The research design for this study was based on principles of qualitative design (Denzin &
Lincoln, 2000). The study was both descriptive and interpretive in nature. The sample was small so that rich data was obtained from each participant. Narratives of the participants were obtained through interviews.
There were two reasons for the decision to employ a qualitative research design. Firstly, the nature of the research question meant that the interest was interested in gaining a descriptive picture of the identities of the adolescents who had been transracially adopted. Denzin and Lincoln (2000, p.2) argue that "qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them". By adopting a qualitative approach to the research question, it was possible to obtain a
richness of data that would not have been possible using psychometric tools and engage in relatively exploratory research. The literature on transracial adoption in South Africa is very limited, and not much knowledge has been generated on the racial identities of these children in South Africa. Neuman (1997, p. 19) argues that "exploratory researchers frequently use
qualitative data. The techniques for gathering qualitative data are less wedded to a specific theory or research question. Qualitative researchers tend to be more open to using a range of evidence and discovering new issues". Lastly, this research project was based on the assumption that human behaviour is dynamic and is therefore not reducible to a few generalisable rules. For this reason, there was a need to find a way of capturing the dynamic and complex nature of human behaviour and experience, which a qualitative approach facilitated (Brockmeier & Harre,
1997).
3.5. Sample
The sampling method that was used for this research is broadly known as non-probability sampling, as it does not rely on any mechanisms of randomness (Neuman, 1997). More specifically, the method of purposive sampling was used in order to obtain the sample for this research project. Neuman suggests that purposive sampling is appropriate "when a researcher wants to identify particular types of cases for in-depth investigation (where) the purpose is less to generalise to a larger population than it is to gain a deeper understanding of types" (1997, p.
206). More specifically, the sampling method was criterion sampling (Miles & Huberman, 1994), which is defined as sampling for "all cases that meet some criterion" (p.29). There were three sampling criteria that were used in finding appropriate participants for this study. In some cases the sampling criterion had to be relaxed due to the small number of transracially adopted adolescents available for inclusion in the study.
The first sampling criterion was that the participants be in their early to late teens, between the ages of 13 and 19 as research suggests that adolescence is the developmental period when identity formation primarily occurs. In addition, older children should have reached what Piaget termed the Formal Operational stage of development, which means that they have the ability to think in more abstract terms, and should have been better able to reflect upon their experiences
(Bukatko & Daehler, 1995). It was assumed that this, in conjunction with a greater level of maturity, would result in a depth of information that may have been difficult to obtain from very young children.
The second sampling criterion was that participants had been transracially adopted. Transracial adoption is defined as the adoption of a child by parents who are from a dissimilar race. This sampling criterion was not used entirely strictly. One of the participants was never officially adopted by his adoptive family, although he had been living with them as if adopted since he was first born. Thus, his experience of growing up had been one consistent with transracial adoption, which was felt by the researcher to be acceptable for inclusion in the research.
The third sampling criterion concerned the age of the participants. Silverman and Fiegleman (1981, in Alexander & Curtis, 1996) researched the adjustment of African American children adopted by white families using a control group of white children adopted by white families.
They found that black children tended to be older at the time of adoption than white children, and that black children displayed more maladjustment than white children. As a result of these
findings "the researchers concluded that the age of the child at adoption had more of an impact on adjustment than transracial adoption" (Silverman & Fiegelman, 1981 in Alexander & Curtis,
1996, p. 227). Children who are adopted at an older age are more likely to experience negative life events such as various forms of abuse, than children who are adopted at a younger age. For this reason, the third sampling criterion was that the children were adopted before the age of 15 months. This age criterion provided enough time for the child to be placed in a family after birth, but reduces the chances of the child being affected by negative life events, which could influence their psychosocial adjustment, thereby obscuring the effect of transracial adoption on overall adjustment. This age criterion proved difficult to adhere to in a strict manner. Owing to apartheid laws that existed when they were infants, two of the participants had been adopted at a much later age, once laws had changed to make transracial adoption in South Africa legal. Thus, although they were older at the time of adoption, they had been living with their adoptive
families from an early age. A third participant had also been living with his adoptive family since a very young age, although this was an informal arrangement and he was partially cared for by his birth grandmother.
The sample was small, containing four participants, two female and two male. A small sample was appropriate for this research as the aim of the research was to obtain rich, in-depth
information from each participant. As a result, time spent with each participant was intense and extended, and a large sample would have gone beyond the constraints of this research.
In addition to the sample of transracially adopted children, there was also a sample of the parents of the transracially adopted children. This sample was obtained through convenience sampling.
Ideally both parents of the children were interviewed, but where this was not possible, either parent of the child who was available was interviewed. Ultimately, out of the four children involved in the research, both parents were interviewed in two of the families, and in two of the families only one parent was interviewed. Thus, six parents were interviewed altogether.