4.3 Social constructionism and discourse analysis
4.4.3 Selecting of respondents
The sample for this study was 35 black South Africans. de Vos, Strydom, Fouché and Delport (2002:194) define a sample as “a small portion of the total set of objects or persons that together comprise the subject that is being studied”. They argue that the major consideration in sampling is feasibility. According to Patton (1990), decisions about sample size and sampling strategies depend on prior decisions about the appropriate unit(s) of analysis to study. The unit of analysis in this is “black people‟s autobiographies”. It would be impossible for me to cover the total black South African population for this study, so I decided to use purposeful sampling. The intention for using purposeful sampling was to select information-rich cases whose study would illuminate
78 answers to emerging black identity in South Africa today. According to Silverman (2000:104)
“[p]urposive sampling allows us to choose a case because it illustrates some feature or process in which we are interested”. This is contrary to how the quantitative researcher would approach sampling. A quantitative researcher does so from the perspective of generating large context-free samples from the population of interest, selected randomly with statistical methods (Patton, 1990).
The 35 people are diverse in age, class, region of origin, gender and socio economic background but all live in South Africa. Diversity in terms of socio economic background in this study is based on the status of the participant‟s or the family‟s income range as determined by occupation. I define rural as a place of dwelling that has features which are typically of areas that are from city, a place where most people depend on farming and crop growing for living . Urban is defined as an area that is close to an industry and business, close to cities and people are living and working in town. Whilst the two areas; rural and urban were used to classify a place in which the participant was living at the time of the interview. This was the case because in South Africa black people cannot be easily classified as rural or urban as they migrate between the two spaces because the past segregation laws. This suggests that whilst some the black people in South Africa today stay in urban area they have their roots in rural areas and the tendency is to move between these two areas.
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.1 The demographics and geographical data for sample in the studyOne justification for using these criteria is that I wanted to have a diverse group of black people as my research participants. In my analysis of blacks‟ experiences, I wanted to interview a broad spectrum of people with different backgrounds. Marshal and Rosseman (1989:54) suggest that, when considering a qualitative sampling strategy, “the best compromise is to include a sample with the widest possible range of variation in the phenomenon, setting or people under study”.
They also point out that poor sampling decisions may threaten research findings. This sample allowed me to choose diverse cases so that I would be able to explore accounts of blackness in South Africa.
The key issue with qualitative research sampling strategies is not to search for traditional generalisability, the objective is rather to seek an understanding of the conditions under which a particular finding appears and operates; and how, where, when and why the phenomenon exists and manifests itself (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
I selected people for the study according to the criteria I established (region of origin, place, gender and age group, all living in South Africa). Certainly, being black facilitated the process of participant selection. I was able to tap into both formal and informal networks to select the respondents for this study.
Choosing respondents in the Eastern Cape was not difficult because I live in the area and I know many people living here. However, to select respondents in other regions (Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal) I used both purposive and snowball sampling methods. Some of the people who
Region Respondents Rural Urban Male Female Adult Youth
Eastern Cape 16
11 8
14 0 5
2 11
3
9 4 2
7 7 6
13 6 6
3 5 2 Gauteng
KwaZulu-Natal
Total 35 19 16 15 20 25 10
80 agreed to participate in my study were purposely selected because prior acquaintanceship made me aware that their experience would provide valuable insights. With respect to snowball sampling, discussions about this study with friends, colleagues and others black people led to suggestions from them about possible interviewees that I could contact, some known to me, others not.
Several of the respondents also suggested others to whom they thought I might be interested in talking. Such a sampling method does not pretend to be representative, although, in line with the recommendation of Biernacki and Waldorf (1981), the referral chains were controlled in an endeavour to ensure respondents from a diverse range of age, class, region of origin, gender, and family situation. In this way the “sample includes an array of respondents that in qualitative terms, if not in rigorous statistical ones, reflect what are thought to be the general characteristics of the population in question” (Biernacki & Waldorf, 1981:155). The sampling process was effective in that there no difficulty was encountered in recruiting participants. No one who was approached declined the invitation to participate nor did any participant subsequently withdraw from the study.