interpretation and progressive understanding of the data (Morse & Richards, 2002).