Leedy and Ormrod (2001:91) as well as Mouton (2001:55) all regard a research design as a plan or blueprint of how a researcher intends conducting the research. The design will now be discussed under the following headings: paradigm, approach and strategy. The research design will be discussed in detail in Chapter Four.
1.7.1 Paradigm: Interpretivism
Denzin and Lincoln (2000:107) regard a paradigm as a set of basic beliefs that represent a world view. The paradigm, in which this research was conducted, can be described as interpretivistic. According to Terre Blanche and Durrheim (1999:123), the interpretive paradigm is characterised by a particular ontology, epistemology and methodology. Researchers working in this paradigm assume that people‟s subjective experiences are real and should be taken seriously (ontology); that we understand other people‟s experiences by interacting with them and listening to what they tell us
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(epistemology); and that qualitative research techniques are best suited to this task (methodology). Esterberg (2005:16) concurs that the interpretive tradition requires researchers to immerse themselves in the world inhabited by those they wish to study.
Briggs and Coleman (2007:24) argue that the starting point for interpretive researchers is to operate within a set of distinctive principles regarding what it means to conduct educational research among people. All educational research needs to be grounded in people‟s experience. For interpretivists, reality is a construct in which people understand reality in different ways. According to Briggs and Coleman (2007:24), the following implications flow from this:
• Interpretive researchers recognise that they are part of, rather than separate from, the research topics they investigate. Not only does their work impact upon research participants, but participants impact upon researchers.
• The core task of interpretivists is to view research participants as research subjects and to explore the “meanings” of events and phenomena from the subjects‟ perspectives.
• Thirdly, a related issue for educational researchers is the extent to which it is possible to present the account that research participants give in a different language, namely those accounts contained in research reports and theses in educational leadership and management as being accounts by them, and whether or not researchers‟ accounts represent or distort what research participants have said or written.
This study attempted to improve the involvement of educators in the Uitenhage District in their personal CPD. As the researcher, I interacted with specific educators at the schools that formed part of my study, and in so doing, I endeavoured to interpret how these educators gave meaning to their experiences of professional development.
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1.7.2 Approach: Qualitative research
This study made use of qualitative research in an attempt to develop a strategy to improve educators‟ involvement in CPD. The motivation for this choice was underpinned by definitions of qualitative research found in literature.
O‟Leary (2004:99) states that qualitative research can be viewed as subjective, value-laden and biased; a process that accepts multiple realities by studying a small sample. Similarly, Struwig and Stead (2001:56) explain that qualitative research allows researchers to understand participants‟ thoughts, feelings and viewpoints on certain issues.
Wilson (2009:113) maintains that defining what qualitative research is, as opposed to what it is not, presents a challenge, as the term is used to cover a wide range of methodological and epistemological paradigms. In educational research, Wilson (2009:113) adds, the focus is on an in-depth probing of phenomena such as people‟s beliefs, assumptions, understandings, opinions, actions, interactions or other potential sources of evidence of the process of learning or teaching.
Heaton (2004:55) highlights the following six key features of qualitative research:
• The description of the social setting being investigated.
• The examination of social behaviour and events in their historical and social context.
• The examination of the process by which social life is accomplished.
• The adoption of a flexible and unstructured approach to social inquiry, allowing researchers to modify and adapt their approach as need be in the course of the research.
• The relevance on theories and concepts that have been derived from the data (rather than defined in advance).
From the viewpoints given above, qualitative research can be summarised as an approach that is useful when attempting to understand a specific phenomenon. In this study, in order to gain more information about the phenomenon, I asked the
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participants general questions, collected the participants‟ viewpoints and then analysed this information in order to come up with a detailed description of how the participants viewed their involvement in their own CPD. This information was interpreted and presented in the form of a structured report.
The fact that qualitative research places much emphasis on the created or intentional reality and focuses on discovering the multiple perspectives of all participants in a natural setting, made it well suited for giving voice to educators and their views on their involvement in CPD.
1.7.3 Strategy of enquiry: Phenomenology
Since this study focused on educators‟ involvement in CPD, their own views on this issue were extremely important. From the following definitions of what a phenomenological study entails, it became clear that this strategy was the best suited for this investigation.
According to Fouché (2002a:273), the product of a phenomenological study is a description of the essence of the experience being studied.
Likewise, Leedy and Ormrod (2010:141) state that a phenomenological study attempts to understand people‟s perceptions, perspectives and understanding of a particular situation.
Denzin and Lincoln (2000:139) state that in a phenomenological study, subjectivity is paramount as the researcher deals with how social objects are made meaningful. In addition, O‟Leary (2004:122) sees phenomenology as premised in a world that is firstly, constructed; meaning that people are creative agents in building a social world and, secondly, intersubjective, in that we experience the world with and through others.
Briggs and Coleman (2007:24) concur, maintaining that phenomenologists attempt to see things from a participant‟s point of view. The emphasis is on how people in
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educational settings build understandings of their world by continually trying to interpret data. Reality is viewed as a social construction.
Based on the definitions given above, the use of a phenomenology research strategy for this investigation was deemed appropriate, as it allowed me as the researcher to play a subjective role, whilst experiencing the natural setting of the participants with them and also through them.