According to Matthews and Ross (2010: 181) there are four types of instruments that are used to collect data from respondents:
structured interviews; structured questionnaires; questionnaires; and
telephone surveys.
The researcher in the study used questionnaires. The questionnaires are relevant in this study because the researcher was interested in the individual experiences of the participants. The reasons for choosing this instrument are discussed below.
3.6.1. Questionnaire construction
The construction of questionnaires was guided by the literature study and was based on the objectives of the research. The questions and categorisation of these questions was made in such a way that respondents were able to share their life
66 history and the reasons for them coming to urban areas. Once in urban areas, the question was their expectations met. The respondents were also able to share their views in terms of service delivery in the areas where they settled. The questionnaire was spread out and organized. The wording that was used in the questionnaire was clear and straight to the point. Questions were not squeezed on to a single line and no abbreviations were used. No questions were asked by the researchers that were offensive to the respondents.
3.6.2. Questionnaires
Matthews and Ross (2010: 201), maintains that questionnaires are designed to gather already structured data and to also include a set of answers from which the respondent can choose. Some of the questions may have included more open questions which all the respondent to answer the questions in their own way. Christensen et al (2007: 336), maintains that a questionnaire is a self report data collection instrument that is filled out by the research participant. Questionnaires measure the participants‟ opinions and perceptions and provide reported demographic information. Questionnaires can include open-ended items - where respondents provide answers in their own words.
3.6.3. Face– to–face interview method
In collecting information the researcher conducted individual interviews i.e. face- to- face interviews. According to Christensen et al. (2007: 337), the face-to-face interview method is a person-to-person interview which typically involves going to the interviewee‟s home and obtaining responses by conducting a personal interview. Due to the relatively low level of literacy in Clermont Township, the researcher used face-to-face interviews as a method to collect data. Rather than asking respondents to read questionnaires and enter their own answers the researcher asked questions orally and recorded respondents‟ answers.
The researcher has also handed out questionnaires to the officials from the eThekwini Municipality Housing, Provincial Human Settlements and Ward Councillor
67 (Clermont). The above respondents were regarded as key informants because they have a clear understanding of rural – urban migration.
3.7. Data Analyses
According to Kitchin and Tate (2000: 40), there is more to collecting qualitative data than just conducting interviews or observing people. There are two main qualitative techniques of primary data collection; these are interviews and observation. Due to the nature of this study it was deemed more appropriate to use interviews as a qualitative technique rather than observation.
According to Neuman (2003: 146), qualitative researchers see most areas and activities of social life as being essentially qualitative, to them qualitative data are not inaccurate or deficient; they are highly meaningful. Instead of trying to convert social life into variables or numbers, qualitative researchers borrow ideas from the people they study and place them within the context of a natural setting. Qualitative data are empirical.
The researcher in this study included documents of real events, recorded what people said and observed the specific behaviour of people where the research was conducted. In this research the data consists of transcripts and notes taken during and immediately after the face-to-face interviews conducted with the participants. In analysing the data the researcher repeatedly read the transcripts and the notes that were taken in order to gain familiarity with them. The questionnaires were filled in by the researcher as it was mentioned above because of the high illiteracy rate in Clermont Township. Therefore, the researcher read through all the questionnaires, transcripts and research note to get a good feel of what was there. The researcher in the study interpreted the data collected by giving meaning, translating data or making it understandable. The researcher interpreted data by finding out how the people being studied saw the world, how they defined the situation, or what it meant for them. The data collected in this study was firstly divided into themes and then an interpretative analysis was made to gain a better understanding of the collected data in relation to the theory underlying the study.
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3.7.1. Transcribing the data
In transcribing the data read through all the questionnaires and transcripts in order to get a good feel for the data. The researcher also wrote down interesting comments made by participants, the analysis she wanted to do, the questions to consider as well as the table to produce. Thus the researcher made sure that a diary was kept to record many of these aspects, during and immediately after the interview. The researcher before working with the data ensured that every questionnaire was completed and was as accurately as it could be.