Elaine Browne.pdf - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

egarding the implementation of the Arts and Culture learning area. They could do so within
their own frameworks. As such, this particular research instrument provided the required
“qualitative depth” (May 2001, 124) I was hoping to achieve. Consequently, it provided me with
a deeper understanding of their viewpoints.
Selection of respondents
In qualitative research, the term ‘population’ refers to those individuals who possess the
specific characteristics which the researcher requires for the research study (Babbie 2004, 110;
De Vos 1998, 46). In this study, the term population refer to all teachers teaching arts at
previously disadvantaged primary schools.
The term ‘sample’ refers to a particular group of the population who then becomes the focus of
the investigation, as they are able to provide information relevant to the research question.
Sampling thus refers to the selection of appropriate respondents in their specific
ethnographical location (De Vos 1998, 191). Researchers can use various sampling methods.
These include for example, case sampling, where an individual represents the norm; snowball
sampling, where participants refer the researcher to other possible participants with similar
characteristics; extreme sampling, where the researcher learns from highly unusual
manifestations of participants who represent extreme; homogenous sampling, where
individuals with only similar experiences are selected; and purposive criterion sampling, where
small groups of participants who are regarded as knowledgeable and responsive to the issue
under investigation, are chosen (Bloomberg & Volpe 2008, 191; De Vos 1998, 289).
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