Research methodology focuses on the research process and the kinds of tools and procedures to be employed in the study (Mouton, 2001).
In this study, the researcher will conduct a qualitative inquiry as opposed to using quantitative methods, because when doing a qualitative study, the aim is to provide a rationale or need for studying a particular issue or problem (Creswell, 2007). The researcher will inform her readers of her observations and experience with regard to the impact of the role of SGBs. “The term qualitative research connotes different meaning to different individuals” (Strauss and Corbin, 1990:17). Other researchers understand qualitative research to be an interpretative inquiry, wherein the researcher interprets what she sees, hears and understands which is inseparable from the researcher’s own background, history, context and prior understanding (Creswell, 2009).
A qualitative multi-site case study approach was used in this study to answer the research question, because this will enable her to understand social phenomena from the participants’ perspective and in their natural setting. The researcher will record what the SGBs are saying and analyse the recorded words to develop themes. Since the researcher is studying the impact of the role of SGBs in schools, she decided to use focus group
interviews with three cases of SGBs and reduce the data to themes and categories through objective evaluation, in order to address the aim and purpose of the study.
“Qualitative is a term that describes an approach to research that stresses quality not quantity” (Miller & Brewer, 2003: 238). Therefore, it provides a detailed narrative description and holistic interpretation that captures the richness and complexity of behaviours, experiences and events related to SGBs in their natural settings. The researcher will also use documents such as minutes of the SGB meetings and parents recorded during her absentia as data for the study. It should be understood that minutes are deemed by the researcher to be reliable, as they were not recorded for the study. The researcher believes that they were recorded while SGBs were in their natural setting, without the intrusion of any outsider.
The minutes will reflect the understanding of SGB members on issues that impact their roles, and includes the participation of other SGBs in school matters. As mentioned earlier, the focus group will consist of the five executive members of the SGBs and the school principal, namely the chairperson and deputy chairperson, secretary and deputy secretary, treasurer and principal. The researcher is of the view that there are multiple realities in research and that such realities will be discovered through the focus group session conducted with the executive of the SGBs and their principal. It will also show how they interpret SASA in the school situation to impact their roles as SGBs. The focus group session should also demonstrate how they adhere to policies, as prescribed by the Mpumalanga Department of Education.
“Qualitative research is an inductive and content specific research that focuses on observing and describing a specific phenomenon, behaviour, opinions, and events that exist to generate new research hypothesis and theories” (Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods, 2008: 729). The researcher is using the qualitative approach in order to be able to provide a detailed narrative description and holistic interpretation that captures the richness and complexity of behaviours, experiences, and events related to the school governing body in its natural setting. Qualitative research is best suited to achieving the objectives of the study, because it aims to determine the diversity of a phenomenon of interest within a given population. It is different from a quantitative survey because it seeks to examine the diversity among the units involved in the investigation. Qualitative research is not interested
in counting the number of people with the same characteristics, but rather to identify meaningful variation within the population.
In this study, the researcher aims to be objective and to report only the views of the participants, ignoring her own views. She used document analysis in the form of minutes which were recorded for SGBs’ own purpose and not for this research. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, the minutes were taken in the SGBs’ natural setting, without the interference of an outsider to disturb their natural setting. The minutes will come from the three cases of SGBs, namely Lepogo Primary School, Nkwe Primary School and Tau Secondary School. The data from the three cases will be interpreted objectively, in order to obtain an understanding of the participants’ views.
The researcher only has knowledge of the characteristics that assisted her to choose the schools purposively, and much will be discovered as the research progresses. A “case study is an in-depth examination and intensive description of a single individual, group or organisation based on collected information from a variety of sources, such as observation, interviews, documents, participant observation and archival records” (Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods, 2008: 730). In this study, the researcher will use focus group interviews, document analysis and observation to collect data. These methods can under no circumstances be used in quantitative research, hence the use of a qualitative research approach.