Análisis de las entrevistas aplicadas a los directivos y al Gerente de la Cooperativa

This section explains how the empirical research of this study was carried out.

1.8.1 Research design

This study was carried out by means of a descriptive research design and consists of literature study and empirical research. The data was collected by means of a survey. Cooper and Schindler (2008:215) define a survey as a “measurement process used to collect information during a highly structured interview”. Surveys may be used in studies that are usually quantitative in nature and which are aimed at providing a broad overview of a representative sample of a large population (Mouton, 2008:152). In a survey research, the researcher asks units of analysis to give self reported answers about their attitudes, opinions, behaviours, characteristics, pieces of information about the conditions of life and the categories that define and differentiate individuals (Gravetter and Forzano, 2006:331; Leedy and Ormrod, 2005:183).

1.8.2 Population and sampling procedures

Population is a group from which the sample is drawn while a sample is a subset of the population. Cooper and Schindler (2008:374) define a population as the total collection of elements about which the researcher wants to make some inferences. When the researcher cannot involve all members of the population in the study, a sample that best represents a population may be drawn to allow for an accurate generalisation of results (Bless, Higson-Smith and Kagee, 2007:100; Tustin, Ligthelm, Martins and Van Wyk, 2005:337). The population of this study consisted of all third year commerce students registered in 2010 for three diplomas (National Diploma: Entrepreneurship/small business management, National Diploma: Internal auditing, Cost and management accounting and Financial information systems and National Diploma: Management (ND: E/SBM, ND: IAUD, CMA and FIS and ND: Management)

at TUT (Polokwane campus) in the Limpopo Province and WSU in the Eastern Cape Province.

Only five out of the twenty-three universities in South Africa offer all three diploma courses, namely, the University of South Africa, Walter Sisulu University (WSU), Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Durban University of Technology and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). Other universities that offer some of these courses are the University of Johannesburg that offered ND: Entrepreneurship and ND: Management; Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (ND: Management and ND: IAUD, CMA and FIS); and the Vaal University of Technology and Central University of Technology (ND: IAUD, CMA and FIS). Only two of these universities are considered to enrol students from predominantly rural areas, namely TUT (Polokwane campus) in the Limpopo Province and WSU in the Eastern Cape Province.

In selecting the sample the researcher must determine whether a probability or non- probability approach will be used. When using probability sampling every element of the population has a non-zero probability of being selected whereas under non- probability sampling researchers use their discretion to select sampling units. In this study, non-probability sampling was used and it involved convenience sampling. When using convenience sampling the researcher selects population elements because they are easily and conveniently available (Maree, 2010:177). This sampling method was used because ND: E/SBM, ND: IAUD, CMA and FIS and ND: Management students are suitable for learning about the relationships between their qualifications and the key variables of the study and are readily available.

For the three selected diploma courses the population comprised a total number of 814 registered students from WSU and TUT as per the lists obtained from these universities. At WSU third year students for Management diploma were drawn from three campuses (Ibika campus = 60, Zamukulungisa campus = 45 and Potsdam campus = 45). Third year ND: IAUD, CMA and FIS students were drawn from four campuses (Ibika campus = 100, Zamukulungisa campus = 109, Queenstown campus = 60 and Potsdam Campus = 200). At the Potsdam campus 90 third year students were registered for the ND: E/SBM. A total number of 709 students formed the population from WSU. From TUT 45 third year Internal auditing diploma students, 30

third year students for Entrepreneurship/small business management diploma, and 30 third year students for management diploma, resulting in a total of 105 students formed the population for this study. From these two universities, the population for this research project included the following three groups of students registered in 2010:

 A total number of 120 third-year students in ND: E/SBM who had three years of exposure to entrepreneurship education.

 A total number of 180 third-year students in ND: Management who had no exposure to entrepreneurship education. These students were used as a control group to determine whether exposure to entrepreneurship education impacts on entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial competencies.

 A total number of 514 third-year students in ND: IAUD, CMA and FIS who were exposed to a six months module in entrepreneurship.

The abovementioned groups of students were used for the following reasons:

 Firstly, they were the rural youth from rural provinces which are quite poor.

 Secondly, they were suitable for studying entrepreneurial intentions, because as final year students they were facing important career decisions on completion of their studies which could include starting their own businesses. The use of final year students is in line with other similar studies such as Krueger et al. (2000:420); Liñán et al. (2007:5); Liñán (2008:263) and Liñán and Chen, (2009:602). Liñán and Chen (2006:14) and Liñán and Chen (2009:610) argue that this practice offers the advantage of similar age and qualifications resulting in a more homogeneous group.

 Thirdly, their different levels of exposure to entrepreneurship education suit the requirements of the present study and therefore would make comparisons easier.

 Fourthly, these student groups were homogeneous in terms of age and year of study. They were all final year students who had to decide about their career on completion of their degrees.

1.8.3 Data collection

This section explains how the research instrument was designed and distributed to the respondents.

1.8.3.1 Designing the research instrument

The design of the questionnaire deals with the construction of questions and response options based on the research objectives that will be used to address the research problem (Tustin et al., 2005:98). Questions can include structured and unstructured questions while responses can include open-ended and close-ended responses. In this study, data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire. The design of the questionnaire was guided by the literature and previous questionnaires that were used in research on entrepreneurial intent. The information obtained from the questionnaires was used to determine how exposure to entrepreneurship education was related to perceived ESE and entrepreneurial competencies as well as entrepreneurial intent. It was also used to determine how awareness of entrepreneurial support and social capital were related to entrepreneurial intent and its antecedents.

The questionnaire consisted of close-ended questions for biographical details and the entrepreneurial knowledge and experience of the respondents. Questions relating to awareness of entrepreneurial support, social capital, ESE, entrepreneurial competencies, entrepreneurial intent, attitude towards becoming an entrepreneur and perceived behavioural control were based on a five-point Likert-type response format, as used in Krueger et al. (2000:421); Brännback, Heinonen, Hudd and Paasio (2005:5); Liñán, Rodriguez-Cohard and Rueda-Cantuche (2005:6) and Liñán and Chen (2006:20). The questionnaire was piloted before the survey commenced in order to ensure that respondents participate and cooperate in the study, relevant and accurate data are collected, and data collection and analysis proceed as smoothly as possible.

1.8.3.2 Administration of the questionnaires

The researcher approached the Heads of Departments at the two selected institutions to ask for permission to involve their lecturers and students in the research project. Lecturers were requested to encourage their students to participate in the study and to distribute self-administered questionnaires to students during their lectures to complete and collect them immediately from students after completion. Of the 814 students that constituted the population, a total number of 355 final year students completed the entrepreneurial intent questionnaire. Of this number 276 were from WSU in the Eastern Cape Province and 79 from TUT Polokwane Campus in the Limpopo Province.

1.8.4 Data analysis

Cooper and Schindler (2008:702) define data analysis as “the process of editing and reducing accumulated data to a manageable size, developing summaries, looking for patterns, and applying statistical techniques”. Mouton (2008:153) recommends the use of descriptive and inferential statistics in analysing data in a survey research. Descriptive statistics are “statistical computations describing either the characteristics of a sample or the relationship among variables in a sample” (Babbie, 2004:442). Inferential statistics are “statistical measures used for making inferences from findings based on sample observations to a larger population” (Babbie, 2004:458). The collected data was analysed by means of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). More details on data analysis techniques that were used in this study are discussed in Chapters 7 and 8.