Working and stydying at University at the same time abstract

METHODOLOGY

This chapter introduces the procedure that is used in this study in investigating the experiences of students that are working.

Research Design

A qualitative study is used in this study. It is a subjective report which made utilization of a phenomenological way to deal with accumulating important information. This approach concerns about understanding and interpreting the meaning that participants provide to their everyday lives (De Vos, 1998). The qualitative approach centers around characteristics of human conduct (Ferreira, Mouton, Puth & Schurink, 1998). The point of such method is not to generalize but to comprehend and interpret the meanings and intentions that underlie everyday human activities (Bailey, 1987; Bogdan and Taylor, 1975; De Vos, 1998; Ferreira et al., 1988).
The qualitative design manages information that is principally verbal and gets significance from the participant's point of view and also expects to comprehend the meaning that individuals append to their daily experience (Favor and Higson-Child, 1995; De Vos, 1998). A qualitative approach is the most appropriate approach for this study; the reason is because of its data collection procedure which focuses on the participants' subjective experiences on the disclosure progress and the procedure how it is interpreted. Marshall & Rossman (1995), further elaborated that if a research study aims to uncover the unexpected and to explore new avenues, the most suited approach is the qualitative approach.

Sampling Method

The method that is used in the process of making this part of the study is the Snowball technique. Snowballing is a non-probability sampling method that was employed to draw up a sample of participants who provided adequate information for the investigation. Snowballing sampling is a method whereby the researchers' refer one by one to another member (De Vos, 1998; McClure, 2001). Although the researchers relate to participants, the researchers selected participants who were rich in information that is relevant to the study. The researcher is responsible for putting together a sample of people from different backgrounds to get varied data.