RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.6. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
According to Sekaran and Bougie (2013), research design is a blueprint for the researcher who intends to conduct the study to answer the research question. The main function of a research design is to enable the researcher to anticipate what the appropriate research decisions should be so as to maximise the validity of the eventual results (Mouton, 1996).
3.6.1. Description and purpose
A questionnaire is a set of pre-written questions to which the respondent provides answers from a preselected list of alternatives (Sekaran & Bougie, 2013).
Personally administered questionnaires have an advantage of having the most completed response in a short period of time and any clarifications can be dealt with on the spot (Sekaran & Bougie, 2013). Mail and electronic questionnaires have an advantage of covering a wide geographical area and can be completed at the respondents’ convenience. However, the main disadvantage of mail and electronic questionnaires is their low return rate. According to Sekaran and Bougie (2013), a 30% response rate is considered acceptable. To increase the respondents’ rate for questionnaires, the researcher must notify them in advance, with an introductory covering letter and send follow-up emails as reminders.
For this study, the electronic questionnaire was used using QuestionPro.
QuestionPro is software available for question design, response data entry, data analysis, and web and email surveys.
3.6.1.1. Construction of the instrument
According to Sekaran and Bougie (2013), operationalisation of concepts is the translation of abstract concepts into tangible and measurable elements. The operationalisation stage is the construction stage of the questionnaire.
The questionnaire for this research study was designed to analyse the perceptions of female academics with regards to their career progression using both closed and open-ended questions. The questionnaire design included some of the following key aspects:
• The range and scope of questions to be included
• Question types (closed or open ended)
• Content of individual questions
• Question structure
• Question wording
• Question order (Crowther & Lancaster, 2009).
Questionnaires broadly focus on three main areas, namely factual information, behavioural patterns and opinions, which are explored through closed or open questions. Closed questions require the respondent to choose from a set of alternatives given by the researcher (Sekaran & Bougie, 2013). To the respondent, the questions are easy and quick to answer. To the researcher, they are easy to summarise and analyse and researcher bias is omitted (Gillham, 2000). Open- ended questions allow the respondents to answer the question in any way that they choose (Sekaran & Bougie, 2013). For this study, all the questions were closed questions and respondents were required to choose one or all that applied from several alternatives.
The questionnaire was divided into two sections:
• Section A included the demographic data such as age, marital status, and educational level, where respondents were expected to input their personal information. This section comprised of eight questions.
• Section B included closed questions where respondents were asked choices among a set of alternatives given by the researcher.
The advantages and disadvantages of closed questions are similar to the open, unstructured approach (Denscombe, 2003). The main advantage of closed questions is the structure that is imposed on the answers of the respondents which allows the analysis of the data to be easily quantified and compared.
• Objective 1 had a total of seven questions that attempted to find the barriers experienced by female academics in career progression.
• Objective 2 attempted to find the personal traits that influenced the career progression of women, with three questions.
• Objective 3 had three questions that sought to find what could help counter the challenges that women face in the upward mobility in their careers.
Participation in the questionnaire was voluntary with no assurances of monetary gain. The only assurance given was the confidentiality of information that was guaranteed in the consent letter that was attached to the questionnaire. The questionnaire and consent letter are attached in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2, respectively.
3.6.2. Pretesting and validation
Pretesting is performed to ensure that the questions are understood by the respondents and that there are no problems with the wording or measurement (Sekaran & Bougie, 2013). Pretesting of the questionnaire was performed through a pilot study. A focus group of 10 people was selected for the pretesting. The pilot study was posted on the QuestionPro website. The following adjustments were made to the questionnaire based on the pilot respondents’ recommendations:
• The introductory letter was amended to help increase the number of respondents.
• An error in question 9 was corrected, where the logic was not working out as envisioned.
3.6.3. Administration of the questionnaire
Prior to the administration of the questionnaires, gatekeepers’ letter had to be obtained from Durban University of Technology and Mangosuthu University of Technology where the research was to be conducted. An ethical clearance had to be obtained from the University of KwaZulu-Natal Ethical Clearance Committee. The letter included information pertaining to the purpose of the study and stated that participation was voluntary and that participants’ confidentiality would be maintained at all times.
To help respondents understand what the study was all about, the study title and purpose of the study were explained on the consent page of the questionnaire. Once the respondents had agreed to participate on their own accord by clicking on the “I
agree” icon, the survey could start. If the respondents did not want to take part they could simply exit the survey.
For this study, the questionnaire was administered electronically through email using QuestionPro. QuestionPro is a versatile, adaptable and customisable online survey tool. Respondents were able to complete the questionnaire and the results were available to the researcher in real time. This software tool also includes a data analysis tool that made it easier for the researcher to interpret, infer and make correlations to data in an effort to answer the research question. A tracking device can be activated to track who had and who had not responded, enabling the researcher to send reminders to solicit responses. The ability to validate the questions made it possible for respondents to answers all the questions without skipping any. QuestionPro also allows only one reply from each respondents’
address thus avoiding duplication; this is done through tracking of the computer IP address. The main disadvantage was the fact that respondents were able to exit the questionnaire with ease which resulted in a low response rate.