CHAPTER FOUR: EXAMINING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA
5.3 CASE STUDY APPROACH
A case study approach is one of the three types of qualitative research (Babbie et al, 2006:287).30 Qualitative research which is the preferred approach of this study manifests itself in different forms. Cresswell (2007) identifies five types of qualitative research and these are:
narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography and the case study. In addition, Merriam (2009) identifies six types of qualitative research, which are: basic qualitative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, narrative analysis and critical qualitative research. An extensive summary of the various forms of qualitative research is presented by Lichtman (2006) who identifies ten different types of the qualitative research
30 The other two main types of qualitative research are: ethnographic studies and life histories (Babbie et al, 2006:278). Ethographic studies are described as the data of cultural anthropology that is a result of direct ovservation of human behaviour in a particular society. However, the term ethonography has developed beyond its original link to cultural anthropology to include studies in schools, clinics and other cult groups. Life histories focus on the study of documents on one’s life. This includes intensive observation of the subject’s life, interviews with friends and perusal of letters, diaries and photographs (Babbie et al. 2006:283).
177 and these are: ethnography, grounded theory, the case study, feminist theory, phenomenology, generic approach, narrative analysis, postmodernism, post-post modernism, and mixed methods. Although these various forms of qualitative research are homogenous, they differ in terms of their focus, sample selection, data collection and analysis.31
The different types of qualitative research reflect the advancement in social science disciplines as the quest to study and understand social reality grew stronger (Denzin and Licoln, 1998). It is not the objective of this study to present a detailed history of qualitative research or to analyse each of the different types in detail. However, the case study is the chosen design for this current study.
According to Simons (2009), a case study refers to the singular, the particular and the unique.
This underlines that a limited number of units of analysis are studied thoroughly. Babbie et al (2006) emphasise that the defining characteristic of a case study is its primary focus on an individual unit. The unit of analysis could be individuals, groups or institutions. A survey of the literature on case studies indicates that different authors refer to a case study as a method, a strategy, a research design and an approach. For example, Babbie et al (2006) refer to the case study as one of the three design types of qualitative research.32 Simons (2009) defines a case study in broad terms as a systematic and critical inquiry into a chosen social reality. The aim of the inquiry is to generate an understanding that contributes to public knowledge of the chosen phenomenon. Thus, Stake (1998:87) asserts that, “[A] case study is both the process learning about the case and the product of our learning”. This indicates that a case study has a clear research intent and methodological purpose that determines which methods are appropriate for data collection. In addition, the name case study indicates that something specific can be learnt from the single case of the chosen phenomenon. The primary reason for choosing a case study in this current research is to provide an in-depth description and explanation of the continued existence of rural poverty in post-apartheid South Africa.
31 Methodology, https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/jspui/bitstream/10539/20038/17/Chapter 3.pdf (Accessed: 25 January 2018).
32 The other two main design types of qualitative research are: ethnographic studies and life histories (Babbie et al, 2006:278). Ethnographic studies are described as the data of cultural anthropology that is a result of direct observation of human behaviour in a particular society. However, the term ethnography has developed beyond its original link with cultural anthropology to include studies in schools, clinics and other cult groups. Life histories focus on the study of documents on one’s life. This includes intensive observation of the subject’s life, interviews with friends and perusal of letters, diaries and photographs (Babbie et al, 2006:283).
178 According to Merriam (2009) and Babbie (2013), the defining characteristic of a case study is that it limits its attention to a particular unit of analysis, in this instance, uMkhambathini Local Municipality. In this regard, Cresswell (2008) describes a case study as an in-depth exploration of a bounded system. Furthermore, McMillan and Schumacher (2011) note that, the word bounded indicates that the case is unique in terms of location, time and participant characteristics.33 Consequently, the researcher has to identify boundaries which will determine what is and what is not the case, and these boundaries should be kept in mind during the study.
Stake (1998) also asserts that case studies are holistic, empirical, interpretive and emphatic.
Yazan (2015) provides a rendition of what each of these characteristics entails. For example, holistic suggests that researchers should take into account the relationship between the reality being studied and its context. Empirical means the study should be based on observations that take place in the field while interpretive means that researchers rely on “their intuition and see research basically as a researcher-subject interaction” (Yazan, 2015:139). This also indicates that qualitative “researchers have to reflect the vicarious experiences” of the research participants from an insider perspective (Yazan, 2015:139). For Merriam (1998: xiii), qualitative case study research is “an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a bounded phenomenon such as a programme, an institution, a person, a process, or a social unit”. Case study researchers therefore produce data that is richer and of greater depth in contrast to quantitative designs.
Researchers such as Yin (2002), Merriam (1998) and Stake (1995) contend that it is incumbent upon the case study researcher to employ a combination of data collection methods in order to capture the phenomenon in its entirety. Yin (2002) suggests a combination of both quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments. In contrast, Stake (1995) and Merriam (2002) contend that an exclusive use of various qualitative instruments could be sufficient to capture the phenomenon in its complexity and entirety. For example, qualitative data can be drawn from sources such as documentation, archival records, interviews, direct observations, participant observation and physical artefacts. The use of multiple sources of data maximises the quality of the study and enhance its validity.
33 In defining a case, Stake (1995) concurs with Louis Smith’s (1978:2) interpretation that researchers should regard a “case as a bounded system and inquire into it as an object rather than a process”. In his conceptualisation Stake (1998:87) asserts that a case is a specific, a complex and functioning thing, and more specifically, it is an integrated system with a boundary and working parts. He adds that even if the parts are not working well, and the purpose is irrational, it is still a system.
179 5.4 RESEARCH SITE AND LOCATION
The word “Mkhambathini” is a Zulu word which is adopted from the word “eMkhambathini”, which describes a place populated by acacia trees.34 The municipality was established in terms of Section 155 (1b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) after the Local Government Elections of 2000. Mkhambathini Local Municipality is one of the seven category B municipalities which comprise uMgungundlovu District Municipality.35 Section 155 (1b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act No. 108 of 1996), stipulates that: all category B Local Municipalities share municipal executive and legislative authority with a category C municipality which is in this case, uMgungundlovu District Municipality in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The province of KwaZulu-Natal is one of the few provinces with vast regions that are rural and are part of the former homeland of KwaZulu. Khapoya (1980:32) describes the homeland of KwaZulu as being “…densely populated, more than a half of its territory is mountaneous, and close to three-fourthsof it is unsuitable for crop production”.
Kirsten (2011:29) adds that, the rural areas in the former homeland regions “were isolated and had bad infrastructure, inferior ‘Bantu’ education, poor health care and limited income-earning opportunities”. Kirsten (2011:30) states further that, “… the provinces that were created from most populous homelands (Limpopo, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal) are the country’s poorest”. Thus, rural poverty is entrenched in the rural areas of the province of KwaZulu-Natal in which the study is located. Below is a map of uMgungundlovu District Municipality in which uMkhambathini Local Municipality is situated.
34Mkhambathini Municipality for the community: Integrated Development Plan 2018/2019.
http://www.mkhambathini.gov.za/documents/sites/default/files/mkhambathini IDP-2018-2019.pdf (accessed: 10 May 2019).
35 The other local municipalities under Umgungundlovu District Municipality are: Msunduzi, Impendle, UMshwathi, Umngeni, iMpofana and Richmond Local Municipalities.
180 Figure 1: Map of Umgungundlovu District Municipality
Source: mapcarta.com/29040722 (accessed: 2021/12/13).