Elaine Browne.pdf - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

240). The researcher rather aims to identify those beliefs and values of the participant that lie
at the root of the trend or event, in other words, his or her “accounts of meaning, experience
and perceptions” (ibid, 243). Lichtman (2010, 20) sees the interpretative paradigm as part of a
reality that is virtual and shaped by certain forces. Hence, researchers who operate in this
paradigm interact with participants in their natural environment. The respondents’ attitudes,
behaviour, subjective beliefs and thoughts about the research question are captured and
interpreted. In this study, I aimed to interpret and understand the teachers’ personal
experiences with regard to the implementation of the Arts and Culture learning area in the
Intermediate Phase. Their values, beliefs, experiences and perceptions proved to be of
extensive use for this study.
Research design
A research design constitutes the “road map or blueprint” according to which a researcher will
conduct the investigation (De Vos 1998, 99). Mouton (1996, 107) defines the research design
as “a set of guidelines and instructions to be followed in addressing the research problem”.
Several designs are suitable for research in education, of which the most popular are the
quantitative, qualitative, or mixed method (quantitative as well as qualitative) designs. These
designs differ in significant ways. Qualitative research methodologies deal with data that are
principally verbal. Quantitative research methodologies, on the other hand, deal with data that
are essentially numerical. Whereas quantitative research instruments make use of
measurements and scales, qualitative researchers focus on words and sentences that are used
to qualify and record information about the world (Lichtman 2010, 9‐10; Bloomberg & Volpe
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