Research methodology
5.1 Introduction
According to Blanche, Durrheim and Painter (2006), researchers define the nature of their research along three dimensions: ontology, epistemology and methodology. According to Vanderstope and Johnston (2009), there are two worldviews on research: reality and knowledge. Ontology frames the nature of reality and that which can be known about it, and epistemology is concerned with the nature of the relationship between the researcher and what can be known (Blanche et al., 2006; Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). The methodology asks how we know the world or gain knowledge of it (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005) but also provides specifications about how researchers can embark on studying what they believe can be known (Blanche et al., 2006).
This chapter outlines the way of thinking about and studying social phenomenon and the methodology employed in this study. According to Kallet (2004), the methodology chapter a describes the rationale for the application of specific procedures and techniques used to identify, select, and analyse information applied to understanding the research problem, enabling critical evaluation of the study’s overall credibility. The two basic questions addressed here are how the data was collected or generated and how it was analysed. These are important methodological questions because an unreliable method produces unreliable results and, as a consequence, undermines the value of the interpretations of the findings (Lunenburg & Irby, 2008). The method must therefore be appropriate to fulfilling the overall aims of the study to answer the main question of the research.
This chapter therefore provides the location of the research, unpacks the research design and discusses the research approach and the paradigm within which the inquiry unfolded. This is followed by a description of sources for both primary and secondary data. The chapter continues with an exploration of the techniques employed in the collection of data, indicating the population and sample of the study, the sampling approach and method, and the data collection tool. The data analysis process is discussed, followed by a consideration of knowledge trustworthiness and credibility and ethical issues.
93 5.2 Research location
The study was centred around the Durban Aerotropolis, which comprises Dube TradePort and King Shaka International Airport. This project is situated in La Mercy, an area just outside of the city of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa.
5.3 Research design
This study employed an exploratory research design. This is the kind of research design for research projects that serve to address a subject in which there are high levels of uncertainty and ignorance, and when the problem is not very well understood (van Wyk, 2012; Thomas &
Hodges, 2012). According to Lynn University (2015), an exploratory design is conducted about a research problem when there are few or no earlier studies to refer to. This is particularly fitting in this particular study given that it has highlighted a problem that is context-specific and has as a result not been studied extensively. This is the problem of the vagueness and ambiguity of the discourse utilised in policy documents and government strategies and its implications for policy implementation – the other problem being the shift in nomenclature from LED to incorporation of the regional aspect which has been problematic for practitioners who are responsible for implementing RLED or RED projects in South Africa. This latter being a problem that is currently emerging, thus affording little history of practice in South Africa that could have been researched.
According to Reiter (2013:1), to legitimise and provide a solid epistemological ground for exploratory research in the social sciences, the research;
needs to be grounded in a philosophy of science;
has to be articulated within an epistemological framework;
and has to formulate a comprehensive methodological framework that justifies its methods.
In utilising Reiter (2013)’s work, an argument is made that we can spend hours debating what any concept is theoretically (the ‘region’ for example). But this discussion is beside the point because it is not linked to an exploration of ‘reality’. What exploratory research focuses on is to understand what reality a word like region refers to. What is the actual conceptualisation of the region inherent in the Durban Aerotropolis? What are the RED governance mechanisms found in the Aerotropolis region’s stakeholder relations and partnerships? How does this
94 Aerotropolis region facilitate clustering and agglomeration of businesses as a feature of RED?
How does this Aerotropolis facilitate coordinated investments in regional marketing? Reiter further argues that “we need to dissect, to analyse by pulling apart, words from the reality they refer to and, as exploratory social scientists, we should focus on the reality, not the words. This means, in most cases, that we need to look for indicators that tell us something about the reality represented by a word” (2013: 6).
However, Reiter (2013) also cautions researchers against the concretising of ideas as definite and exclusive. He advises that
when doing exploratory research, we need to remain alert to the pitfalls of reification and avoid any tendencies to essentialise words and categories. Instead of looking for the essence behind a word or concept, we need to explore what aspect of reality this word opens up for us and what a specific word allows us to see, or what aspect of reality it refers to. (Reiter, 2013: 7)
In this research, although the exploratory research design offers (among other things) a way to shed light on what economic development projects are likely to be implemented under the
‘regional’ banner and what the inherent governance dynamics are, it must be recognised that the kind of knowledge it can achieve is tentative and dynamic (Reiter, 2013). Admitting to the tentativeness therefore plays a crucial role in ensuring that the complexities and dynamism of reality are not misconstrued through case-specificity.
5.4 Research approach
The study adopted a qualitative approach in the techniques and procedures for gathering and interpreting data. According to Corbin and Strauss (2008), qualitative research opens up an avenue through which researchers can understand the inner experience of participants to determine meaning making through and in culture and to discover variables, as opposed to testing them. Furthermore, qualitative research engages with words and identifies order out of seeming disorder (Corbin & Strauss, 2008).
What is defined above speaks directly to the present field of economic development in South Africa in which there is currently a shift in nomenclature, incorporating the regional aspect in what previously would simply have been referred to as local economic development (LED), or just a total shift in mind-set to the broader regional economic development (RED). This creates
95 chaotic uncertainty and nebulousness for practitioners, necessitating investigation and exploration of how this RED is consequently conceptualised (forming an idea and making sense of) and enacted (being implemented) through the aerotropolis project in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. RED is an emerging concept and, with its associated practice, necessitated a methodological approach to explore its social construction and implications. Thus, it became evident that this could be done best by adhering to qualitative research methods which make the assumption that knowledge about the subject of enquiry is constructed through communication and interaction (Vanderstoep & Johnston, 2009).
According to Henning, van Rensburg and Smit (2004), qualitative research is about the quest for understanding and for in-depth inquiry. As described by Denzin and Lincoln,
it consists of a set of interpretive, material practices that make the world visible… (these material practices) turn the world into a series of representations- including field notes, interviews, recordings… at this level, qualitative research involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of meanings people bring to them.
(2005: 3)
It is important to note that qualitative research can take either an interpretive or a social constructivist turn in its undertaking. These two paradigms share what Schwandt (1994: 221) refers to as “an abiding concern for the life world, for the emic view, for understanding meaning, for grasping the actor’s definition of situation, for verhesten”. However, the differences come in the recognition of peoples’ thoughts as products of systems of meaning that exist at a social (social constructivist) level rather than an individual (interpretive) level (Chell, 2000). Blanche, Durrheim and Painter (2006) describe the constructivist paradigm as socially constructed reality while the interpretive paradigm has more to do with internal reality of subjective experience.
The discussion below expands on what qualitative research following the social constructivist paradigm entails and why it is suited for this study.
5.5 Research paradigm
According to Patton (2002), a research paradigm is a worldview. Schwandt (1994) elaborates on this by explaining that a paradigm suggests direction along which to look rather than a
96 description of what to see. It is further asserted that a paradigm is the lens through which the complexity of lived experience is understood, mainly from the point of view of those who live it (Patton, 2002; Schwandt, 1994). Given the definitions provided above, this study has adopted a social constructivist paradigm. This particular worldview maintains that what is understood as objective knowledge and truth is the result of perspective and this is because knowledge and truth are created, not discovered by the mind (Schwandt, 1994).
Because qualitative research within social constructivist bounds has been undertaken in this study, discourse has been utilised as a structural device to format and direct meaning. The social constructivist paradigm is an epistemological position which explores how the socially produced ideas and objects that populate the world are created (Henning et al., 2004).
Furthermore, it is within this paradigm that understandings and experiences are derived and also feed into larger discourses (Chell, 2000; Blanche et al., 2006).
There is also a recognition of peoples’ thoughts as products of systems of meaning that exist at a social rather than individual level (as is the case with the interpretivist paradigm) (Chell, 2000). The social constructivist paradigm argues for a pluralistic (Patton, 2002) and plastic character of reality (Schwandt, 1994): “pluralistic in the sense that reality is expressible in a variety of symbol and language systems; plastic in the sense that reality is stretched and shaped to fit purposeful acts of intentional human agents” (Schwandt, 1994: 236). This is consistent with the argument cited in section 5.3 above, in which Reiter cautions against reification and essentialising in the exploratory research design. Given the nature of the research purpose and foci within a social constructivist approach, this was deemed the best methodological framework for the study. Qualitative work undertaken through a social constructivist paradigm is malleable and open to negation as new knowledge is accrued (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) and it is the belief of the researcher that such flexible, inductive research work on RED is needed, especially in a period when a shift in nomenclature is presently taking place.
5.6 Data sources
The discussion below of the sources of primary and secondary data indicates where the data originated from that justified the need for the study (secondary) and that provided first-hand evidence and account of the studied phenomenon (primary).
97 5.6.1 Secondary data
The study made use of secondary data from journal articles, books, government policies and other related documentation, newspaper articles and theses or dissertations. This data established the theoretical framework for the entire study, played a crucial role in enabling engagement with the concepts of space, place and region, RED, agglomeration, clustering, and regional marketing, and helped in generating an understanding of the various developments that are linked to the aforementioned concepts. Furthermore, secondary data provided a platform from which governance and the coordination of investments in regional marketing could be perceived in the context of this study.
Secondary data also assisted the researcher in deciding that the Durban Aerotropolis would serve as a good case of reference to be utilised in further understanding RED and provided an overall perspective of the aerotropolis project.
5.6.2 Primary data
Due to the qualitative nature of the study design, primary data consisted of in-depth, face-to- face interviews that were conducted with key informants. Other primary data sources were documentary evidence from within these organisations, such as annual reports, strategy documents and factsheets. The organisations from which primary data was sourced included the public and private sector stakeholders of the Durban Aerotropolis. These organisations are further detailed in the next section.
5.7 Population and sample
It is important to discuss the population in the study, stating its size, if it can be determined, and the means of identifying individuals in the population (Creswell, 2014). Issues of access may arise here, and the sampling design for the said population may have to be either single- stage or multistage (Creswell, 2014).
With this in mind, the sample for this research was selected from the population of government departments, government-funded institutions or state-owned entities, and private sector companies that were involved in the Durban Aerotropolis. There was no exact number to serve
98 as a determining factor of size of population given that these are big organisations and vary according to sectors and in relation to project engagements.
Within each of these organisations were individuals and, at times, teams that dealt directly with the various aspects of the Durban Aerotropolis. The sample therefore included first and foremost the project Aerotropolis partners, namely the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Dube TradePort, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), eThekwini Municipality, Tongaat Hulett Property Developers (THPD), Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, and Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal. Also included were members of the Economic and Strategic Infrastructure Development Cluster: iLembe Municipality, iLembe Chamber of Commerce, Department of Corporative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Department of Transport, and Small Business Growth Enterprise. In addition, three private sector companies working within the Dube TradePort were selected. In total, the estimated sample size was 23 respondents from all the above organisations.
5.7.1 Sampling method and approach
A non-probability sampling method was utilised. This sampling method is used where the intention to select certain respondents is deliberate to reflect particular characteristics of the population used as a basis of selection (Ritchie & Lewis, 2012). More specifically, the sampling approach is purposive in nature. According to Henning et al. (2013), purposive sampling has elements of theoretical sampling in the sense that it looks for people who can help to build a certain theory further.
The sample chosen for this study was in line with objectives proposed and it was envisaged that it would suffice in answering all the key questions intended to aid in the conceptualisation and enactment of RED through the analysis of the Durban Aerotropolis, consequently filling the identified gaps and building on the literature on RED. The sample comprised people involved in Durban Aerotropolis project from the various organisation or stakeholder groups who had the necessary expertise and individuals who qualified to speak on issues pertaining the project.
Although the main sampling approach was purposive, the study also made use of snowball sampling whereby those already identified indicated which other respondents were useful for the study (Henning et al., 2013). The use of snowballing technique was also instrumental in
99 assisting with issues of access, because some of the respondents were more open to engaging and being part of the study after they found out who had referred me to them. It can thus be argued that multistage sampling was employed, because the researcher first identified the organisations and stakeholder groups of the projects and was only then able to obtain names of individuals. This kind of sampling is defined by Creswell (2014) as a sampling procedure where the researcher first identifies clusters of either groups or organisations and then obtains names of individual respondents within those clusters and samples within them.
Because of issues with access, as highlighted by Creswell (2014), efforts to secure respondent meetings with a number of the stakeholders were unsuccessful. These included the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Premier’s Office in KZN, iLembe District, and one private sector company, Rholig-Grindrod.
5.8 Data collection tool
The study utilised in-depth, face-to-face interviews. Because a sizeable aspect of the study’s objectives was to examine, question, understand and make sense of the various issues raised in the study, interviews emerged as the most appropriate data collection tool. Interviews enable an understanding of the respondents’ view and interpretation of the world in relation to their own beliefs, history and context (Wengraf, 2001).
Although there were other data collection instruments that could have been used, the nature of the study in itself required a data collection tool that would allow and make provisions to collect and rigorously examine narrative accounts of social worlds (Silverman, 2011). This was needed because the research was essentially exploratory in relation to the concept and implementation of RED. It would, however, be impossible to arrive at this understanding if we do not acknowledge that individual’s perspectives are an important part of the fabric and make-up of society and that our joint knowledge of social processes can emerge as a result of the interrogation and questioning that interviews enable (Henning, Rensburg & Smit; 2013).
The interview schedule which was developed took cognisance of the main aim of the study as well as the subsequent objectives that the study intended to meet. The researcher designed interview schedules for the various organisations so that all the relevant questions were answered in the best way possible. There were variations in the schedules because some questions were only relevant to particular organisations and not others (see Appendix A). These
100 interviews were conducted wherever the respondents felt comfortable, whether it was their workplace, any chosen location or the researcher’s place of work.
5.9 Data analysis
In this study, it is important to note that perspectives and plans emerge from the interplay between a socially constructed self and a socially constructed environment and that the self and the specific setting are lent an additional structure by their location and time (Babbie & Mouton, 2009). It is at this juncture (time of shift) that an account is given in this study of what economic development (setting) practitioners and policy makers (selves) involved in the Durban Aerotropolis project understood as the region and as RED within eThekwini, KZN and the wider South Africa (location) that will hopefully craft or pave a way forward within the ever evolving field of development.
Given the above-mentioned factors, the Miles and Huberman thematic analysis approach (1994) was used in data analysis. A transcription of interviews and field notes was produced to enable the data reduction process. The transcriptions were then coded to establish general descriptive codes for topics raised in the data (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Following this was level two coding which involves identifying clusters and hierarchies of information to identify patterns and relationships in first-level codes (de Wet & Erasmus, 2005). At this point, the process of memoing begins, which entails recording of ideas about codes as they strike the researcher (de Wet & Erasmus, 2005). When the researcher has related the codes and drawn conclusions from the memos, the stage of data displaying is reached because it is from here that conclusions can be drawn and verified (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Lastly, pattern codes emerge and this process enables the interpretation of findings.
The knowledge produced from the findings of the study needs to be validated, and this process is discussed in the next section.
5.10 Knowledge trustworthiness and credibility
This section addresses a crucial aspect of qualitative research which is validation of the research and the knowledge it produces. According to Creswell (2014), the terms that commonly used in addressing validity in qualitative literature are ‘trustworthiness’,