PCR anidada y corte con enzimas de restricción

Polit and Beck (2012:11) define a paradigm as a worldview, a general perspective on the complexities of the world. Brink et al (2012:24) further describe it as a set of assumptions about the basic kinds of entities in the world, about how these entities interact, and about proper methods to use for constructing and testing theories of these entities. A paradigm helps the researcher to be organised in thinking, observing and interpreting a process. It is a way of looking at natural phenomena that encompasses a set of philosophical assumptions and guides one‟s approach to enquiry (Brink et al 2012:25). This study used the qualitative research paradigm for human inquiry which answers the basic philosophical question of the nature of reality (ontology), the relationship between the researcher and the participants (epistemology) and the methods used to obtain the information or knowledge. This paradigm involves sustained interaction with the people being studied in their own environment, and inquiry takes place in the field over an extended period of time.

3.2.1 Philosophical assumptions

Philosophy denotes assumptions, values and beliefs about the nature of reality, knowledge and methods of obtaining this knowledge (Brink et al 2012:26). In qualitative research, philosophy shapes how the research problem and questions are

formulated for the study and how the information is collected to answer the question (Creswell 2013:18). The researcher embraced the four philosophical assumptions of qualitative research paradigms which are ontology, epistemology, methodology and axiology.

Ontological assumption

Ontological assumption is related to the nature of reality and its characteristics. Qualitative research embraces the idea of multiple realities (Burns & Grove 2011:13; Creswell 2013:20). Multiple realities are evident in the use of multiple themes, using the actual words of different individuals and presenting different perspectives (Creswell 2013:20). It is postulated by Burns and Grove (2011:73) that the constructed reality is inseparable from the knower and the known. Participants share their knowledge of the phenomena in their natural environment, because what is known by the participants is the product of their lived experiences.

Epistemological assumption

Epistemological assumption is based on knowledge and how people come to know what they know. This assumption takes the stance that a relationship between the researcher and participants is important in order to understand the reality. The researcher must spend time in the natural environment of the participants in order to acquire knowledge of the phenomena understudy (Polit & Beck 2012:11). Conducting qualitative research on the natural environment of the participants gives a clear understanding of what the participants are saying and also gives an opportunity to gain first-hand information. Through the interaction of the researcher and participants knowledge is created. This is supported by Creswell (2013:20) on the grounds that epistemology is transactional and subjective, meaning that the researcher and participants are assumed to be interactively linked in order to create knowledge as the study proceeds.

Methodological assumption

Methodological assumption entails how the researcher should obtain knowledge. Qualitative research is characterised as inductive; it focuses on subjectivity, emerging insights grounded in participants‟ experiences and seeks in-depth

understanding of the phenomena; and methods are flexible. It aims at reconstruction of previously held constructions. The phenomena and personal nature of social constructions suggest that individual constructions can be elicited and refined only through interaction between the researcher and participants (Creswell 2013:22; Polit & Beck 2012:10).

Axiological assumption

Axiological assumption in qualitative research focuses on the acknowledgement of the values a researcher brings to the study. The researchers admit the value-laden nature of the study and actively report their values and biases as well as the value- laden nature of the information gathered from the field (Creswell 2013:20; Polit & Beck 2012:12). The researcher openly discusses values that shape the narrative and includes own interpretations in conjunction with the interpretations of participants.

Interpretivism is an approach to social science that emphasises the importance of insiders‟ viewpoints to understand social reality (Brink et al 2012:25). This study adopted the constructivist views and traditions that emphasise the inherent complexity of humans, their ability to shape and create their own experiences, and the idea that the truth is a composite of multiple realities (Polit & Beck 2012:14). Realities and meanings are multiple and varied. The goal of the research was to rely as much as possible on the participants‟ views of the situation. These subjective meanings are socially and historically negotiated (Creswell 2013:25). This means that the constructed meanings are not imprinted on individuals but are formed through interactions with others. Chapter two of this study provided an intense description of social constructivism theory which elaborates how people construct knowledge, reality and meanings for their lives. The study focused on the NEIs in which male and female student nurses were enrolled for R.425 and R.683 programmes for better understanding of the historical and cultural settings of the participants. In the process of conducting the inquiry, multiple realities were constructed through lived experiences and researcher-participant relationships maintained by mutual trust and respect of participants‟ values and beliefs. The quest to understand male and female student nurses‟ experiences in the nursing profession, their perceptions of socio-cultural perceptions of nursing based on their

individual backgrounds and how these perceptions influenced recruitment and retention of men in the nursing profession was fulfilled when they shared their perceptions and subjective meanings were developed.

3.2.2 Generic qualitative design

A generic qualitative design is a method that simply seeks to discover and understand the worldview of the people involved. Qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret phenomena in terms of the meaning people bring to them(Flick 2007:12; Polit & Beck 2012:14; Creswell 2013:43). A qualitative research design is characterised by six principles which are:

 Belief in multiple realities

 Being committed to identifying an approach and understanding that support the phenomenon studied

 Being committed to the participants‟ viewpoints

 Conducting the enquiry in a way that limits disruptions of the natural context of the phenomenon of interest

 Acknowledging the participants in the research process

 Reporting the data in a literary style rich with participant commentaries (Speziale & Carpenter 2003 cited in Brink et al 2012:10).

Brink et al (2012:121) and Creswell (2013:45) support these principles by identifying the key features of qualitative research as a research that is conducted in a real life situation or natural setting; the purpose is in-depth description and understanding of people‟s beliefs, actions and events in all their complexity in order to portray meaning held by the participants. The researcher is seen as the main instrument in data collection through observation of behaviour and interviewing of participants and is subjectively involved in the research process.

This design investigates subjective phenomena in the belief that critical truths about reality are grounded in people‟s lived experiences and the goal is to understand lived experience and perceptions to which it gives rise. In-depth conversations are the main data sources. The researcher helps participants to describe lived experiences

without leading the discussion. Through in-depth conversation, one strives to gain entrance into the participants‟ world, to have full access to their experiences as lived. The inquiry not only gathers information from participants, but is also an effort to experience the phenomenon through participation, observation and introspective reflection (Polit & Beck 2012:295). Qualitative research also has limitations which are based on the use of human beings as instruments to gather data (Polit & Beck 2012:14), which may lead to bias.