Chapter three Research Methodology and Design 3.

1 Introduction This chapter outlines the details of the methodology used to carry out the research and methods used to analyze the data collected. 3.2 Selection of the methodology Due the geographical nature of South Africa, it was deemed to be impossible (because of time and resources) to conduct research on construction learnership throughout the country, the research was therefore contained within the Gauteng ro!ince" particularly #ohannesburg. The method used for collecting data was the descripti!e sur!ey research method. According to $eedy (%&'() the sur!ey method, as opposed to other methods, can yield abundant data on many people in !arious places within a short period of time. The ad!antage of using this method is that it is selecti!e (sur!ey data is collected from a predetermined sample of the population), self reporting (the content of the data is the respondents own opinion), original (the data obtained does not already e)ist prior to the sur!ey) and it is standardized (data is obtained in a uniform procedure) (Schnetler, %&'&). The researcher focused on medium to large building and ci!il construction companies, as they ha!e the resources to offer practical training and ha!e s*illed personnel to administer and mentor learners. The structured +uestionnaires were distributed to senior managers of these companies as well as any personnel who had a say in learnerships carried out in the company. ,t was also distributed to training pro!iders and the learners, as their input was !aluable in order to formulate conclusions that were not biased. According to Alrec* et al (%&'-) the ad!antage of using the sur!ey method is that the information gathered from it is rele!ant and applicable to e)isting conditions or potential actions, but the results ne!er dictate decisions. ,nstead sur!ey results should be treated as another body of e!idence or set of indications, as respondents answers are merely stand.ins for actual conditions or actions.

3.3 Sampling 3.3.1 Population and sample size /rom the literature re!iew it was re!ealed that the construction education and training authority has '0 registered learnerships" with 00 of them acti!e, 1% of them replaced and %& of them Acti!e but to be e)tended in the future. /or this research 2 learnerships were targeted, those that were acti!e. ,nitially the sample size was to thirty fi!e (3-) respondents, consisting of ten (%() 45TA registered companies who employ learners, ten (%() training pro!iders appro!ed by 45TA and fifteen (%-) learners who are currently undergoing training. 6ut only - employers and training pro!iders agreed to parta*e in the research. The participants were contacted telephonically to re+uest permission to inter!iew them in person, but of the ten (%() employers and training pro!iders, eight preferred to be emailed the +uestionnaires to answer. The learners that were inter!iewed were from different learnership" fi!e (-) from carpentry, fi!e (-) from tiling and fi!e (-) bric*wor*s. These learners were inter!iewed personally, in the presence of the training pro!iders. 3.3.2 Method of sampling Sampling is the selection of part of some population to represent the whole population, because only a small fraction of the entire population ordinarily pro!ides sufficient representation of the group as a whole and pro!ides enough accuracy to base decisions on the results with confidence (Alrec* et al, %&'-). The sampling method7techni+ue used was purposi!e sampling, as the researcher deliberately chose the sample from a predetermined source. As the research is on learnerships in the construction industry, no other sampling techni+ue (random, non probability etc) can be used as all respondents must be registered with 45TA in order for them to +ualify as participants. The researcher recei!ed the database of potential participants from the 45TA Gauteng regional offices and from there the sample size was chosen according to interested parties who were willing to parta*e in the research study. Due to the number of willing participants, which influenced the sample size, the issue of sampling error and bias were considered. ,n order to control both, the sample chosen consisted of largely medium to large companies who ha!e a !ested interest in the impro!ement of the programme as employer respondents, e)perienced training pro!iders who were to answer +uestion honestly and learners

who were outgoing and were deemed to ha!e the capability of being brutally honest instead of being shy and would tend to want to answer the +uestionnaire 8correctly9 to satisfy either the researcher or training pro!ider. 3.4 Data collection 3.4.1 Secondary and Primary data collection Secondary data: this form of data was collected from boo*s, online newspaper articles, conference proceedings, peer re!iewed ;ournals, go!ernment publications and industry (cidb and 45TA) publications and brochures. The data was used in chapter two, to gi!e bac*ground *nowledge on what has been said by different people on the topic that is under research. rimary data: this form of data was from first hand e)perience and had not been recorded prior to this research. This data was collected by de!eloping +uestionnaires addressing the issues that need to be answered by the !arious sta*eholders, in order to meet the research ob;ecti!es and therefore answer the research +uestion. 3.4.2 Method of collecting primary data This research used a +uestionnaire which incorporated structured, semi.structured and open ended +uestions, with the inter!iews conducted personally, !ia email and telephonically. 6oth +ualitati!e and +uantitati!e data was collected !ia the +uestionnaires. The structured +uestions allowed the respondents to choose answers that were thought to be rele!ant and closer to what they would ha!e answered and the semi.structured +uestions allowed respondents to add to the chooses afforded to them or elaborate on their answers. The open ended +uestions re+uired sub;ecti!e answers on the respondents e)perience or opinion on the learnership programmes in the industry. The respondent rate was poor, due to most employers and training pro!iders saying they don9t ha!e time or the desire to participate, which resulted in the data collection method and sample size being re!ised. The +uestionnaire was di!ided into sections (demographic profiles of respondents in order to ascertain bac*ground of respondent" satisfaction in learnerships in terms of resources, personal impro!ement etc" e)pected outcome of learnership and general information about the learnership), aimed at answering the research ob;ecti!es and in the process the research +uestion.

3.5 Data analysis techni ues A logical strategy is re+uired to analyze the research data and subse+uently leads to the research conclusion. <pon recei!ing collected data from +uestionnaires, it will be classified and categorized into codes (words or phrases) that will assist the researcher in sorting out it out effecti!ely according to each +uestion The data will be separated into descripti!e (age, se), le!el of education) and numerical (remuneration, years of e)perience etc) characteristics.. /or this research the following analytical techni+ues are considered: Descripti!e analysis techni ue: descripti!e statistics is the basis of +uantitati!e analysis, but +ualitati!e interpretation is to be included to account for treatment of +ualitati!e data. This analysis will be used mostly to analyse the unstructured +uestions. The typical measures employed in descripti!e statistics are measures of central tendency (mode, means, median), standard de!iation and !ariance as well as simple fre+uency distributions. These measures will be used to summarise the results for the respondents, and to compare similarities or differences between the respondents. 4omputer software such as Statistica ' or from websites =lstat.com7Statistical.Analysis and www.SAS.com and help from the stats department will be re+uired. "ontent analysis techni ue: the +ualitati!e data will be analysed using content analysis. The open.ended +uestions will be interpreted and coded" the newly generated data will then be +uantified. To carry out the content analysis the following steps will be followed: Transferring the data onto a matri) in which the columns denote the emergent themes, and the rows the respondents" 5ntering data e!idence into the rele!ant columns by building short sentences recorded from the inter!iew" and Analyzing the data to establish where the consistency of the respondents lies.

Pattern#matching techni ue$ this techni+ue will be used to compare and contrast data recei!ed7 or answers of the respondents" to see whether they produce the same findings. This techni+ue is mostly used to strengthen the internal !alidity of the study, but due to time constraints this techni+ue may not be used.

3.% "onclusion ,n this chapter the researcher has pro!ided an o!er!iew of the research design. The sampling strategies used to collect data were discussed, together with the instruments of data collection. The chapter concluded by pro!iding a detailed report on the data analysis techni+ues to be used . The actual analysis of the data, the findings and the recommendations will follow in chapter four.