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CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW: RESEARCH METHODS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses mixed methods research which combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The purpose of this review was to guide the study by gaining a deeper understanding of the quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research approaches. The focus is on the definitions and objectives of the research paradigms. The research methods are discussed, followed by advantages and limitations of each method. This is followed by methods of data collection in quantitative and qualitative research. Then conclusions are drawn.
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Quantitative research is a scientific approach that uses objective measurements and statistical analysis of numeric data to understand phenomena. Quantitative research can be classified into experimental and non-experimental research. The latter approach used for this study does not involve the manipulation of variables. (Arys, Cheser Jacobs and Razavieh 2002:24).
One of the main forms of non-experimental research is survey research that uses questionnaires and interviews to gather data. A survey that collects data from the entire population as was the case with this study is called a census survey. In this research questionnaires were used to collect data from principals of high schools.
A survey can measure tangible or intangible variables. Tangibles are concrete variables such as the number of computers donated to schools. Intangibles are psychological and sociological constructs such as attitudes, opinions, values, or other constructs. (Arys, Cheser Jacobs and Razavieh 2002:24). This research was a census survey of tangibles that collected numerical data of donations of materials to schools.
Quantitative research has a number of strengths. Data collection using questionnaires is relatively quick as many participants can respond at the same time. It is therefore suitable to collect data from large numbers of people. The method provides precise, quantitative, numerical data. The research results are independent of the researcher. Quantitative research may have credibility with people in power such as school principals. (Johnson and Christensen 2012:528)
DATA COLLECTION IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Questionnaires
Introduction
Newby (2010:284) says that questionnaires are “structured formats that generate a response by asking individuals specific questions and with the researcher not involved”.
Johnson and Christensen (2011:170) define a questionnaire as “… a self-report data collection instrument that each research participant fills out as part of a research study” and state that it measures many different kinds of characteristics, such as “… thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions, personality, and behavioural intentions of research participants” (Johnson & Christensen 2011:178). The questionnaire can collect data from many respondents simultaneously. In the case of this study data was collected from 30 heads of secondary schools concurrently.
Types of question
Questionnaires can consist of closed and/or open-ended questions.
Closed questions
Oppenheim (1992:115), cited in Cohen et al (2011:382), says the following:
Closed questions prescribe the range of responses from which the respondent may choose. Highly structured closed questions are useful in that they can generate frequencies of response amenable to statistical treatment and analysis. They enable comparisons to be made across groups in the sample.
According to Bailey (1994:118), cited in Cohen et al (2011), closed questions have the advantage of being “quicker to code up and analyse than word-based data, and often they are deliberately more focused than open-ended questions”.
There are a variety of closed questions, which are briefly discussed below:
Dichotomous questions, such as those requiring a ‘‘yes’’ or ‘‘no’’ or a ‘‘male” or ‘‘female’’ response, are useful because they compel the “… respondents to ‘come off the fence’ on an issue” and provide “a clear, unequivocal response”. Such questions can be coded [e.g. “1” for ‘‘yes’’ and “2” for ‘‘no’’] for easy analysis. Dichotomous questions however sometimes lead to ‘‘guessing”. (Cohen et al 2011:381.)
Multiple-choice questions, another type of closed question, increase the complexity of closed questions by giving multiple elements of a variable. Some multiple choices are exclusive, where it is not possible to have any doubt as to which response to check – such as the school one attended or the age category one belongs to.
Some types of multiple-choice question however present a problem in that “… different respondents interpret the same words differently”. (Cohen et al 2011:381.) It is important to try to reduce ambiguity when constructing multiple-choice questions. Piloting the questionnaire eliminates some ambiguities and improves clarity.
Rank-order questions, another type of closed question, are similar to multiple-choice questions, but ask the respondents “… to identify priorities [enabling] a relative degree of preference, priority, intensity, etc. to be charted” Cohen et al (2011:381). The respondents may be asked to rank variables that can improve discipline at a school. The variables to be ranked are not on a continuum.
Rating scales or Likert scales are closed items that require the respondents to indicate the level of intensity towards a variable. The common Likert-type questions require the respondents to choose from ‘‘strongly agree”, “agree”, “neither agree nor disagree”, “disagree” and “strongly disagree”. The responses are on a continuum.
Cohen et al (2011:381) advise that, as a rule of thumb for easy data processing, “… the larger the sample, the more structured, closed and numerical the questionnaire may have to be, and the smaller the size of the sample, the less structured, more open and word-based the questionnaire may be”.
Open-ended questions
Open-ended questions are used
to obtain a richer picture of some aspect under investigation … to be sure that the structured questions … have not omitted a significant response … [and]
to use the direct quotes from respondents that they give in open questions to reveal insights and to give personality to a written report [that] provide[s] an authentic voice [and] adds emotion and passion and enables us to convey in a powerful way issues and perspectives that are important to the interpretation and explanation. (Newby 2010:299.)
According to Cohen et al (2011:381) open-ended questions “… enable respondents to answer as much as they wish … [and] are particularly suitable for investigating complex issues, to which simple answers cannot be provided”. These authors also state that “open-ended questions enable participants to write a free account in their own terms, to explain and qualify their responses and to avoid the limitations of pre-set categories of responses”. These questions can however “…lead to irrelevant and redundant information …” which will be time-consuming to go through in search of useful information. (Cohen et al 2011:382.)
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
1.1Introduction to the study
1.2Background to the study
1.3Statement of the problem
1.4Aim of the study
1.5Research methodology
1.6Research ethics
1.7Definition of key terms
1.8Significance of the Study
1.9Limitations of the study
1.10Delimitations of the study
1.11Organisation of the study
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE CONCEPT PHILANTHROPY
2.1Introduction
2.2Philanthropy as opposed to charity
2.3Philanthropic foundation
2.4Theoretical framework
2.5Models of philanthropy
2.6The extent of philanthropy in the USA
2.7The motivations for giving
2.8Steps of giving
2.9Why corporations give
2.10Methods of giving
2.11African-American philanthropy
Africare, an example of African American philanthropy
2.12Criticisms leveled against charity and philanthropy
2.13Conclusion
CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW: RESEARCH METHODS
3.1Introduction
3.2Quantitative research
3.3Data collection in quantitative research
3.4Qualitative research
3.5Qualitative case study research method
3.6Types of case study research
3.7Advantages of case study
3.8Limitations of case study
3.9Data collection in qualitative research.
3.10Mixed methods research
3.11Conclusion
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
4.1Introduction
4.2Type of Design
4.3Methodology
4.4Limitations of the study
4.5Conclusion
CHAPTER 5: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
5.1Introduction
5.2Details regarding characteristics of the participating schools
5.3Enrolment
5.4Types of philanthropists
5.5Types of donor support to schools
5.6Philanthropic programme of non-governmental organisations
5.7Former students’ associations
5.8Discussion of data
5.9Conclusion
CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1Introduction
6.2Summary of findings
6.3Conclusions from the study
6.4Recommendations from the study
6.5Conclusion
Appendices
GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT
EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF PHILANTHROPIC ACTIVITIES IN PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS IN MUTASA DISTRICT, ZIMBABWE: AN EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE.
