6.4 Data Collection Method
6.4.3 Sampling Techniques Used for Selection of Participants
The target population for the research included women executive directors and executive managers in business. While it is not possible to get one hundred per cent accurate figures of this total population, a good indication can be found in the 2012- 2013 Department of Labour Employment Equity Report (Nkeli 2012). This report records the employment equity statistics as of March 2012 of companies employing
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over 150 employees who have submitted their reports to the Department of Labour in accordance with the Employment Equity Act (RSA 1998). It reflects the demographic break down of a total number of 4370 South African companies across the full range of industry sectors. According to the 2012 Employment Equity report, a total number of 3618 women are employed in senior management positions within the population group of 4370 companies surveyed. This indicates the numbers of the target population of women in leadership positions in South Africa.
Purposive sampling was used within this target population to ensure that the women participating met the criteria necessary for the purposes of addressing the research objectives. Denzin and Lincoln (2005: 202) state that the purposive sampling method
“seeks out groups, settings and individuals where the processes being studied are most likely to occur.” Purposive sampling is believed to yield as good results as probability sampling with small sample sizes. In addition, it allows the elements for research to be carefully selected (Silverman 2010; Thietart 1999). Since the aim of the research was to identify emerging models of power, the purposive approach which can also be described as ‘theoretical sampling’ was an appropriate method, since this method involves deciding where data should be collected from to address the researcher’s theory-development needs (Kelly 2007). Theoretical and purposive sampling are treated as the same when the purpose behind the sampling is theoretically defined since it builds in certain criteria that helps develop and test the theory being explained (Bryman 1988; Mason 1996; Silverman 2010). This approach to sampling influences the specific candidates that are chosen for the research and their ability to contribute to the process of theory building. In this research it was important to identify women who were operating in corporate institutions, rather than leaders of their own small businesses for example, since the focus of the study was on power within traditional institutions of business. Similarly, it was necessary to include a racial mix of women not only to ensure demographic representation of the population, but also to incorporate the differences in their narrative discourse in building the theory.
The critical criterion in selecting candidates for participation was that they have significant influence within their organisations. This criterion was necessary since the study aimed at understanding the women leaders’ paradigms of power and should the participants’ experience of organisational power be too limited it would have limited
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the results of the study. It was also important that the sample group held similar positions of power within their organisation to ensure a level of consistency within the sample group. Since there are a relatively small number of women directors in South Africa, and because they are not the only influential women leaders in organisations, executive managers were also included in the study. Executive managers are defined according to the Business Women’s Association Census (Dormehl 2012: 10) as managers who:
have a significant leadership role in the organisation have control over day-to-day operations
have decision-making powers; and
usually, but not necessarily, report directly to the board of directors
In this study, all of the women who participated in the interviews reported to the board of the organisation. In addition to ensuring that the women participating in the study have significant influence in the organisation, participants also needed to have operated within that leadership position for a period of five years or longer. This was necessary, once again, to ensure some consistency across the sample and to ensure that leaders interviewed were experienced in the role and not in a transitioning phase from employee to leader.
Purposive sampling was also used to ensure that there was diversity within the demographics of the sample in terms of industry sectors. The industry sectors represented in the sample were selected to reflect the range of sectors represented in the Department of Labour Employment Equity report (Nkeli 2012) and grouped in the following categories which are named by the Business Women’s Association Census (Dormehl 2012):
Basic materials Consumer goods Consumer services Financials
Healthcare Industrials Technology
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As this is a study of South African women leaders, participants were also chosen to ensure that different races are represented in the sample. Since the research methodology used a narrative approach and South African women living under apartheid would have had significantly different experiences given their racial backgrounds, it was necessary to accommodate this in the sample. The participants reflected a spread across the African, Indian and white population, with white participants making up 60%; African participants making up 30% and Indian participants making up 10% of the sample group.
Out of the total population of 3618 women in top management positions, according to the 2012 Employment Equity Report (Nkeli 2012) the racial demographic spread is as follows:
White women – 54.4%
African women – 29.4%
Indian women – 8.4%
Coloured women – 7.8%
The sample of women participating in the study followed the general proportional representation of white, African and Indian women. However, Coloured women were not represented in the sample since it was difficult to gain access to a Coloured senior manager.
While participants were purposefully chosen to meet the criteria outlined above, snowball sampling was used to identify possible candidates. Initial participants were identified by contacting women suggested by professional colleagues. Snowball sampling was used thereafter by asking these participants to suggest other possible participants in this study. Snowball sampling is defined as the technique used when the researcher accesses participants through contact information that is provided by other participants (Noy 2007). This process is repetitive in that participants who are contacted by the researcher are then referred by other participants and so on, giving rise to the evolving ‘snowball’ effect. The ‘snowball’ metaphor indicates that central to this sampling procedure is its accumulative nature. Snowball sampling is one of the most widely employed methods of sampling in qualitative research in various disciplines across the social sciences (Denzin & Lincoln 2005). Noy (2007) claims that the
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dynamic nature of snowball sampling can generate a unique type of social knowledge which is appropriate for constructivist research since it draws on natural social networks. Furthermore, these natural social networks are viewed as particularly conducive to feminist studies since power relations between the researcher and the research are reduced.
Ten women were identified through the sampling process and agreed to participate in the study. Qualitative researchers recommend a sample size of up to ten individuals for the in-depth study of phenomena (Cresswell 1998; Madsen 2008; Nah 2003).
According to Merriam (1998: 77) “the reason that the sample size is small relative to other methods of research is ….the crucial factor is not the number of respondents but the potential of each person to contribute to the development of insight and understanding of the phenomenon”. McAdams et al. (2006a) cite a number of qualitative studies using autobiographical narrative interviews similar to the method proposed in this study, where sample sizes range from one to eighteen. Since this study involves in-depth interviews with representatives of a relatively small target population, ten participants is deemed to be sufficient.