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CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND LITERATURE CONTROL
INTRODUCTION
The previous chapter provided an overview of the research methodology that the researcher used in this study. Measures to ensure trustworthiness as well as ethical considerations, including methodological issues encountered, were included in this chapter. A qualitative approach, guided by interpretive phenomenology proposed by Heidegger (1962) guided this study.
The current chapter presents research findings in terms of themes and sub-themes that emerged from the analysed data. The report is presented according to the following sub-headings: biographic information of participants (context), history of TOP, mental state before TOP and the research findings. In the end, the researcher strived to interweave the thematic parts together into a unified whole that provided an inclusive structure to the data.
DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS
This section discusses the process of data gathering and data analysis.
Sample description
Participants were selected according to the criteria specified in section 3.2.3.3 and 3.2.3.4. For purposes of confidentiality and anonymity, numbers were used in the place of names of participants. The study sample consisted of women between the ages of 20 to 35 years, who terminated pregnancy during adolescence at ages 10 to 19 years. A total of 30 participants were interviewed.
Data gathering
Data were gathered using in-depth, one-on-one, unstructured interviews (3.2.5.3). Collection of data was conducted during August and September 2017. Two participants, through other participants who were already interviewed and were their acquaintances, were recruited using the snowball method. The rest, that is, 28 participants, were recruited from one Health Care Centre while they were seeking antenatal care, post-natal care, family planning, or post-TOP follow-up care. Interviews were conducted in an office at the Health Care Centre, at a time and date agreed upon with participants. Field notes (3.2.5.4) regarding observations about the participants’ reactions during the interviews and about the natural setting where the interviews were conducted were noted.
Data analysis
Data analysis refers to the systematic organisation and synthesis of research data (Polit Beck 2014:378). It involved reducing the volume of raw information, sifting significant facts from trivialities, identifying significant patterns, and constructing a framework for communicating the essence of what the data revealed (De Vos et al 2012:397).
Tape-recorded data was transcribed verbatim and edited for accuracy. The researcher engaged an experienced independent coder as well as the supervisor of this study to check the quality of the transcriptions and to give feedback. The researcher and the coder read each transcript several times to gain an understanding of participants’ experiences.
In the present qualitative study, data analysis commenced during data collection and continued soon after data collection. Data were analysed following the phenomenological method of Colaizzi (1973; 1978 as cited in Polit & Beck 2014:405). Colaizzi’s method includes the features of both Husserl’s and Heidegger’s philosophies. Colaizzi maintains that description is vital to discovering the essence and the meaning of a phenomenon. However, Colaizzi also subscribes to Heideggerian view of reduction. Individual phenomenological reflection about the phenomenon being studied is one approach Colaizzi offers for assisting researchers to decrease their biases and presuppositions on their studies (Polit & Beck 2014:405).
The seven steps of the phenomenological method of data analysis developed by Colaizzi (1978 cited in Polit & Beck 2014:309) were followed. This method is designed to uncover the fundamental structure of a phenomenon, which is the essence of an experience. An assumption of phenomenology is that for any phenomenon, there are essential structures that comprise that human experience. Therefore, by examining specific experiences of the phenomenon being studied can their essential structures be uncovered.
The order of Colaizzi’s steps is as follows: written protocols, significant statements, formulated meanings, clusters of themes, exhaustive descriptions, and fundamental structure. From each participant’s description of the phenomenon of TOP, significant statements, which were sentences or phrases that directly described the phenomenon, were extracted (Annexure F). For each significant statement, the researcher formulated meaning from what participants said to what they meant (Polit & Beck 2014:407). Formulated meanings were related to original transcripts. This step of formulating meanings from statements shows Colaizzi’s connection to Heidegger.
The next step entailed organising formulated meanings into themes by an independent coder and these were verified with the researcher and the supervisor of the study. Thereafter all the results were combined into an exhaustive description. This step was followed by revising the exhaustive description into a more condensed statement of the identification of the fundamental structure of the phenomenon of TOP. To validate how well the aspects of their experiences were captured, two women who participated in the study were asked to member-check the fundamental structure of the study. They agreed with the structure and new data that they shared were incorporated in the findings.
The findings of the study and its interpretations were grouped into themes and sub-themes. After analysis of data by an independent coder, a meeting between researcher and the coder was arranged to compare and reach consensus about the findings.
The following themes were agreed upon by the independent coder and the researcher:
- Theme 1: Transgressing one of nature’s strongest instincts: The mother’s protection of her young
- Theme 2: Unplanned pregnancy
- Theme 3: Intra- and Interpersonal relationships
- Theme 4: Experience of caring by health care professionals
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
Findings of the study included biographical data of the sample, the history of the pregnancy, and mental health before TOP, the themes and the subthemes that emerged from the qualitative data.
Age
Most (50%) of participants in the sample were 30-35 years old. They are followed by 25-29 year olds who were 8 (27%) and 20-24 olds were seven (23%). All participants terminated their pregnancies during adolescence and were between the ages of 16 to 19 years, with a mean age of 17,5. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) along with the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) define adolescence to be between the ages of 10-19.
According to Lowdermilk et al (2016:72), by age of 15, 13% of teens are sexually active, but by age 19, 70% of teens have been involved in sexual relations. A sexually active teen that does not use contraception has a 90% chance of falling pregnant within one year (Lowdermilk et al 2016:72).
By age 20, one third of all American girls fall pregnant. For most of these young women, pregnancy is unplanned and unwanted at conception. The pregnancy rates for teenagers in the United States are highest in the industrialised world (Lowdermilk et al 2016:72). According to Curley and Johnston (2014:305), those women at highest risk are usually younger than 25 years of age.
In South Africa, by 2006, the age specific fertility rate for the 15-19 year old women was estimated at 66 per 1000 (Makiwane & Udjo 2006 as cited in Macleod & Tracey 2010:21). The rate of teenage fertility is lower in South Africa than the overall rate in sub-Saharan Africa, but higher than most European countries. Childbirth to teenage mothers in South Africa tends to take place outside marriage as compared to other sub-Saharan African countries (Macleod & Tracey 2010:21).
Teenage pregnancy, especially among the 16 year olds and younger, may introduce additional stress into an already stressful developmental period (Lowdermilk et al 2016:72), as well as poor coping after abortion (Foster, Gould & Kimport 2011:84). The emotional level of teens is characterised by impulsiveness and self-centred behaviour and they are often prone to peer pressure. In the process of trying to establish an independent identity, many teens do not realise the consequences of their sexual behaviour. According to Lowdermilk et al (2016:72), their thinking processes exclude preparation for the future as well as perceived lack of risk, peer norms, gender power relations, fear of adult attitudes to contraceptive use, and economic context of adolescent sexuality (Ehlers 2003; MacPhail & Campbell 2001 as cited in Macleod & Tracey 2010:30).
On the contrary, younger women are less likely to speak to their partners about contraceptive use than older ones (Manzini 2001 as cited in Macleod & Tracey 2010:30).
Level of education
Most participants, 21 (70%) had secondary education and 5, (17%), participants had tertiary education while those with primary education were 4 (13%) participants.
Research (Macleod 1999; Manzini 2001 & Crouch 2005 as cited in Macleod & Tracey 2010:31) indicates that many young women who became mothers actually left school before pregnancy. Reasons for leaving school before the end of Grade 12 included poverty, absence of parents at home, need to care for siblings or sick family members at home as well as other curriculum-related factors (Human Science Research Council 2007 as cited in Macleod & Tracey 2010:31). Macleod and Tracey (2010:31) assert that school engagement and school attendance are protective factors against teenage pregnancy because most teenagers fall pregnant after leaving school.
Low level of education also negatively affects the use of contraceptives (Kaufman et al 2004 as cited in Macleod & Tracey 2010:29). According to Lowdermilk et al (2016:102), poor and uneducated women tend to be overly represented in abuse probably because they are financially dependent, have fewer resources and support systems, and may have fewer problem solving skills. The lower the level of education, the lower the financial status and therefore the higher their financial dependence.
Ethnicity
In this study there were 29 Blacks and one Coloured. Blacks were over-represented because the research was conducted from a Health Centre that catered for Blacks and Indians from an Indian township. These findings resonate with Lowdermilk et al (2016:104) who found that African-American men are more likely to be psychologically, socially and economically oppressed and discriminated against. As a result, violence may occur more frequently with their partners because of anger generated by environmental stresses and limited resources.
Marital status
Of the 30 participants, 25 were unmarried, five (5) were married and of the unmarried group, two (2) were in co-habitation. Budlender, Chobokoane and Simelane (2004:5 as cited in Sebola 2014:43) affirm that cohabitation is a problem, especially among poor women. The contrast in this study is that of the 25 unmarried participants, only two were in cohabitation. Hlalele (2008:10 as cited in Sebola 2014:43) detected that women desire to get married before giving birth and they therefore opt for termination of pregnancy for their unwanted pregnancies.
Employment
Fourteen (14) participants were unemployed, twelve (12) were employed, three (3) were in temporary employment and one (1) was self-employed. Most employed participants were domestic workers. Of the unemployed, one (1) participant was anticipating to resume her tertiary studies. This confirms Hlalele’s reflection that adolescents opt for TOP in order to continue with their education (Hlalele 2008:9 as cited in Sebola 2014:44). Those unemployed inevitably rely on their partners or family members for financial support. Teenagers usually lack the financial resources to support a pregnancy hence many opt for termination (Lowdermilk et al 2016:73).
CHAPTER 1 SELF-FORGIVENESS FOR WOMEN WHO TERMINATED PREGNANCY IN ADOLESCENCE
1.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.4 MOTIVATION OF THE STUDY
1.5 DEFINITIONS
1.6 RESEARCH AIM/PURPOSE, OBJECTIVES AND QUESTIONS
1.7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
1.8 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1.9 TRUSTWORTHINESS
1.10 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
1.11 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS
1.12 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 2 PHASE 1: DESKTOP REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 REPRODUCTIVE COERCION (RC)
2.3 GUILT
2.4 SELF-FORGIVENESS
2.5 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 3 PHASE 2: METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 METHODOLOGY
3.3 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND LITERATURE CONTROL
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS
4.3 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
4.4 FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE OF THE PHENOMENON
4.5 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION OF MAJOR FINDINGS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 6 PHASE 3: DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 THE INFLUENCING MODELS
6.3 DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL OF SELF-FORGIVENESS FOR WOMEN WHO TERMINATED PREGNANCY DURING ADOLESCENCE
6.4 CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL FACTORS
6.5 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 7 GENERAL SUMMARY, JUSTIFICATION, LIMITATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSION .
7.1 INTRODUCTION
7.2 GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE STUDY
7.3 JUSTIFICATION
7.4 OVERVIEW AND SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS
7.5 LIMITATIONS AND STRENGTHS
7.6 RECOMMENDATIONS
7.7 CONCLUSION
LIST OF REFERENCES
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