WRITING A RESEARCH METHODOLOGY by elron fouten

INTRODUCTION

Methodology connotes a set of rules and procedures to guide research against which its claims can be evaluated and understood.

It is thus fundamental to the construction of all forms of knowledge and provides the tool whereby understanding is created (Daly, 2003). Methodology is centrally concerned with how we as researchers conceptualize, theorize and make abstractions as it is with techniques or methods that we utilize to assemble and analyze information.

Of particular importance is the realization that the methods and techniques are chosen as part of a broader package. It is widely accepted that the method involves a set of standards that should be aspired to. Less widely acknowledged is the fact that assumptions and values underlie all methods as well as a particular view of how we are to understand the social world (Daly, 2003).

METHODOLOGY

Numerous social researches have commented on the fact that one of the most obvious problems that we have with social science research debates is that concept of research methodology.

Pretorius (2002) asserts that it means different things to different people but that it is used as though there is consensual meaning attached to it.

He states (Pretorius, 2002) that the term methodology as we use it refers to the concrete modus operandi of doing research as well as the methodological models that influence the concrete research decisions.

Traditionally methodological approaches can be subsumed under two main paradigms, namely qualitative and quantitative (Daly, 2003; Pretorius 2002). Rabinowitz and Weseen (2000) states that qualitative and quantitative methods have been variously defined and the debate about the value and use of each have swirled within and around psychology for well over two decades. 

Distinctions are made on the level of research technique as well as the theoretical underpinnings.

Babbie and Mouton (2000) suggest that the selection of a method is dependent on the aims and objectives of the study, the nature of the phenomenon and the underlying theory.

Participants/Informants

The participants in this study were boys between the ages of 14-16 years attending schools in the Western Cape. Morrell (2001) postulates that the stages through which boys become men are a source of great anxiety and a rite of passage.

We selected schools with different racial, linguistic, religious and cultural backgrounds. We also distinguished between rural and urban schools. Lindegger and Durrheim (2001) state that the rural-urban divides are important sites for studying different masculinities.

In this way we assured that we had participants across the historical divides of apartheid as well as rural-urban divide. We theorized that boys in the rural areas would be more in tune with the traditional or cultural notions of masculinity as opposed to urban boys who have been exposed to different influences and ideas of masculinity.

We used a purposive sampling method  (Babbie & Mouton, 2000; Terre Blanche  & Durrheim, 1999) to select boys to participate in the study. Purposive sampling is a sampling method that selects cases that meet particular criteria (Neuman, 2000). In this study the sampling method is appropriate since the participants are required to meet certain inclusive criteria viz, adolescent (14-16 year old) school going and male.

Collecting Information/Data Collection

Data was collected from focus group interviews with seven groups of boys from seven different Secondary schools in the Western Cape. Each focus group consisted of between 8-12 boys.  According to Morgan (1990) the number of participants is suitable for a focus group because it is large enough to ensure that the focus group does not fall flat if some members are silent and small enough to manage and provide everyone an opportunity to participate. 

Procedure

Permission was requested from the Western Cape Education Department for schools in the Cape Peninsula to participate in this study.

Interpretation of information

Transcriptions were done from all the videotapes. The video recordings were used to analyze body language. The transcripts were analyzed by means of the process of discourse analysis. Potter and Wetherall (1987) conception of interpretive repertoires was used as a primary framework of analyzing the transcripts.

Ethical considerations

According to Terre Blanche and Durrheim (1999) children are a special population and as such particular care must be taken to respect their rights.  Since the principal of each school gave his/her consent, particular attention was given to ensure that learners were informed of the research and that their participation was completely voluntary. 

Significance of the study

Research with respect to gender issues has primarily focused on women with few studies done on men, particularly in South Africa.

Reflexivity

 When undertaking a qualitative study, the researcher is both the instrument and the medium of doing the research. Thus his or her influence on the data needs to be recognized. 

CONCLUSION

In this chapter I provided an overview of how (methodology), where and with whom this study was conducted.  I also provided the ontological and epistemological assumptions of the method employed.