Procesos de la interventoría en la Fase II (ejecución de obra)

Limitations are defined as potential weaknesses in a study (Simon 2010:177). This study includes a sample of four public TVET colleges at which principals, deputy principals, and campus managers were interviewed. One major limitation of the study is the extent of the willingness of participants to take part in the study. The researcher covered only four of the fifty public colleges of the. Only four principals (4), as well as six (6) deputy principals and four (4) campus managers were interviewed in this study.

The two major limitations experienced were related to financial traveling expenditures as well as the considerable time required to collect data due to traveling. The selected colleges are far apart from each other, therefore required a substansive time for

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attending interviews with participants. Furthermore, that also resulted in time contraints to travel to the interview venues.

In spite of these limitations, the findings emanating from the collected data were a reflection of the literature study findings to the extent that it can be stated that the research study was credible.

4.10 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Neuman (2006:129) defines ethics as what is or what is not legitimate to do, or what “moral” research procedure involves. Maree and Van der Westhuizen (in Maree 2007:41-42) state that essential ethical aspects of a research study include the issue of the confidentiality of the results, the findings of the study, also the protection of the participants. “This means maintaining each participant’s dignity, privacy, and confidentiality by not disclosing data to other participants in that organisation” (McMurray, Wayne & Scott 2004:236). According to Bourdieu (1999:1), participants may be protected “by changing the names of places and individuals to prevent identification… and to protect them from the dangers of misinterpretation”.

The ethical considerations that a researcher ought to adhere to are mainly based on the ethical principles of non-maleficence, beneficence, autonomy, fidelity and the respect of participants’ rights (Bless et al 2013:29).The researched upheld ethical consideration by keeping to the procedures in place in each of the following:

 Informed consent

Informed consent, an important norm of ethical conduct, is to be was obtained from all the selected participants. This took place by providing the participants with such information as the nature, purpose, and procedure of the research. Participants were made aware of their role in the study, reasons for their selection, how much of their time would be taken by their participation in the study. This was communicated to participants when they were requested to part in the study. (Appendix C).

126  Voluntariness

Participants were notified that participation on the study is voluntary, and they have a right to withdraw from the research at any time should they wish. This was communicated to participants when they were requested to part in the study.

 Non-maleficence

Non-maleficence involves an ethics and legal duty to avoid harming others (Beauchamp & Childress, 2008). The principle of non-maleficence states that participants must not be subjected to physical or emotional harm during the course of a research study. In this study, the participants were not exposed to any form of harm.

 Beneficence

Beneficence is the other ethical principle and it states that research must not negatively affect participants but must rather seek to improve the welfare of people (Cohen et al 2011:85). In this study, participants are were not negatively affected by the research, instate they were afforded an opportunity to reflect on their roles and responsibility and also share their experiences that will positively improve the management and strategic leadership of other principals in the TVET sector.

 Confidentiality

In order to ensure confidentiality of information received from participants, the researcher strived to gain the confidence of participants by explaining to them the purpose of the research and how the research stand to benefit the TVET sector. In respect of confidentiality, participants were assured that information provided by the participants would not be divulged to the public. Bless et al (2013:33) assert that data collected from participants must be securely protected as a way of ensuring the safety, dignity and identity of participants. Anderson (2009:75) highlights the critical importance of observing confidentiality in the conduct of research as it enhances the security of information.

127  Anonymity

Participants were made aware of their right to remain anonymous during the course of their involvement in the study. In this study, the researcher maintained the anonymity of participants by ensuring that names of participants were not used or associated with the data collected from participants. Rather, numbers were used to identify participants during the research study. The practice of maintaining the privacy of participants would continue to be observed even after the research findings had been documented. Prior to their participation in the study, participants were provided with a participant information sheet detailing the nature of their participation. The participant information sheet also gave assurance on issues of confidentiality of the identity of participants.

4.11 CONCLUSION

This chapter dealt with the research design and rationale for its selection, its aims as well as the sub-objectives of the study, as indicated in Chapter 1. A qualitative approach was used to reach the overall aim and objectives of the study as it was characterized by its ability to provide a deeper understanding of the phenomenon being investigated. The design of the study was then considered and reasons for the chosen methods being appropriate for gathering the information needed was provided. Such selection was applied to answer the questions posed by the research problem, the population and sampling procedures, ethical considerations, as well as informed consent, and anonymity of the participants. Also discussed were data-collection instruments such as the interview technique, and data analysis procedures.

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CHAPTER 5: