Educación e interculturalidad en las instituciones educativas de la ciudad de

Interviewing as an important qualitative data collection method was used in this study. Interviewing is regarded as a more natural form of interacting with people than asking them to complete a questionnaire, do a test or perform some experimental task. Therefore, interviewing fits well with an interpretive paradigm of research (Kelly 2006:297). Within this study, through the interviews, the researcher attempted to understand the programme from the participants' point of view and to provide an opportunity for the meaning of the participants' experiences to unfold and for their lived world to be uncovered (Kvale, cited in Sewell 2001:1).

Interviews are used to obtain information through direct interchange with individuals or a group that is known or expected to have the knowledge that the researcher is seeking (DePoy & Gilson 2008:108). Greeff (2011:342) describes the interview as a social relationship designed to exchange information between the participant and the researcher.

According to Fontana and Frey (2005:698-699), qualitative researchers realise that interviews are not neutral tools of data gathering but rather active interactions between two or more people leading to negotiated, contextually-based results. The use of interviews as a means of data gathering is seen as a "universal mode of systematic inquiry".

5.5.2.1 Semi-structured interviews

Semi-structured interviews are non-standardised and are often used in qualitative data collection. The interviewer has a list of issues or questions but may not deal with all of them in each interview. The order of questions may also change depending on what direction the interview takes. Additional questions may be asked, including some which were not anticipated at the start of the interview, as new issues arise ( Bernard 2000:191; Gray 2009:373). Thomas (2011:163) sees semi-structured interviews as getting the best of both worlds. During the interview, structure is provided by a list of issues (rather than specific questions) to be covered and the researcher or interviewer has the freedom to follow up points as necessary. The list of issues is also referred to as the interview schedule.

In this study, semi-structured interviews (Nieuwenhuis 2007:87; Denscombe 2007:177; Greeff2011:351-352) with lecturers at HEIs were used as data collection method. The semi-structured interviews allowed for the flexibility to respond to the emerging perspectives of the interviewees as the interviews unfolded (Merriam 1988). The participants for these interviews were selected through purposive sampling and according to the specific criteria as described in section 5.4.1. An interview guide was used during these interviews. An interview guide is described by Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2011:103) as a set of areas and questions about a certain topic that the researcher brings to the interview. The interview guide was compiled after a literature review and with the information obtained from the completed questionnaires. To ensure the appropriateness of the questions, the interview guide was verified by experts in the field of community engagement. These experts also had knowledge about the postgraduate programme of the CCYFS. How these interviews were conducted and the information obtained during the interviews is presented in Chapter 6.

5.5.2.2 Telephonic interviews

Greeff (2011:355) states that the increasing use of telephone interviews across diverse fields of research suggests that the method has significant value. Since the time required for an effective telephone interview is less than in a face-to-face situation, telephone interviews are suitable for projects with a clearly defined focus. In this study, telephone or Skype interviews were used as the participants were from HEIs situated all over the country as well as beyond South Africa's borders. Greeff (2011:356) suggests that in preparation for the telephone interview an initial letter or e-mail should be sent to the participants. This letter should contain the following information: an introduction of yourself, what you are aiming to find out, when you will contact the participant, the duration of the interview and your contact details. The relevant letter, as well as consent forms, was e-mailed to all the identified lecturers at the various HEIs. The consent form included permission to participate in the study as well as permission to record the interview.

5.5.2.3 Focus groups as interviewing method

Focus group is a general term given to a research interview conducted with a group (Leedy & Ormrod 2005:146; Kelly 2006:305). A focus group is typically a group of

people who share a similar type of experience or have certain characteristics in common that relate to the topic, but who are not "naturally" constituted as an existing social group (Kelly 2006:305; Wilkinson 2008:177). The focus group provides an environment that encourages participants to share perceptions, points of view, experiences, wishes and concerns (Kelly 2006:305). Thomas (2011:164) states that focus groups are different from group interviews where researcher takes a lead role and controls the discussion. In a focus group, the researcher is a facilitator or moderator who aims to facilitate a discussion between participants.

According to Kamberelis and Dimitriadis (2005:903), focus groups are efficient because they generate large quantities of material from relatively large numbers of peopl e in a relatively short time and produce data that is seldom obtained through individual interviewing and observation. Frith and Gleeson (2012:64) add that focus groups can encourage participants who feel reticent about expressing their views to talk. They also note that focus groups can provide an opportunity to hear other views, which can stimulate discussions and allow for the elaboration and evaluation of contributions. Gary (2011:233) agrees that a focus group allows for a variety of views to emerge, while group dynamics can often allow for the stimulation of new perspectives. This study used focus groups as method of data collection as this provided an opportunity for the participants to share their experiences in a group situation. The group furthermore provided an opportunity for stimulated discussions. The implementation of the focus groups and the data obtained will be discussed in Chapter 6.