The choice of a methodological approach and research method has to follow the line of ontological, epistemological and theoretical presuppositions of the researcher, being a consequence of the adopted posture since the beginning of this work. Van Manen (1990) postulates that there is a dialectics relationship between the problem and the method. Therefore, the second must be the consequence of the first. In this way, the search for the outlining of the research presupposes a clear definition of the proposed problem, of the research questions and the stated objectives, that is, what is aimed to be explored and investigated during the research.
This chapter has the objective of discussing the methodology for the field research operationalization of the study and reaches the established main objective: invest in the improvement of teaching in the classroom through the continuous training of natural sciences and mathematics teachers of the second cycle of the General Secondary Education, based on the virtual learning environments. In literature, methodology means "different ways of doing things with different endings" (Kerlinger, 2000:335), that is, ways of formulating problems, hypothesis, observation methods and data gathering, variable measures and data analysis techniques. "The methodology includes also aspects of science philosophy" (same), presupposing a constant attitude of the critical analysis, especially when such analysis assumes a form of epistemological criticisms of the used concepts, within a frame of a research.
Barros and Lehfeld (2000) comments that the scientific research consists of observation of the facts the way they occur spontaneously, data gathering and register of the variables presumably relevant for further analysis. A research is a form of getting progress and therefore, a reflexive, a systematic, a controlled and a critical process that leads us to the discovery of new facts and of the relationships between the laws that regulate the appearance or absence of them.
The objective of the research is to find answers for questionnaires through the use of scientific methods (Laville & Dionne, 1999). These scientific methods for the current study will be the target of the study in this chapter.
4.2 Selection of the Research Paradigm and Methodology
Educational research is essentially concerned with exploring and understanding social phenomena, which are educational in nature, mainly pertaining to formalized and/or spontaneously occurring social, cultural, psychological processes which could be termed as education. In so doing, it deals with educational questions that can be investigated in a satisfactory manner, and the methods, which enable such satisfactory investigation and the utility of results emanating from such investigation (Dash, 1993). Since theoretical questions in education emerge from different conceptions and interpretations of social reality, different paradigms have been evolved to determine the criterion according to which one would select and define problems for inquiry. Thomas Kuhn, who is known for the term ‘paradigm’, characterizes a paradigm as an integrated cluster of substantive concepts, variables and problems attached with corresponding methodological approaches and tools (Khun, 2000).
During the past century, different paradigms have taken birth due to the remarkable growth in social sciences research. There are mainly two paradigms to the verification of theoretical propositions, that is, positivism and anti-positivism (or naturalistic inquiry).
4.2.1 Positivism
The positivist paradigm of exploring social reality is based on the philosophical ideas of the French philosopher August Comte, who emphasized observation and reason as means of understanding human behaviour. According to him, true knowledge is based on experience of senses and can be obtained by observation and experiment. Positivistic thinkers adopt his scientific method as a means of knowledge generation. Hence, it has to be understood within the framework of the principles and assumptions of science. These assumptions, as Cohen, Lawrence and Morrison (2000) noted, are determinism, empiricism, parsimony, and generality.
‘Determinism’ means that events are caused by other circumstances; and hence, understanding such casual links is necessary for prediction and control. ‘Empiricism’ means collection of verifiable empirical evidences in support of theories or hypotheses. ‘Parsimony’ refers to the explanation of the phenomena in the most economic way possible. ‘Generality’ is the process of generalizing the observation of the particular phenomenon to the world at large. With these assumptions of science, the ultimate goal of science is to integrate and systematize findings into a meaningful pattern or theory which is regarded as tentative and not the ultimate truth. Theory is subject to revision or modification as new evidence is found. Positivistic paradigm thus systematizes the knowledge generation process with the help of quantification, which is essentially to enhance precision in the description of parameters and the discernment of the relationship among them.
Although positivistic paradigm continued to influence educational research for a long time in the latter half of the twentieth century, it was criticized due to its lack of regard for the subjective states of individuals. It regards human behaviour as passive, controlled and determined by external environment. Hence human beings are dehumanized without their intention, individualism and freedom taken into account in viewing and interpreting social reality. According to the critique of this paradigm, objectivity needs to be replaced by subjectivity in the process of scientific inquiry. This gave rise to anti-positivism or naturalistic inquiry.
4.2.2 Anti-positivism
Anti-positivism emphasizes that social reality is viewed and interpreted by the individual themselves according to the ideological positions the posses. Therefore, knowledge is personally experienced rather than acquired from or imposed from outside. The anti-positivists believe that reality is multi-layered and complex (Cohen et al, 2000) and a single phenomenon is having multiple interpretations. They emphasize that the verification of a phenomenon is adopted when the level of understanding of a phenomenon is such a way that the concern is to probe into the various unexplored dimensions of a phenomenon rather than establishing specific relationship among the components, as it happens in the case of positivism.
Anti-positivism is marked by three schools of thought in the social science research. These are phenomenology, ethno methodology and symbolic interactionism. All the three schools of thought emphasize human interaction with phenomena in their daily lives, and suggest qualitative rather than quantitative approach to social inquiry.
The two paradigms presented here are focused on two concepts of social reality. While positivism stands for objectivity, measurability, predictability, controllability, constructs laws and rules of human behaviour, non-positivism essentially emphasizes understanding and interpretation of phenomena and making meaning out of this process. Alongside the presence of these two major paradigms, another trend, which got developed during the post-sixties, gave rise to the third paradigm of research namely the Paradigm of Critical Theory.
4.2.3 Critical theory
The main protagonist of this theory was Jurgen Habermas, who worked at the Frankfurt School in Germany to develop an approach of investigation and action in the social sciences, which could describe the historical forces that restrict human freedom and expose the ideological justification of those forces.
Critical theorists like Habermas were critical of the earlier paradigms, as they were not tuned to question or transform the existing situation. He developed theories, which were built on a typology of interest. Habermas (1970) postulated three types of interest which generate three types of knowledge:
A technical interest concerned with the control of the physical environment, which generates empirical and analytical knowledge.
A practical interest concerned with understanding the meaning of situation, which generates hermeneutic and historical knowledge.
An emancipating interest concerned with the provision of growth and advancement, which generates critical knowledge and is concerned with exposing conditions of constraints and domination.
Critical theorists suggest two kinds of research methodologies, namely, ideology critique and action research, for undertaking research work.
Critical theory has also been criticized by some of the contemporary scholars. Lakomski (1999) questions the acceptability of the consensus theory of truth on which Habermas’work is premised. Habermas’work is little more than speculation. Whist the claim regarding the three forms of knowledge has the epistemological attraction of simplicity, one has to question this very simplicity (Keat, 1981); there are a multitude of interests and ways of understanding the world; and it is simply artificial to reduce these to three interests (Cohen et al, 2000).
4.2.4 Research paradigms and research methods
Each of the paradigms discussed above has definite research methods, which can be used in carrying out scientific investigation.
Positivism which emphasizes objectivist approach to studying social phenomena gives importance to research methods focusing on quantitative analysis, surveys, experiments and the like.
Similarly, anti-positivism which stresses on subjectivist approach to studying social phenomena attaches importance to a range of research techniques focusing on qualitative analysis, e.g. personal interviews, participant observations, account of individuals, personal constructs etc.
Similarly, critical theory suggests ideology critique and action research as research methods to explore the existing phenomena.
The question arises: how does a researcher select a research paradigm and corresponding methodology? The following questions may be raised by the researcher:
1. What is the nature or essence of the social phenomena being investigated?
2. Is social phenomenon objective in nature or created by the human mind?
3. What are the bases of knowledge corresponding to the social reality, and how knowledge can be acquired and disseminated?
4. What is the relationship of an individual with their/his/her environment? Is she/he conditioned by the environment or is the environment created by her/him?
Based on the above questions, the researcher can identify whether the research questions pertain to positivism, anti-positivism, and critical theory; and choose the appropriate methodology, accordingly.
Although each of the paradigms has corresponding approaches and research methods, still a researcher may adopt research methods cutting across research paradigms as per the research questions he proposes to answer. In this line of thought, the researcher chose to adopt three investigation paradigms so that he explores more the possibilities each of them offers for the accomplishment of this study: the positivism (for the quantitative approach), the anti-positivism (in the qualitative approach) and the critical theory in the adoption of action research, which refers to technical procedures.
For Valles (1997) there is truly a coexistence of several paradigms in the researches that are aimed to be qualitativists or quantitativists. The author referring to the works of Guba and Lincon (1994) says that the paradigms must be understood as systems of basic beliefs, principles and presuppositions about:
a) " The nature of the investigated reality (ontological presupposition);
b) the model of the relationship between the researcher and the research (epistemological presupposition);
c) the way in which we can get knowledge of the so said reality (methodological presupposition)" (Valles, 1997: 49).
This does not mean that when there is an implementation of a research there should only be the methodological aspects known. As for Valles (1997) the Paradigm must guide the researcher in the ontological and epistemological aspects of the research besides selecting the methods. These three aspects are said to be related in the way that the basic belief the researcher has at ontological level must take him to adopt consonant postures in the epistemological and methodological plans.
4.3 Characterization of the research
Selltiz and Deutsch (1974) comment that each study has a specific objective. These specific objectives can overlap into wider objectives:
Familiarization with phenomenon or get new understanding of this;
Precise presentation of the characteristics of a situation, group or specific individual;
Verifying the frequency in which something occurs or to whether it is linked to one or another thing;
Verifying hypothesis of a casual relationship among variables.
According to Barros and Lehfeld (2000) the forms of study of the object of the research determine the classification of the research. This can be: Descriptive, Experimental and Research-Action. The descriptive research is that in which the researcher observes, registers, analyses and correlates facts or phenomena. In this type of research there is no interference of the researcher, he does not manipulate the object of the research.
The experimental research adopts the manipulation criterion or one or more independent variables (causes), under adequate control so that it interprets and observes the modifications and the reactions occurred on the object research. In this way, the researcher interferes in the reality, fact or studied situation through direct manipulation of the variables (Barros & Lehfeld, 2000).
The action-research, the third classified by Barros and Lehfeld (2000) is a type of social research with the empirical base that is conceived and fulfilled in association with an action or resolution of a collective problem and on which the researchers and the participants of the situation or problem are involved in a cooperative or participative ways.
Selltiz and Deutsch (1974) present a classification in three types: i) descriptive studies ii) studies that verify the casual hypothesis and iii) formulating or exploratory studies.
The descriptive studies considered by Selltiz and Deutsch (1974) have as their objectives to describing the characteristics of a certain population or phenomenon, stimulate the proportion of the people of a special population, which maintain certain opinion or attitude; verify the existence of associations among the variables.
The other type of study considered by these authors is casual, which has its objective to identifying the factors that determine or contribute for the phenomena to take place; can either have the objective of verifying the casualty hypothesis.
The third type of study mentioned by Selltiz and Deutsch (1974) are formulating or exploratory studies whose objective is the formulation of a problem for a more exact investigation or for the creation of hypothesis.
The research can be classified at a wider level as an exploratory or concluding. The major objective of the exploratory research is to provide the comprehension of the problem faced by the researcher. This type of research is used in cases where there is a need for identifying action relevant courses or get additional data before developing an approach. The concluding research has its objective to evaluate concluding hypothesis, as they are used as data for generic decision-making. The concluding researches can be descriptive or casual.
According to the objectives of this study, it is a kind of an exploratory research as it explains the progress of the social phenomena, looking for a close familiarity with the problem.
Yet, the core type of research used which has to do with the technical procedures was action-research, as in this situation, the observer accumulates the roles of the researcher and member of the organization. In this way, the researcher was fully involved with the object of the research so that he could conceive, intervene/change the reality and evaluate the outcomes. The principles of this type of research are of the participating character, the democratic impulse and a contribution to the social change that characterizes it as an innovating research (Barbier, 1985; Thiollent, 2003).
Barbier (1985) explains that this type of research is aimed at untighting through an analytical method, a chain of significations/meanings established in an organization. For that, through praxis the researcher works the social secret structures that contribute for determining the orientations of a practice and in this way, is able to identify the knowledge and the dynamics built by different groups involved.
It can be better understood the action research as an action that tries to understand and explain the praxis of the social groups. Being consensual in different authors that this type of research is focused on improving the practice (Elliot, 1993; Thiollent, 2003).
Therefore, the action research can be distinguished through its characteristics of knowing and acting and further studying the outcomes. In this way, the research becomes a permanent modification process “in reflection spirals and action” where each spiral includes, according to Elliot (1993):
Elucidate and diagnose a practical situation or problem that needs to be improved or solve;
Design action strategies;
Apply such strategies;
Evaluate their efficiency;
Understand a new situation;
Reuse the same steps for a new practical situation.
This research model, on the qualitative approach, is based on the fundamentals of the oral history, in which the aims of the description and reflection are met on the caption, register of the gathered information. This procedure was chosen because it best adapts to the type of information needed for a particular situation of double acting of the researcher. According to Bogdan and Biklen (1994), this allows evaluating the most direct reaction of the interviewees towards the problems put in place as well as understanding in a more consistent way their options. Moreover, fulfilled all the five main characteristics of a qualitative research, the specific objectives predicted/expected in this study would be reached. In this regard Bogdan and Biklen (1994:43) consider that:
The direct source of the data is the natural environment and the researcher, the main instrument, going to the place of study and familiarizing him/herself with it, creating self-interest by the context and the relationships with the individuals.
The research is descriptive in a way that the words, images, scenes, environments, episodes, situations, thoughts and depositions are minutely described;
The researchers withholds more on the process than on the outcomes and products, seeking for causes, the origins, the history of the behaviours, actions and thoughts expressed by the investigated individuals, trying to understand what interferes in those thoughts and actions and how these can be translated into activities and daily interactions;
The data analysis in processed in an inductive way, that is, not always the data is got for proving hypothesis previously built which very often emerge from the proper data;
The meaning is of fundamental importance as it is given through the process of pursuing for an understanding of the phenomena that occur in a certain context, institutions or community.
Richardson et al. (1999) comment that method in research means the choice of systematic procedures for the description and explanation of the phenomena. The author classifies the methods as qualitative and quantitative.
One of the methods presented by Malhotra (2001) for exploratory research and selected for this study is the qualitative research. The choice of the qualitative method is justified by its humanistic motive, which is important in the understanding of the social reality and above all by its affinity with the changeable nature of the social world (Filstead, 1986). The humanist principles of this method (Serrano Pérez, 1994) were a strong argument for the design of this study. This research helped itself with the primary data for its execution. The primary data were generated by the researcher with a specific objective of solving the problem in place. The qualitative research provides a better vision and understanding of the context of the problem while the quantitative research, as a complement, quantified the data and applied some statistical analyses. Bogdan and Biklen (1994) explain that the qualitative and quantitative approaches can be complementary and that in some studies this is desirable. For example, using the descriptive statistics and presenting itself together the interpretation of the qualitative data. This type of option is called methodological triangulation.
For Minayo (1994) the relationships among the qualitative and quantitative approaches demonstrate that:
"The two approaches are not incompatible and can be integrated within the same project;
a quantitative research can conduct the researcher to the choice of a particular problem to be analyzed in its whole complexity through methods and qualitative techniques and vice versa; the qualitative research is the one that better coadunates to the knowledge of particular situations, specific groups and symbolic universes.
From the epistemological point of view, infers:
that the whole social knowledge (quantitative or qualitative) it is only possible by cut, reduction or approximation;
that the whole reduction and approximation cannot lose the view that the social is qualitative and that the quantitative is one of its forms of expression;
that, on place of operating, the quantitative and qualitative approaches have a meeting point be it on the theories as well as on the methods of analysis and interpretation" p.32.
There are potentialities in the articulation of quantitativist and qualitativist postures. For Minayo (1994)
"The contribution of the qualitative approach for the social understanding can be explained as theory and method. in terms of theory, it allows to develop social processes that are still not well-known, particular groups and social expectations in the higher degree of complexity... whereas method is characterized by empiricalness and systematization, the qualitative approach favours the construction of instruments established in the perception of the social actors, becoming in this way, valid as a source for the establishment of indicators, indexes, typologies and hypotheses. besides that, it allows more plausible interpretations of the quantitative data, supporting the elimination of the uncertainty that slips up by operationalization of the theoretical models designed far from the situations empirically observable." p.30 e 31.
Merton and Kendall express the same sentiment when they say, “Social scientists have come to abandon the spurious choice between qualitative and quantitative data: they are concerned rather with that combination of both which makes use of the most valuable features of each. The problem becomes one of determining at which points they should adopt the one, and at which the other, approach” (Merton & Kendall, 1946 cited by Cohen at al, 2000:45).
The knowledge of some proper characteristics of the qualitative perspective becomes fundamental for a better understanding of the methodological positioning which was adopted in this study. Such characteristics are:
a) The qualitative research must not be understood as a set of techniques but as an approach for the study of the social phenomena (Morgan & Smircich, 1980);
b) Researchers that follow this orientation are concentrated on understanding the meanings built by the people, understanding how the individuals understand their world and the experiences that they live (Merriam, 1991);
c) These researches start from the wide questionings that are being defined according to the moment the studies develop themselves (Chizzotti, 1991), that is, they have a flexible project (Taylor & Bogdan, 1998) and emergent as the researcher does not know for certain all the people that will be interviewed and even all the questions that will be made (Merriam, 1991);
d) A qualitative study is very descriptive and is not concerned with proving the theories. This means that there are no hypotheses to be tested (Merriam, 1991);
This study also used the Focus Group technique to be able to know the 2nd cycle of general secondary education natural sciences and mathematics teachers´ opinion and evaluate the post graduation course that is delivered in virtual learning environments.
For Krueger and Casey (2000) the Focus Group technique is considered a scientific research because it is a process that is research disciplined, systematic, sequential and verifiable.
4.4 Research steps
The fluxogram of the methodological procedures used for the prosecution of the main objective of this research is presented in four steps. The first step was aimed at diagnosing the situation of use of ITCs by the teachers of natural sciences and mathematics of the second cycle of general secondary education.
The second step was aimed at adaptation and implementation of a module of a Masters course in virtual learning environment for in service teachers of natural sciences and mathematics.
The third step had to do with the presentation of a reflection about the practices and reflection practices in training. The researcher in this step was concerned with presenting several understandings of the reflection concept and its content, the conditions needed to the development of this process, its role in the teacher´s practice and the characteristics of the reflexive teacher. Lastly, there are some models of the reflexive practice based on the relationship between action and reflection.
The fourth step was aimed at evaluation process of a module of a Masters course in virtual learning environments for natural sciences and mathematics in service teachers.
The figure 4.1 presents the fluxogram of the methodological procedures used for the prosecution of the main objective of this research, organized in four steps.
After the second step had taken place, there was a confrontation of the outcomes got with the data resulting from the first step of the model. In this way, there were objective conditions created for the researcher to have an available field for a reflection about the practices and reflection practices in training, consubstantiating in this way the fulfilment of the third step. On the other side, the study pursued to reach the suggested objectives, namely:
Diagnose the level of use of information and communication technologies among the teachers of natural sciences and mathematics of the second cycle of General secondary education;
Reflect on the organization of the post graduation course for natural sciences and mathematics teachers of the second cycle of general secondary education to be delivered via distance education, in virtual learning environment, in e-learning models and video conference;
Adapt an on-going post-graduation course and materials for mathematics and natural science teachers of the second cycle of general education run via distance education and based on virtual learning environments (e-learning and video conference);
The objective i) Analyze whether the post graduation goals were fulfilled with regard to the reinforcement of teacher competences in the classroom reducing the rotativity in the school system, was accomplished throughout the discussions raised in chapter 5. It was felt that being able to reach the pre established specific objectives, the general objective of this research, which has to do with the investment in the improvement of teaching in the classroom through natural science and mathematics continuous teacher training of the General secondary education, based on the virtual learning environments would be reached.
4.5 Population and sample
The population of the study was built by all the teachers of the second cycle of general secondary education of the country. The research was fulfilled with 265 natural science and mathematics teachers of the second cycle of general secondary education, covering the whole country whose names are kept secret, for ethical reasons. The sample was selected by convenience to explore the facilities the researcher had to be able to get the group about which the study would rely on. It is a non-probabilistic sample “a sample built according to the explicit choice of the researcher. It is the case of a typical sample in which and from the needs of the study, the researcher selects the cases thought to be example or typical to the target population or part of it” (Laville & Dionne, 1999:170).
Table 4.1: Data Gathering Matrix
This is a relatively small sample taking into account the number of natural sciences and mathematics teachers that the country has, but according to Bogdan and Biklen (1994), in the qualitative research the methods for gathering the data lead to an intensive work as the objective is to get the responses and explanations through deep exploration of issues under investigation, contrary to quantitative research in which the researchers use bigger samples with the objective of generalizing the research outcomes.
4.6 Data gathering: method and instruments
According to Merriam (1991), in a qualitative research, besides working essentially with the process, that is, the way how the phenomenon appears and the justification of its occurrence, there is also a major concern with the meaning that the participants give to their experiences, and it is assumed that this attribution of meanings is measured by the perception of the proper researcher. In this way, the researcher him/herself is the instrument of data gathering, sensitive to the context and he is able to adapt the gathering techniques to situations that are appearing.
The objectives and the design of the research are basic elements for the definition of the techniques for information gathering. The nature of this study requires instruments that are capable of keeping the decisive respondents’ characteristics. For that effect, the researcher decided to use the questionnaire, the profound interview and the Focus Group. These techniques were also associated wit the research diary and with the critical examination of the materials produced by other intervenient in the process of the establishment of a platform of distance courses and by the virtual learning environments in Higher Education Institutions. This triangulation strategy allowed the data progress, giving consistence to the study.
The researcher decided to formulate the questions to the questionnaire and the profound interview following a sequence to avoid unnecessary reflection changes that would consequently mislead information. In this way, he ordered the questions following interest blocs to facilitate the reflection and provide a certain mental comfort to the informer. The questions were designed based on this typology: opinion, knowledge, experience and feeling.
The researcher decision about carrying out profound interviews was particularly due to the advantages that the interviews provide to qualitative studies. The interview is indicated for “gathering data described in a proper subject language” (Bogdan & Biklen, 1994:134), allowing the researcher to develop intuitively an idea about how the subjects interpret the situations they live. Besides building an important process of data gathering of a more individual nature, like thoughts, feelings and opinions, the interview is a suitable means when one wishes to get information about past events (Merriam, 1991). In this way, this technique enabled: (i) to get meaningful responses; (ii) the flexibility and profound information; (iii) the reflection about certain information and (iv) to listen to histories and discovery of feelings (Cf. Hayman, 1991, Walker, 1989, Wittrock, 1989, Woods, 1995). There were, in fact, advantages derived from the fact that the interviews were a way of an interpersonal communication provoked by the interest of obtaining information through the dialogue (Morin, 1995). In fact, the interviews converted themselves into excellent and profitable opportunities to amplify the researcher’s knowledge regarding to an imagination of the teachers involved in projects of the continuous training.
4.6.1 Data gathering
The qualitative methodology was consubstantiated by techniques that the researcher wanted to use in the development of the research, that is: the research diary, the reports, the interviews, observations and the questionnaires. These techniques were also associated with the critical exam of the materials produced by other intervenient in the process of the establishment of a platform of the e-learning courses in IHE. Such triangulation strategy allowed the researcher to give a progressive data valorization, giving consistence to the acquired outcomes.
From the researcher´s point of view, this was the most important step of the study. It is clear that in this opportunity the researcher exhibited the objectives and purposes of the study and asked for collaboration of all selected informers.
The access to the field and the most considerable part of the sources were facilitated by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Mozambique through the National Directorate of the General Education. Associated to the accessibility criterion, the researcher used a method called snowball, that is, established contact with trusted people that established other contacts with people that could respond to the questionnaires of the research. This form of collaboration was a deciding one for the establishment of contacts in the field that enabled the empirical study to come true. The empirical study concluded from the telephone calls, e-mails to school visits of the selected schools, as well as all the technical procedures to get as much information as possible. The informative observations carried out in the classrooms in some of the researched schools helped in the enrichment and profounding of the knowledge of the reality of the natural sciences and mathematics teachers of the Second Cycle of the General Education, throughout the national territory. The informal conversations in the corridors of the researched schools were important alternatives to amplify the perceptions and knowledge about expectations of the respondents. There is no doubt that these contacts were rich, productive and they had a relevant role in the interpretation of the gathered information through questionnaire and focus group.
The empirical study took place from December 2008 to March 2010, following the chronogram previously defined and presented in the research proposal.
Research diary. The research diary is one of the most important instruments of this study and it was an instrument in which the researcher kept the notes that he used to write while observing daily. These notes showed “the written picture of all that the researcher heard, saw, experimented and thought in the gathering process and reflecting about the data of a qualitative study” (Bodgan & Biklen, 1994:150). The research diary represented an important source of data and helped the researcher to “follow the development of the project, to see how the investigation plan was used by the data gathered and becoming conscious on how he was influencing by the data” (p. 151).
Reports. These were produced by the administrator of the e-learning system of Higher Education Institutions where they reflected about its achievement, the reaction that manifested the type of work, the strategies and the difficulties faced. The analysis of the reports was an opportunity for a request for a deeper thinking about the practical procedures of the administrator of the e-learning system, problematizing several aspects emerging from such experience, review ideas and move with new perspectives.
Interviews. One of the characteristic aspects of this study was the importance that the researcher gave to the natural sciences and mathematics teachers’ perspective, which, was obtained essentially from their speech. In this way, the interview (Appendixes C and D) had an important role to play as it was used for gathering descriptive data on the language of the proper subject, allowing the researcher to develop intuitively an idea about the way the subjects interpret the teaching aspects of the natural sciences and mathematics in the Second Cycle of the General Education itself.
The interviews were built as an additional and complementary instrument to the use of the questionnaires for the advantages that have already been mentioned. All the interviews were held in the working environments of the interviewees, situation that influenced in the quality of the information towards their trust, of the climate of tranquility provided by the data and the physical space dominated by the interviewee. For the success of the information gathering there were two basic procedures used: the recording of the interviews on a digital support and the manual register of the declarations of the interviewees by the researcher. During the interview the researcher was attentive to the understanding of the interviewees’ speech and when something seemed less clear he asked for clarification. At the end of the interview there was also a consultation with the interviewee to know if he or she wanted to clarify, review, omit and deepen certain aspects.
At the end of each interview, the researcher used the analysis procedures to reflect about the relevance of the information and to facilitate the transcription of the recordings in a digital support. In this first phase, that can be called the acknowledgement of the information, the researcher acted according to some recommendations from Cicourel (1982). Even following these recommendations, there was no identification of the problems related to the relevance of the information, very often, inevitable in the interviews for being a human interaction. Truly, the researcher was attentive to these criteria designed by this author: quality, coherence, deepening of the responses and uncertainty in the meanings.
The interview for being a social interaction is an activity that takes place in the territory of different forces, an example of the affective and social psychologists (Morin, 1995). Regardless of the advantages offered by the interview, the researcher was attentive to the psycho affective nature of this resource that according to Morin (1995) it is an aspect that can compromise the information and bring about problems, an example of falsehood and distorting of information. This author recalls the debate about the validity of information, mainly because the interview is a fundamental technique in a word. Even being a risky resource, expressive and revealing also can be doubtful by the fact that it relies on speaking. To avoid this problem, the researcher was throughout the interviews reflecting with the interviewees their declarations to avoid future distortings and falsehood of the information.
Technical application of the focus group. The development of the computer assisted communication and of the digital networks promoted new forms of the collective intelligence, more flexible and democratic, which are fundamental in reciprocity. The virtual deterritorialization, mainly with the Internet, has brought about new communication device of collectivity called "all-all communication" (Lévy, 1996:112).
This type of communication is characterized by the enthusiasm about the Internet, sensation is about the fact that it enters in a common brain, making part of an interior chaos, make a set of changes, participate in changes of the collective intelligence, which self-criticises without hierarchization.
The focus group is a qualitative research technique made up of small groups of people that meet to discuss a specific topic. Normally, there are six to ten people that very often do not know each other, and discuss a certain theme, problem or a defined service. There is also a moderator participating, whose task is to put the issues on the schedule and an observer. Different from other techniques with groups and interviews, the interaction of the group is also a research data to be considered and not simply a process of questioning and getting responses. The purpose of the focus group is to generate ideas, opinions attitude and perspectives.
Through the use of new technologies in the academic-scientific activities, specifically the Internet, there was a possibility for the respondents and the researcher to communicate through e-mail, lists and discussion groups, via skype, substituting part of face to face conversations, besides being used for data gathering for the research. The application of the focus group technique can also occur through the Internet, as the qualitative studies gave priority the researches carried out on a natural setting, that is, on the proper subjects environment. The researcher goes to the users environment that can be, for example, their offices, their personal computers.
Chase and Alvarez (2000) compared the process involved in an electronic form with the face-to-face way of the focus group and their application in the science and information area. They verified that the most significant differences were: the data of the analysis are uni-dimensional (the text only), while on a face to face basis non verbal observations are also taken into account; the data gathering is immediate, requiring the transcription of the recordings; depending on the skills of the individuals in typing texts with speed; the expressions are limited to texts; and the discussion can be lost easily due to lack of a face to face participation.
For O’Connor and Madge (2003) the silence occurring in meetings is difficult to be interpreted in an electronic group, as well as there are difficulties in the definition of the order of the collocations, that appear according to the speed in which the phrases are typed and sent. The return not always appears in a sequence.
Clapper and Massey (1996) point the loss of non-verbal expressions as the major disadvantage of the use of focal electronic groups. However, the despite the fact that the moderator and the participants are not face to face, an environment can be created where all feel free to give their opinions, as they know they will not be intimidated by the expressions, voice intonation, clothing and look from other people. The other disadvantage can result from the subjects that do not feel confident because they are typing texts and the information is being registered and evaluated.
For the current research of the qualitative nature, the researcher chose, yet, the use of the focus group technique, which was carried out on the Internet, through chat-rooms, as they are known.
For the selection of the participants, there were heterogeneity considerations on the geographical origin regarding the professional category of those users in the virtual learning environments as there has been proposed to work with a specific teacher´s group while teaching.
For the viability of the remote meetings of the focus groups it was decided to use the Internet Relay Chat for being a free of charge program, of simple and fast manipulation in the visualization of the responses.
The opinions of the participants were registered in an electronically file of the chat-rooms and analyzed afterwards by the researcher that assumed also the role of the moderator in the meeting. The observer of the discussions was one of the students of the graduation course, with experience in the contact with the users via electronic mail that registered the subjective aspects of the talks like: time and sequence of the responses, security expressed by the participants, among others.
There were no symbols used that express feelings on the Internet, known as emoticons, because not every tool used provided such resource. Although it is an expression that the participant wants to transmit and not the one that has been observed, these symbols could help in the analysis of the information.
According to the period limit suggested by some authors (Cf. Chase & Alvarez, 2000; Crowley, 1996), the time for the duration of the meeting was of 60 minutes.
For the treatment of the data, there was data content analysis techniques used in an exploratory approach based on the works of the qualitative research.
Based on the recommendations from Carlini-Cotrim (1996) for the analysis of data of the focal group there was a need for verifying the responses through textual quotations of the group participants, which illustrates the major analysis findings, and there was also an observation on the repetitions, non repetitions or the absence of explaining categories of the discussions as well as their respective contexts.
Finally, the outlet from the field took place after the end of the research procedures and of course, after the review of the information that allowed the researcher to analyze the gathered material without needing to consult the interviewees again.
Observations. The observations carried out on the scope of this study relied mainly on the achievement of several intervenients of the Distance Education based on e-learning, in the development tasks of the teaching-learning process and the respective support to the learner, as well as the evaluation methods, that is, the pedagogical management of the courses. The researcher assumed the role of observer - participant during these observations. The outcomes of these observations were equally being noted on the research diary.
Questionnaires. These instruments were the major source for obtaining information because they were applied to all teachers of the sample. In this way, they were the basic source to the access of information and for the knowledge of the teachers´ imagination of the selected sample. The questionnaire (Appendix A) was filled in by the natural sciences and mathematics teachers of the Second Cycle of the General Education, after a brief explanation of the meaning of each section. After bringing back, the researcher started with the preliminary analysis of the instrument for the acknowledgement of the possible incorrections. This procedure facilitates the recovery of some data including the deepening of information.
The questionnaire allowed to obtain data from a set of pre-determined questions to the sample. It was, however, a set of structured expressed questions in paper, aimed at exploring the opinion of the people to whom it was addressed. The researcher used in this study the questionnaire mainly the closed questions type. This kind of questions have advantages as they are able to conduct the reactions of the inquired people to some categories that are easy to interpret. Some of the questions were built to allow the evaluation of the attitude and opinions that were aimed at having the quantified and direct knowledge of the behaviour of the subjects. The attitudes and opinions had as their objective the graduation of the respective intensity, allowing the ordering of the individuals throughout a scale. Since these techniques are criticized by their subjective character and by the absence of a standardized measure, scales of attitudes and opinions (Likert) were also used with the objective of overcoming such subjectivity through the use of a pre-built system of propositions under which the participants took position.
4.6.2 Quality of information
By being a work of the qualitative nature, the debate about the credibility of the outcomes is replaced by the triangulation of the information sources. In this study, the information was provided through questionnaires, deep interviews, focal groups and informal observations. The purpose was to obtain a set of relevant information for this study and at the same time contrast itself; the researcher wants to say that the outcomes of this study refer to a specific reality, particularly, because they are opinions from a social group of a specific context that provided information.
4.7 Validity and reliability of the instruments
The current study involved the use of the inquiries per questionnaire as well as profound interviews. Two major aspects were associated to these instruments, namely: the reliability and validity.
The reliability is an expression of consistence of the outcomes throughout the time. Reliability means precision of the measuring method and it can be checked through consistence analysis or stability of such method. A reliable method (test or a measuring instrument) must not produce meaningfully different outcomes, if it is repeated on the same individual.
A test or a measuring instrument is valid if it is able to translate the greatness that needs to be measured in a correct way. For example, the number of the years and months of the life of a person is a valid measure of his or her age, the same cannot happen if we use his or her posture to measure age.
While reliability is related to the consistence or stability of a measure, the validity is related to its truth veracity. A measure can be very reliable (precise), but it can also be wrong and therefore invalid. This is to say that reliability does not imply validity but it is a requirement to evaluate the validity. That is, for a measure to be valid it must beforehand be more reliable. Consequently, one must first of all evaluate the reliability of the instruments (or methods) of measurement, and after that evaluate their validity.
4.7.1 Reliability
There are several factors that influence the reliability of a method. For example, the person on whom the measures are being made can have different reactions day after day. On the other side, the method can only measure a part of the phenomenon of the interest and not serve for characterizing the global form of the phenomenon.
There are several ways for checking the reliability of a method:
1. The same test or measurement can exactly be repeated with the same individuals and compare the outcomes. This process is called test-retest.
2. There can be two tests or measurements supposingly equivalent and the outcomes compared.
3. The tests or measurements can be subdivided into two equivalent parts (not always possible) and examine the consistence of the outcomes in those parts. This process is called split-half reliability.
There are basically two processes to quantify the reliability of a test or measurement:
1. The first is aimed at evaluating the viability of the measurements after their repetition on the same individuals. The mostly used variability measurement is deviation measurement. However, the same test or measurement is rarely used to the same individuals repeated times so that there is estimation of the standard deviation. In this way, there are methods developed to enable to obtain these estimations without having to repeat the same tests or measurements for the same individuals;
2. The second and the most common consists of the calculation of the reliability of the coefficient from the repeated measurements or comparisons split-half. Typically, based on the two measurement sets (or because the same test was used twice on the same individual or because the test was divided in two parts) there is a calculation of the correlation coefficient, which is suitable to the type of such measurement.
A measurement can then be reliable if the standard deviation is reduced or if the reliability coefficient (correlation) is raised. A form of reliability that very often is evaluated is called inter-observer reliability (inter-observer reliability or inter-judge reliability). In this case there is a need for checking if different observers (evaluators) by using the same measurement methods (tests or measurements) obtain the same consistent outcomes. It is a particular case of reliability described above.
In this study, the reliability was ensured with the use of three forms of checking the reliability of a method described above, namely: the test-retest, the use of two tests supposingly equivalent and comparison of the outcomes as well as the split-half reliability.
4.7.2 Validity
The validity of a test (or measurement instrument) is not simple to check in most of the situations. In general, it can be said that the more direct the form to measure a phenomenon in cause the more valid will be the method used. For example, if there is an observation of what the person eats during a meal one can get a more valid measure more that the consume of calories than having to ask him or her afterwards what the person has eaten. To have valid measures it is, however, convenient to consider different measurement methods and evaluate their comparative validity. Unfortunately, and because it is difficult to evaluate the validity of the methods, most of the times the validity is assumed till ones proofs wrong.
Schweigert (1994) distinguishes three types of validity: (criterion validity), (construct validity) and (face validity). It is noted, however, that this classification is not the only one and there are other forms of categorizing the types of validity of a method (Cf. For example Ventri & Schiavetti, 1986).
1. The validity of a criterion is a degree with which a measurement method is correlated with other methods already established for the same phenomenon. There are two types of criterion validity: predictive (predictive validity) and concurrent (concurrent validity).
1.1 The predictive Validity is a degree with which the result of a test (or measure) predicts the future behaviour of an individual. For example, the result of an intelligence test can predict the school success of a child. If we keep the results of the intelligence test and if we correlate them with the school results got afterwards we can have an idea of the degree of agreement of the two measures. In general, for the evaluation of a predictive validity method it is necessary to conduct a parallel study where there are kept some of the phenomenon measures and presay whether they correlate with other measures got directly after they occur. This requires temporal availability (there is a need for waiting for the phenomenon to occur) and availability of the experimental units aimed at this ending.
1.2. The concurrent Validity is a degree with which a new method is correlated with the existing one and considered valid.
2. The conceptual validity is related to the measurement method of a concept (or phenomenon). If a method is aimed at measuring a certain concept, then it must correlate itself with other existing methods for the same concept. However, if the researcher concludes that the method also correlates with the measurement methods of other concepts that are not considered related to the concept in place, then it is necessary to be careful with what in fact is being measured.
3. The face Validity has to do with the degree with which the method seems to measure what in fact is aimed at measuring. For example, an exam about Mozambican literature will have strong face validity if it is based on the excerpts of the Mozambican literature. This type of validity seems to be what has less importance in a scientific research. This happens because a method can have a raised face validity and therefore, not have any type of validity or reliability. On the other side, a method may not have face and however, be very valid and reliable. Regarding the enquiries, it is common to have participants requiring some type of face validity under the risk of not responding to the inquiry by thinking that it has nothing to do with the issue in place.
From what the researcher has just described, it can be concluded that to measure most of the concepts of validity there is a need for using association measures (or correlations) such as the proposals for measuring reliability.
We can also find the concept of validity associated with the observational studies (instead of tests or specific measurement instruments) and in this case, it is necessary to classify the validity in two types: internal and external.
The internal validity depends on the capacity of the study to respond the initial proposed issues. It measures to what extent the outcomes of the study are product of the variables that were selected, observed and measured and not the result of other variables that were not dealt with. The external validity measures to what extent the outcomes got by the study can be generalized for other situations with other individuals.
A study can have internal validity and not have external validity. A study that does not have internal validity can never have an external validity.
For that effect, in this study, besides the control of the researcher (external validity) there was a need for involving other colleagues and experimental inquirers, teacher from Higher Education Institutions in the process of validation of the methodological instruments used (external validity). With this measure, the researcher tested the instruments with the natural science teachers in Maputo city and Xai-Xai. This activity had a major role especially for the evaluation of the problems and virtues of these instruments, for example, the clearness of the language, the pertinence of the questions and other elements. In this way, the researcher considered the recommendations from Cohen et al (2000) about the cares with the linguistic expressions that are less familiar to the informers, mainly by the cultural differences between the researcher and the interviewees. The analysis made by the experimental respondents was very important to approach the questionnaire to the reality, to make it more attractive and able to facilitate its interaction with the interviewees. In this way, it was useful for obtaining decisive information about the thought of the teachers. The instruments were designed taking into account the objectives of this study. For that, after the first script and after some suggestions for change, the questionnaire and the interview were re –structured taking into account their pragmatic dimension and the need to reach a consensus around to the objectives of the study to evaluate (face validity) (Dane, 1990). From the comments and observations on the experimental respondents generated the version of the most suitable instruments to the objectives of this study. This process of validation of instruments and agreeing with Ketele e Roegiers (1999), ensured the researcher to what he aimed at gathering with the information.
4.8 Ethical Issues
“Even with the considerations related to the informed consentment and protection of the human subjects, as much as they are traditionally formulated, they are not very suitable to the qualitative approach, the ethical issues are obviously of interest” (Burgess, 1984 cited by Bogdan & Biklen, 1994:76).
In this way, to fulfill the inquiries by questionnaire and interviews, the researcher was always concerned with verifying the availability of the participants through a previous contact where the following diligences were observed:
Inform the respondents about the outcomes that were expected with the fulfilment of the inquiry and the interview;
Explain the reason why there was a selection, and letting them know the importance of their contribution for the study that was aimed at developing;
Inform the respondents about the duration that was expected for the fulfillment of the inquiry or the interview and negotiate with them, the exact time and the place.
Taking into account that the profound interviews were held with focal teacher groups, the researcher considered that is was not very important to move the respondents from their natural setting, that is, the proper subjects’ environment. The researcher went to the user´s environment that was in this case their offices, their personal computer or their school. This situation allowed understanding their language and their codes.
During this process, there was a guarantee that they were going to be kept anonymous and the confidentiality of the outcomes that this research would produce through non-revelation of the participants’ identity. Besides, Bogdan and Biklen (1994:75) defend that:
Two issues dominate the current panorama on the scope of ethics related to the research with human subjects; (i) the informed consentment (ii) and the protection of the subjects against any type of damages. Such norms try to ensure the following:
• The subjects offer themselves freely to adhere to the research projects, knowing the nature of the study and the danger as well as responsibilities involved.
• The subjects are not exposed to higher risks to the gains that rise afterwards.
On the other side, Cohen et al (2000:245) states “the questionnaire will always be an intrusion into the life of the respondent, be it in terms of time taken to complete the questionnaire, the level of threat or sensitivity of the questions, or the possible invasion of privacy. Questionnaire respondents are not passive data providers for researchers; they are subjects not objects of research. There are several sequiturs that flow from this”.
These authors provide a long list of factors that have an impact in all stages of the use of the questionnaire. In this way, Cohen et al (2000: 246) refer, among other factors that the involvement of respondents in the research is likely to be a function of:
“…the potential of the research to improve their situation (the issue of beneficence);
…the degree of threat or sensitivity of the questions (which may lead to respondents’ over-reporting or under-reporting);
factors in the questionnaire itself (e.g. its coverage of issues, its ability to catch what respondents want to say rather than to promote the researcher’s agenda), i.e. the avoidance of bias and the assurance of validity and reliability in the questionnaire – the issues of methodological rigour and fairness. Methodological rigour is an ethical, not simply a technical, matter (Morrison, 1996c), and respondents have a right to expect reliability and validity;
the reactions of the respondent, for example respondents will react if they consider an item to be offensive, intrusive, misleading, biased, misguided, irritating, inconsiderate, impertinent or abstruse”.
4.9 Research respondents´profile
In this section, the researcher proposes with the use of the statistical SPSS package, recover and analyze some basic information for the design of the profile of research participants. The speech and the imaginary of the individuals are not aleatory or artificial contents but the result of a personal and professional trajectory.
The selection of the participants of the research, generally, is a procedure that identifies itself more with the objectives of the research than to the circumstances of life of the participants. Starting from this, there is a justification of the characterization of the participants of this study with the important item in the process analysis and the understanding of the information, meanly, by the entailment between the personal and professional history of the individuals that provide the information.
The participants of the research are people with higher training that are fulfilling tasks in the teaching-learning process of the natural sciences and mathematics in the Second Cycle of General Education. According to Gronroos (1988) and Parasuraman (1994), the quality of services is measured in the end of a process, that is, the outlet of a product. In this way, the participants of this research were people of the outlet of the process, that is, people that at a certain time of their professional career had attended an initial teacher-training course. The level of training of the participants of this research can be seen on the table 4.2.
Table 4.2: Participants´Academic training
Figure 4.2: Age group of the participants
Figure 4.2: Age group of the participants
In terms of gender, the participation in the study was more male (81.9%), what is a contradiction with the literature data that advocate more women participation in education (Cf. Figure 4.3 as well as Table 4.3).
Figure 4.3: Distribution of the participants per sex
Table 4.3: Distribution of the participants per sex and per country region
The average age of the participants was 34 years. If there were major differences in the participants´s opinions, one possible explanation would be the age factor. On the other side, for not existing wider differences between the expressed opinions by the participants, the age factor can be shown for this type of project not to flow in a meaningful way on the participants. At the same time, the age relatively homogeneous among the participants of the research, provided a more pacific discussion about the issue, as one of the cares mentioned previously on how to select the participants of the sample was fairly the homogeneity among the participants regarding the age and academic training. The quality of the sample selected is shown on the figures 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6.
Figure 4.4: Professional Category of the participants
Table 4.3: Distribution of the participants per Professional Category
Figure 4.5: working time of the participants
Figure 4.6: Distribution of the participants per sex and per country regionThe professional category (Cf. Figure 4.4) and the working time (Cf. Figure 4.5) of the respondents provided more consistence of the results got because of, in part, the powerful internal control of the quality of the participants on the study permanently exercised by the researcher.
A common characteristic to all participants was the fact that all were directly involved, in their professional activity, like the learning/teaching process and the opinions given were probably experimented in their daily work. This characteristic is according to one of the five characteristics of the review of the literature about Focus Group - homogeneity of the group. One of the factors that lead to this homogeneity is to how the living of each participant has a relationship with the object of the study. In this way, the issues related to the representativeness of the sample of the study were ensured beforehand.
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