CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH DESIGN
4.2 THEORETICAL PRINCIPLES THAT INFORMED THE RESEARCH DESIGN
As stated in the previous chapter, contextual factors play an important role in influencing teachers and teacher learning and it is for this reason that a qualitative research study was considered to be most appropriate. The choice of methods and instruments was informed by symbolic interactionist theory as outlined in Chapter Two, and a desire for
'workability' , flexibility and adaptability. A detailed discussion of the methods follows.
The main reasons for using a qualitative framework are:
• A qualitative approach allowed me to become involved in the experiences of the research participants and to develop detailed accounts of individual participants and the contexts in which they operated. This is particularly important in South Africa, a country with complex social, economic and political peculiarities. Quantitative methods ignore complex contextual factors.
• The complexity of the process of teaching and learning did not warrant a quantitative approach (see discussion in Chapter Two).
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• While my professional input into the functioning of the TEMS community could be viewed as an 'intervention', my intention in this study was not to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention but rather to study the process and nature of teaching and learning in the TEMS community of practice as well as an examination of the contexts in which teachers worked. A
quantitative approach would have failed to capture a full understanding and appreciation of these complex social issues.
• A qualitative, interpretive position refutes the assumption of an objective, external reality that exists independent of the researcher. The intention in this study is neither an examination of social phenomena in terms of quantity, intensity or frequency nor an analysis of causal relationships between processes.
"The research methods most appropriate for symbolic interactionism fall under the general term 'ethnography'" (Woods 1996:51). My research study drew on the essential elements of ethnography. Ethnography includes observational research (Delamont 2002).
Itimplies that the researcher values the views, perspectives, opinions, prejudices and beliefs of the participants she is studying in an incredulous manner. Ethnographies involve the presence of an observer for prolonged periods in a single or a small number of settings. During that time, the researcher observes and talks with participants (ibid.).
Ethnography has the following elements:
• A study of culture
A culture is made up of certain values, practices, relationships and identifications.
The ethnographer tries to make sense of what people are doing by asking: 'What's going on here? How does this work? How do people do this?' and hopes to be told by those people the way they do things.
• Multiple methods, diverse forms of data
Because cultures are complex and multifaceted, gaining an understanding of them requires a variety of methods. Data may consist of written documents, the
researcher's own field notes (including records of discussions, chance
conversations, interviews, overheard remarks, observational notes), audiotapes, videotapes and quantitative data.
• Engagement
The most prominent features of an ethnographic approach are long-term
engagement in the situation as things actually happen and first-hand observation.
There has to be the 'human connection' with the participants, and the building of trust.
• Researcher as instrument
Much detailed and useful background on a setting is often subjectively informed.
The researcher is regarded 'as her primary source of data'. Whether the
researcher's subjectivity is a strength or weakness is not the issue.Itis seen as an inevitable feature of the research act. However, recognising the presence of subjectivity is not the same as 'anything goes'. A balance must be struck between suspending preconceptions and using one's present understandings and beliefs to enquire intelligently. The ethnographer must try to articulate the assumptions and values implicit in the research, and what it means to acknowledge the researcher as part of, rather than outside, the research act.
• Participants' accounts have high status
Participants' accounts and actions should be in the foreground. The researcher should be able to 'get out of the way' and to act only as the 'information broker'.
However, it is the researcher who remains the highest authority, who selects from what has been seen and heard, and who constructs the final account.
• Cycle of hypothesis and theory building
In this type of enquiry, developing a theory is a process. As new data emerge, existing hypotheses may prove inadequate, the ethnographer's sense of what needs to be looked at and reported on may change, and explanations of what is going on may be supplanted by ones which may seem to fit better. This is a process that is 'consonant' with that of emergent design.
• Intention and outcome
The ethnographer aims to discover how people in the study area find meaning in activities they care about in life, and how they engage in processes in which they individually and collectively define their situations. No attempt is made to generalise the findings beyond the case itself. The intention is to develop some kind of understanding of a specific case, whether it is cultural, people or research setting.
The outcome of this kind of research is to 'tell a story' . Ethnography contains descriptions oflocal places, snapshots of people's lives and relationships, their inner thoughts and feelings, their outward appearances, anecdotes of personal triumphs and disasters, rules, contradictions and meanings. Through a judicious blend of empirical experience, systematic activity and appropriate theory, the ethnographer hopes to construct a coherent theory that takes the reader into a deeper understanding and richer appreciation of the people who have been studied (Walford 2001:7).
While the above seven features are not meant to provide an exhaustive definition of ethnography, they do give an indication of the more specific focus of ethnography compared with the features of qualitative research in general. This study to a large extent meets the above requirements to be considered ethnography.
4.3 THE COHERENCE OF METHODOLOGY AND THEORETICAL