Elaine Browne.pdf - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Introduction
Chapter 3
Research design and methodology
The research design and methodology employed in this study will be discussed and explained in
this chapter. The research design provided the scaffold for answering the intentional question
for the study, which aimed to determine how teachers responsible for the teaching of Arts and
Culture in the Intermediate Phase at previously disadvantaged schools experience the
implementation of this learning area. The paradigm, approach, sampling methods and data
collection strategy are described.
Research paradigm
The term ‘research paradigm’ refers to the underlying position from which a study commences.
Babbie (2004, 34) sees paradigms as “fundamental models or frames of reference we use to
organize our observations and reasoning”. Theories and inquiries seek logical explanations for
certain behaviour patterns in society, such as the teaching profession. Paradigms constitute
the foundations for social theories and inquiry (ibid, 33).
This study is positioned within the interpretative paradigm. Interpretative studies endeavour to
interpret and understand the underlying meanings and intentions of human behaviour. The
intention is not to explain human behaviour by applying “universally valid laws” (De Vos 1998,
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