Estructura de la tesis

It is important to select the sample and population in a purposeful way to ensure the data collected are relevant and will answer the key questions (Patton, 1990). The population of this study were chosen from 5,941 government preschools across the whole of Malaysia (MOE, 2015). This study was conducted in one of the states in Malaysia. The reasons for choosing this particular state were based on practicality, feasibility and familiarity with the context.

Moreover, the state chosen is a highly populated state in Malaysia which provided a diversity of teachers in terms of demographic information such as age, gender, teaching experience, types of primary schools, locations: urban, suburban and rural areas, races and cultural background. Therefore, the information could generate rich and robust data. According to Silverman (2007), recognising what is possible, given available resources is important to successful research.

4.5.2 Sampling strategy

There were about 501 preschools identified within ten districts in that particular state (MOE, 2015). Every preschool teacher in each of 501 preschools was purposively invited to

participate in this study in order to avoid potential bias in responses. Cohen et al. (2011) stated that purposive sampling is chosen for a specific purpose as it provides greater depth to the

Quantitative Data Collection and Analysis Follow up with Qualitative Data Collection

study than does probability sampling. In this research, a group of preschool teachers were chosen to study their attitudes towards the introduction of IE. Although their comments may not be generalizable, this is not a primary concern as this study was aimed to acquire in depth information from the research participants.

Reflecting on the field work experience, I had to deal with the Prime Minister’s Office in order to get a researcher pass. Only then I was allowed to contact an officer in the State Education Department who is in charged for preschool division. Then I was given 10 District Education Offices (DEO) officers’ names who acted as a gatekeeper to all preschool teachers based on the respective districts. After the arrangement with the DEO officers, then I was allowed to distribute the questionnaire to preschool teachers. Initially, I chose to post the questionnaire to each of the preschool teachers. However, the response rate of questionnaire distributed through post was very low. Thus, I had to change my strategy and decided to contact the DEO officers to arrange and assemble all preschool teachers during their district level activities (such as workshops, meeting or briefing). 421 preschool teachers responded to the questionnaire and 20 of them volunteered to be interviewed. However, two of the potential participants were unable to be interviewed because of personal reasons (see section 4.7.3).

Initial face to face meeting were then arranged for each respondent via text messages and telephone conversation. In the meetings, I discussed the rationale of the research and

explained the contents of the informed consent forms (see Appendices 1 and 2). The purpose was to make teachers fully aware of the voluntary nature of their involvement in the research, to explain the nature of the study, data generation processes and how findings would be used and how the confidentiality of their responses would be preserved. The teachers were invited to take the form and reflect on it before signing and returning it back to me. They were also given a copy of the consent form for their own reference.

The interview session was conducted based on the availability, convenience and agreement with the participants. 11 participants preferred the interview to be conducted after the school session ended in their classroom. I managed to go to 11 different schools such as an estate school, National-type schools (Chinese and Tamil), rural schools including one aboriginal school and National schools (semi-urban and urban) in 10 districts. Three participants

requested for the interview to be held on the weekend at the park, public library and a mosque. Another three participants requested for skype interview and one participant preferred a telephonic interview.

In terms of personal characteristics such as gender and race the participants were mostly homogeneously similar but, in terms of location and SEIP they were heterogeneous as explained in Table 8.

Table 8. Participant information

Pseudonyms Gender Race SEIP location 1.Umi Female Indian no Estate 2.Fendi Male Malay yes Rural 3.Syami Female Malay yes Semi-urban 4.Wong Female Chinese no Rural 5.Nurul Female Malay no Rural 6.Kathy Female Malay yes Urban 7.Ani Female Malay no Urban 8.Mas Female Malay no Rural 9.Su Female Indian no Estate 10.Alin Female Malay yes Rural 11.Ana Female Malay no Rural 12.Zue Female Malay yes Rural 13.Nor Female Malay yes Urban 14.Suzie Female Malay no Rural 15.Amy Female Malay yes Semi-urban 16.Siti Female Malay no Rural 17.Mun Female Malay no Semi-urban 18.Fara Female Malay no Semi-urban

4.5.3 Positioning towards participants

In this study, my role was that of a ‘non-participant observer’ (Cohen et al., 2013). In other words, I was not professionally involved in the preschool settings though some of the participants were my ex- students (during their initial teacher training). In agreement with Creswell (2012) who stated that being an insider brings a familiarity with the context and might help to create a degree of rapport, however, due to my adoption as an outsider status, I was able to avoid initial assumptions. This is very important in maintaining the position as a researcher whilst being part of the system. However, as a researcher, I acknowledged and realised that as the person who does the action is also the person who is affected by it. In other words, in doing this study, the unavoidability of my experience as a preschool teacher may affect my own beliefs and attitudes towards IE. Thus Halliday (2002) mentions that reflexivity provides a solution in overcoming this issue as it allows researchers to reflect upon the data and interpretation process. In this case I needed to work hard to distance myself from making easy conclusions and being prejudice by separating what can be seen and heard from what it might mean.

4.6 Research Methods