Chapter 2

METHODS OF RESEARCH

This chapter presents the methods and procedures of research

applied to gather the needed data. It contains the research design, the

selection of co-researchers, sampling technique, instruments used and

the treatment of the data.

RESEARCH DESIGN

The phenomenological approach will be used for this study.

Phenomenology, rooted deep in the works of philosophers such as Kant,

Hegel and Mach, was formally introduced by Edmund Husserl at the

beginning of the twentieth century (Moran, 2000; Guignon, 2006).

Husserl became known as the founder, or pioneer, of phenomenology

(Moran, 2000; Moustakas, 1994) with a desire to convert philosophy

into a strict science (Guignon, 2006). Husserl believed the key to

separating science from philosophy was to direct attention toward

meanings that connect our experience of objects (Guignon, 2006).

Phenomenological principles assert that scientific investigation is valid

when the information gained comes about through rich description that

allows for understanding of the essences of experience (Moustakas,

1994). Phenomenological research is a qualitative strategy in which the

researcher identifies the essence of human experiences about a

phenomenon as described by participants in a study (Creswell, 2009). In

this approach, the researcher focuses on a concept or phenomenon and

seeks to understand the meaning of experiences of individuals who have

experienced or “lived” the phenomenon. Phenomenology also employs

the use of bracketing where a researcher sets aside his or her knowledge

of and experiences related to the subject in order to “see things as they

appear, free from prejudgments and preconceptions” (Moustakas,1994).

The researcher is also present in the research in that he or she introduces

his or her personal understandings into the study.

Phenomenological research (Waters, 2016) describes a lived

experience of a phenomenon. As this is a qualitative analysis of narrative

data, methods, to analyze its data is quite different from more traditional

or quantitative method of research.

SELECTION OF CO-RESEARCHERS

The selection of co-researchers was done through Purposive

Sampling which is considered by Patton (2015) as the logic and power

of purposeful sampling lie in selecting information-rich cases for in-depth

study. Information-rich cases are those from which one can learn a great

deal about issues of central importance to the purpose of the inquiry.

Studying information-rich cases yields insights and in-depth

understanding. He further specifies that, according to his use of the term,

purposeful sampling applies specifically to qualitative research. This

involves identifying and selecting individuals or groups of individuals that

are especially knowledgeable about or experienced with a phenomenon

of interest (Cresswell & Plano Clark, 2011). In addition to knowledge and

experience, Bernard (2002) and Spradley (1979) note the importance of

availability and willingness to participate, and the ability to communicate

experiences and opinions in an articulate, expressive, and reflective

manner. This method is useful if a researcher wants to study “a small

subset of a larger population in which many members of the subset are

easily identified but the enumeration of all is nearly impossible” (Babbie

1990). The researcher is then able to select co-researchers based on

internal knowledge of said characteristic.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

The researchers utilized the following research instruments in gathering

data.

Interview Protocol

The researcher will made use of the interview questions to gather and

record the information needed in the study. Furthermore, the researcher

will used interview protocol to provide a bridge between the intended

results and the data gathered by the researchers.An interview protocol

will be develop for use in conducting face-to-face interviews with study

participants who consented to be interviewed. The interview protocol

consisted of 10 questions. It will be develop to guide the interview. The

interview questions will be develop to gain deeper insight into teacher’s

experiences who handle subjects not related to their field of

specialization. The interviews provided a more in-depth analysis of the

participant’s overall experience. The interview questions served as a

guide rather than a fixed protocol for each interview. At times, the

researcher may use additional follow-up questions to clarify or expand

upon learners’ responses in keeping with the phenomenological approach

used in this study. The phenomenological interview should be structured

enough to focus the conversation on the study participant’s experience

with the phenomenon of interest, but also open enough to allow free

expression of all relevant elements (Smith and Fowler, 2006).

TREATMENT OF DATA
 Colazzi’s as cited by Schuemann (2014) phenomenology data analysis

model highlights conceptual patterns and describes the process the

researcher chose as the researcher prepared for my investigation. The

following steps will guide the researcher plan for data analysis:

1. The researcher will thoroughly reads and rereads the transcribe

interviews to identify with the data and to acquire a sense of each

individual and his or her background and experiences.

2. From the transcripts the researcher will identifies significant

statements which pertain directly to the proposed phenomenon.

3. The researcher will develops interpretive meanings of each of the

significant statements. The researcher rereads the research protocols to

ensure the original description was evident in the interpretive meanings.

4. The interpretive meanings will be arranged into clusters, which allow

themes to emerge. The researcher will seeks validation, avoids repetitive

themes, and notes any discrepancies during this process.

5. The themes will be then integrated into an exhaustive description. The

researcher will also refers the theme clusters back to the protocols to

substantiate them.

6. The researcher will produces a concise statement of the exhaustive

description and provides a fundamental statement of identification also

referred to as the overall essence of the experience.

7. The reduced statement of the exhaustive description is presented to

the study’s participants in order to verify the conclusions and the

development of the essence statement. If discrepancies will be noted,

the researcher should go back through the significant statements,

interpretive meanings, and themes in order to address the stated

concerns. The themes will be shared with participants for member

checking, debriefing and feedback in order to ensure the goodness of the

research (Creswell,2013).

Memoing

In the data analysis, the researcher will listen to the records several

times, transcribed the stories, and manually evaluated the transcripts to

derive with the appropriate and relevant themes. It is another important

data source in qualitative research that will use in this study. It is the

researcher’s field notes recording what the researcher hears, sees,

experiences and thinks in the course of collecting and reflecting on the

process (Miles & Huberman 1984). Researchers are easily absorbed

in the data-collection process and may fail to reflect on what is happening.

However, it is important that the researcher maintain balance between

descriptive notes and reflective notes, such as hunches, impressions,

feelings, and so on. Miles and Huberman (1984) emphasize that memos
(or field notes) must be dated so that the researcher can later correlate

them with the data.