Through self-reflection, the researcher was able to avoid being judgemental andbiased as to the values and beliefs pertaining to the phenomenon in question.
301.7.2.2DescriptiveWallimans (2011) and Denzin and Lincoln (2005) argue that descriptive designrelies on observation as a means of collecting data, and attempts to examinesituations in order to establish the norm. Descriptive design predicates that whatcan be predicted, can happen again under the same circumstances. Observationcan take many forms, depending on the type of information sought. People can beinterviewed, questionnaires distributed, visual records made; even sounds andsmells can be informative. Of importance is that these observations are writtendown or recorded in some way in order to facilitate subsequent analysis(Wallimans, 2011).The researcher used semi-structured interviews to describe the social supportservices offered to the abused women in shelters in Gauteng Province. There wereimpediments to providing social support services, and suggestions to overcomesuch hindrances with a view to formulating practice guidelines, as described in thisstudy.1.7.2.3Contextualise research designThe researcher opted to employ a contextual research design or strategy in thisstudy. According to Mouton (2006), with a contextual research design phenomenaare studied because of the intrinsic interest that they generate; also, contextualdesign aims to produce an extensive description of the phenomenon within thecontext of the unique setting and domain of the phenomenon (Babbie, 2010; Burns& Grove, 2010).The researcher’s intentionwas to gain an in-depth understanding of the barriers to,and solutions for, effective social support services to abused women in shelters inGauteng Province, from the perspectives of social workers. Only social workersinvolved in rendering social support services to abused women formed part of theinterviews. Furthermore, only shelters from the Tshwane and Johannesburg regionsformed part of the study. The participants were interviewed in their natural settings,namely in their offices based at the shelters.
311.8RESEARCH METHODOLOGYThe application of the research methodology, population, sampling, and samplingmethods will be discussed in detail in Chapter 2.1.8.1Population, sampling, and sampling methods1.8.1.1Research populationA population is defined by Guthrie (2010) and Maree (2007) as the total group ofpeople who are to be researched and generalised. Another definition is offered byCreswell (2014), Babbie (2009), and Babbie (2010), namely that a population interms of a research study constitutes a group of people that researchers identifybased on their interest and from which they wish to draw conclusions.The population for this study consists of all social workers who render social worksupport services in shelters accommodating abused women in the Tshwane andJohannesburg regions, Gauteng Province.
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