One of the strengths of qualitative research is that it allows for the use of a variety of research methods to generate data. Babbie and Mouton (2010) and Lichtman (2012) caution that one method of generating data is not necessarily superior to another method, and that it is sometimes necessary to have several creative ways of generating data, in order to allow maximum participation of those involved. It is also useful to provide alternative modes of exploring issues or people’s experiences, opening up new ways of understanding the phenomenon under investigation (Taylor & Medina, 2013). Drawing, photovoice, collage, and participants’
24 reflections were deemed appropriate methods for data generation. Following successful researchers, (Creswell, 2009; McMillan & Schumacher, 2010) I also made field notes during the data generation process. The field notes also served as a validation measure by allowing authentication of the findings. In the following sections, I discuss briefly the data generation methods which helped me to generate data with the participants in order to answer the research questions.
1.10.7.1 Drawing
Drawing is a low-technology method (Mitchell et al., 2006) that allows people to tap into their inner worlds and express themselves (Prosser & Burke, 2008). Drawing emerged as a data generation method in the early years from distinctive research traditions such as clinical psychology and psychotherapy, and it was used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes (Leitch, 2008). However, its use is growing in other fields, including education-based research. As a tool for inquiry and communicating, it has mainly been used to enable diverse populations in a variety of contexts to articulate their feelings, beliefs, and ideas in a non-obtrusive way (De Lange, Olivier et al., 2012). It also has the potential to address language barriers that are related to written or spoken words. Drawing can furthermore be described as a reflective tool: participants develop a visual image in their minds, put it to paper, and describe and interpret it in relation to the phenomenon being studied. In the momentum of the process, participants reflect, ask, explain to each other, reconstruct and give many interpretations of what their drawing means to them, and to the issue under investigation (Pithouse-Morgan & Van Laren, 2012; Theron, Stuart, & Mitchell, 2011). In this study the school children were asked to draw how they see themselves in care and support in their rural school context.
1.10.7.2 Photovoice
The term photovoice has been defined differently by different researchers, but Caroline Wang (1999), who coined the term, describes it as a “method that enables people to define for themselves and others, including policy makers, what is worth remembering and what needs to be changed”, using pictures or photographs (p. 4). It has emerged as a research method which enables people whose voices are seldom heard to take control of their own worlds. People are given cameras to document their lived experiences, and in so doing, they become the decision
25 makers, choosing what to photograph, what to represent, and how to interpret their own photographs. Their photographs, through which they make their voices heard, are often used to bring about social change and inform policy and practice (Beh, 2011; Strawn & Monama, 2012; Wang, 2009). Photovoice has been used in numerous fields and is becoming more widely used in education-based research. While photovoice has been used widely in education as a method to enhance school children’s writing skills (Zenkov & Hermon, 2009); to understand students’ conceptions of mathematics (Harkness & Stallworth, 2013); to explore with students their perceptions concerning online education (Edwards, Perry, Janzen, & Menzies, 2012); to understand how teacher educators see HIV and AIDS (De Lange, Mitchell, Moletsane, Stuart, & Buthelezi, 2006); to understand how the youth see HIV and AIDS-related stigma (Moletsane & Mitchell, 2007); and to explore how teachers experience the effect of poverty in schools (Olivier, Wood & De Lange, 2009), it is still an emerging method in African and South African contexts (Beh, 2011). The application of photovoice is particularly pertinent to this research which seeks to enable school children – in the context of rural schools – to explore issues of care and support.
1.10.7.3 Collage
Collage, a composition created by pasting different materials on a sheet of paper to creatively express ideas, is used as a participatory visual arts-based research method. This method of using existing materials, symbols, or words to create an artistic composition on a particular issue or topic (Butler-Kisber, 2010; Leitch, 2008) enables participants to take an active role in doing, but also in leading discussion about their collages (Mitchell, Theron, Smith et al., 2011). Participants have the opportunity to identify and choose which pictures, words, or symbols they want to use in their collages, and how to structure their collages. This is particularly useful when one is working with young people since it is provides them with an artefact to respond to as a way of conceptualising ideas, thereby stimulating critical thinking, and involving them actively, rather than having them merely listening passively to the voice of the researcher (Butler-Kisber, 2010). Collage has been used in several fields, for example to address public health concerns with nurses, doctors, and pharmacists (Williams, 2002), and with business personnel (Colakoglu & Littlefield, 2011). In the field of education, researchers have used collage with rural teachers (Mitchell, 2011; Motalingoane-Khau, 2010; Pillay & Saloojee, 2012), and with school children
26 (Leitch et al., 2006; Norris, Mbokazi, Rorke, Goba, & Mitchell, 2007). The use of collage in this study enabled school children to further explore their construction of care and support.
1.10.7.4 Free writing: reflections
Free writing is regarded as a method to enable participants to reflect, and it is acknowledged that it is a method that is underused in educational research (Pithouse, 2011). Free writing enables participants to write about anything that comes to mind, their perceptions, experiences, feelings, and thoughts, in relation to the phenomenon under investigation (Pithouse, 2011). In this study, free writing is used to elicit school children’s reflections on using visual arts-based research methods, in particular drawing, photovoice, and collage, to explore whether the use of visual arts-based methods enables agency in their lives, and the lives of others in rural schools. Complementing this, participants’ verbal reflections and my field notes are used as data generation methods (see Chapter Three).
1.10.7.5 Data analysis
Qualitative researchers describe data analysis as an ongoing process, as being done concurrently with data generation, and as involving multiple layers of analysis (Creswell, 2009; Grbich, 2012; Silverman, 2013), depending on the nature of the study. The participatory nature of this study thus involves multi-layered analysis of data, in which the participants become part of making sense of the data. This is referred to as participatory data analysis (Mitchell, De Lange, 2011; Theron et al., 2011). The school children in this study did not only produce the data, they also talked about it and explained it in relation to the phenomenon being investigated. In their discussion, they reshaped ideas and formulated themes. Therefore, their explanations and how they themselves made sense of the data serve as the first layer of analysis. This layer is important when one is using visual arts-based methods because it informs the second layer, in which I, as the researcher, provide a deeper and systematic analysis of the participants’ meaning-making of their own data (Creswell, 2009). Therefore, the second layer involves an inductive thematic analysis (Grbich, 2012; Marshall & Rossman, 2011) where I identify units of meaning, categories, and broader themes to answer the research questions.
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1.10.7.6 Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness in qualitative research is crucial, for without it, research findings can be deemed worthless (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2012). For this reason, Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) strategies to ensure trustworthiness were applied. Their principles of credibility, confirmability, transferability, dependability, and authenticity are discussed in Chapter Four.