Perceptions of Divorced Women in Saudi Arabia - Research Proposal Example

Research design This section contains a detailed of the research methodology. It encompasses the sampling method(s)/instruments and justification for their use, research design, recruitment of research subjects, data collection procedures, interviews, data analyses, limitations, ethical issues, reliability and validity. Methodology The term methodology refers to the process of choosing and justifying the particular methods used for the research, and using those methods to obtain the desired research outcomes. It may also refer the strategies and designs underlying those choices1. Methodology describes, assesses and justifies the use of the particular methods used for purposes of obtaining the desired research outcomes. In this particular research, the researcher has decided to use a case study because it fits best with the research purposes. The case study is comprehensively described in the section that follows. Case Study Research Design The research design for the current study is that of a case study. The researcher belies that it is what best fits the research aims2. A case study as a research design whose main focus is on a particular case of, say, an individual, or a group of people, which is interpreted by a researcher in the context of the research aims3. A case study may also be described as a research design involving use of qualitative questions that look to discover meaning, to investigate processes, and to expand on in-depth understandings of an individual or group4. Additionally, a case study design is useful when researching on complex issues that cannot be analysed separately from their context in which they occur5, if they are to be a reflection of real life situations6. A case study is also thought largely to be a bounded system7. The current research is a case study of women divorce perception touching on the human rights of the women and children in Saudi. The case involves women divorced in a limited place (Hail city), bounded by a limited number of women divorced (4). Data Collection Methods Careful attention need to be paid to the collection of data required to answer the research questions drawn from various sources8. The following section discusses in details the data collection technique (interviews) and its specific designs used for the current study. Interviews An interview is a research tool that involves exchange of views between two or more persons on an issue of mutual interest9. Use of interviews as a research tool is based on knowledge on knowledge generated between humans through conversation10. Both the interviewer and the interviewee are able to exchange their uniquely different views on a given subject, and explain their interpretations of their personal perspectives. There are three major types of interviews used in researches. The three forms of interviews include structured interviews, semi-structured interviews and unstructured interviews11. The researcher will opt for the semi-structured interviews; the rationale for adopting structured interviews is given in the section below. Semi-Structured interviews This is a composite of both structured and unstructured interviewing techniques, so it bears features of both structured and unstructured interviews. The interview questions are determined in advance, and the interviewees are given time to brainstorm on them and elaborate their responses to the questions within some predetermined bounds. Usually, when structured interviews are conducted, the interviewer lists the interview questions and topics to be investigated in an interview schedule. Similarly, for semi-structured interviews, the researcher prepares an interview schedule listing down the research questions and topic(s). The only difference between structured interviews and semi-structured ones is that in the latter, there is some level of flexibility that allows the interviewer to go beyond any preset protocols there may be12. Semi-structured interviews work best for qualitative educational researches. The fact that semi-structured interviews allow flexibility allows the interviewer to clarify any misunderstandings, test the interviewee knowledge limits as well as allow them to acquire detailed information. What’s more, semi-structured interviews allow the researcher the opportunity to get the picture of what the respondent believes in, but that only happens if the right climate is created for the interview13. An interview is always aimed at providing responses to a set of interview questions in the most organized way, while also making sure that the respondents are given the chance to use their own words to explain what they think about the issue at hand. This research allows the divorced women to give their honest responses to the set of research questions. Interviews also have some disadvantages much as there are many advantages of using them as research tools for collecting information. It consumes a lot of time, and involves a lot considering the interviewer has to arrange a venue and time that is convenient for the interviewee. The audio recording gadget must be properly functional, because the information collected should never be lost due to faulty gadgets; they might never be recovered. The digital recording helps to save time because it eliminates the idea of having to write down the responses in the spaces provided in the interview sheet. It also helps with respondents who are illiterate14. An interview is an encounter between the interviewer and the respondents. It is always very necessary for the researcher to establish a very close relationship with the respondents. A close rapport between an interviewer and the interviewees is very crucial because it creates a sense of trust between them. The trust, once established eliminates chances of getting biased and insincere responses15. For that reason, the current study applies some of the techniques that have been proven to establish trust and a good relationship between the researcher and the respondents. The interviewees were assured that their responses would remain confidential and that their identities would not be disclosed. This ensured that the interviewees showed a great deal of co-operation with the respondents16. The design of the interviews There are a number of techniques that can be applied in conducting interviews. There is, for instance, one-to-one interviewing which involves one interviewer and one interviewee at any single instance. There is also group interviewing where the researcher interviews more than one respondent at the same time17. The current study opts for the one-to-one (individual) interviews, which is explained in the section that follows. Semi-Structured women divorced’ Interviews The study prefers one-to-one interviewing because it essentially eliminates all the potential shortcomings that come with group interviewing. In group interviews, one respondent may dominate others, limiting their desire of self-expression18. Group interviewing, in many cases, leads to a ‘public line’ rather than individual responses. One more shortcoming of group interviewing that one-to-one interviewing is that of people expressing their perspectives as a group, making people to hold back and not give their views19. The research questions were designed in line with the objectives of the research, and were meant to cover the research questions RQ-1, RQ-2, and RQ-3. The researcher, while conducting his semi-structured interviews, used questions as a way of guiding the respondents in covering the research topics. The interviewees were allowed to freely give their responses, and were guided by the interviewer to keep focus on the themes of the study. This was done within the limitations of the semi-structured interviews. The semi-structured interview had 12 items touching on the divorced women’s views and perceptions on divorce application and human right issues surrounding divorce in Saudi Arabia. Upon completion of the semi-structured interview design, it was translated into Arabic by the researcher for the benefit of the Arabic respondents. A copy of the semi-structured women ‘interview schedule is attached in the Appendix. Sampling The sampling methods used for a research has so much to do with the quality of the research being conducted. The quality of the research is also dependent on the appropriateness of the methodologies and any other instruments used for the research20. This tells how important sampling is in any study. The sampling strategy should thus be selected carefully21. There are some important factors that may be considered in judging the appropriateness of a sampling technique to be used in a research22. The factors include: The sampling strategy A researcher has two sampling strategies to select from; depending on which one is appropriate for the kind of research they are conducting23. The two sampling types are probability sampling (random sampling) and non-probability sampling (also known as purposive sampling). Purposive sampling was adopted for the current research and discus below. Purposive sampling Purposive sampling involves careful choice of special purpose that can be included in the sample. This is a feature of a qualitative research. Such cases should always possess the specific characteristics that the researchers sought24. The name suggests that this is a sample that is chose to serve a given purpose that satisfies the research’s particular needs25. In this particular study, the researcher seeks to explore the perceptions and views of divorced Saudi women about divorce and the human rights associated with divorce applications. Hail City is the particular place the respondents are drawn from. The women with experience in divorce issues will be selected purposefully the research needs explained below. Purposive sampling strategy also allows the researchers to get the most knowledgeable people as research subjects; people who have the most in-depth knowledge about the particular issues the research seeks to investigate26. This supported the researcher to select women divorced in Hail city. Purposive sampling might not be as representative as a researcher would wish, making it difficult to take the subjects’ responses as being representative of all other people’s views on the matter being investigated27. This, however, is not the researcher’s point of focus. Rather, they are concerned about acquiring as detailed information as possible from the people that are willing and ready to give it28. Data Analysis Procedures Once the 3 divorced Saudi women have been interviewed, the qualitative data obtained from their responses will be analyzed thematically to check if they really answered the question according to the theme of the research. The researcher will apply both inductive coding and deductive coding. Under inductive coding, the codes will be developed according to the answers given by the interviewees. Deductive coding involves developing codes according philosophical framework and the literature review of the research. The application of both inductive and deductive coding will more complete elements that would help to strengthen the analysis of data. Then the data will then be put into categories and sub-categories according to themes, and then be displayed in tables. As the interviews will be conducted in Arabic, they will be transcribed in Arabic, into an MS Word document. Thematic Analysis This is a way of organizing qualitative data into rich details by identifying, analyzing and reporting theme patterns of the data29. It is widely used in analyzing qualitative data, and makes it easy for the researcher to study sensitive topics without necessarily changing the phenomena30. It also helps the researcher to have a deeper understanding of the hidden and obvious meanings of people31. Thematic analysis is a flexible and useful method of analyzing qualitative data in psychology and other social areas. They also say that a theme represents the meaning within a set of data and gives a more patterned response for the data in relation to the research question32. It is a relatively quicker method of analyzing data, and is more flexible. It can be used to summarize key themes for a large amount of research data. In this project, the researcher uses thematic analysis as a way of reaching the deepest possible understanding of the meanings that have been constructed by the participants. He then uses inductive coding by developing the codes and themes depending on the responses of the interviewees. This enriches the outcome of data which can be supported using constructivism as the way of interpreting the data. Qualitative validity This refers to the process by which the researcher checks if the research findings are accurate. There are specific procedures to be followed when checking the accuracy of the research data33. Use of the qualitative validity techniques is a strength when it comes to qualitative researching; it is a way of indicating the accuracy of research findings from the points of view of the researcher and all other participants34. The literature contains other terms such as credibility, authenticity and trustworthiness35. Member checking was used as a way of validating the finding of the current study. The divorced women interviewed were provided with the interview outcomes, and ascertain they really agree that it is indeed the response they gave36. Qualitative reliability Qualitative reliability is used to check whether the methodologies and designs employed by the researcher were in line with those in the diverse projects37. Checking the consistency is done in different ways. One of ways of doing so is ensuring all the procedures should be documented fully38. The following steps are also suggested39: a) checking the transcripts to ensure that there are no mistakes. The researcher for this study double –checked the transcripts for any errors. b) The researcher must also ensure that meanings of the codes used during the coding process do not change. The researcher can get someone else to check the codes and provide an inter-coder agreement. For this study, this was done by the researcher’s supervisors. They suggested amendments which were then effected by the researcher. Ethical issues In academic studies, ethics is a requirement of a researcher to consider certain moral issues as they go about conducting the research. The researcher is required to have an ethical responsibility40. Before introduction of ethical principles and guidelines in research, the participants were exposed to various risks41. It is argued that ethical considerations should be a priority in all research work42. There are three ethical issues that must be considered by any social researcher43. First is that all the participants must be fully protected from all the problems/risks that might occur as a consequence of their participation in the research. Second is the rule of confidentiality. All the data collected must be as confidential as ethically possible. Lastly, all the research subjects are entitled to prior information about the procedures of the research and their rights as well. In addition, The British Educational Research Association (BERA) ethical prescriptions are categorical that any researcher must tell the participants all the stages involved in the study. They also state that a researcher must ensure that all the participants knowingly/consciously agreed to participate in the research, and, very importantly, understand the reason as to why they have been selected to participate in any particular research44. In line with all the BERA ethical guidelines, the researcher in this study ensured that every single participant were respected and that they were not exposed to any harm as they participated in the interviews. There rights as defined in the BERA guidelines were upheld, and there permission was sought to ensure that they were willingly part of the research. He ensured that there were totally no coercions. Limitations of the Study There are things about this study that may appear as weak points, and that people may consider as limitations of the study. They include issues of gender, number of schools chosen, the interpretative method used, interview data interpretation, participants’ cultural sensitivities, and the number of participants. Some of the things such as the number of participants were chosen purposefully by the researcher. For instance, a sample of 3 Saudi women was chosen. The interviewer explored their perceptions and views on the issue of divorce application and the human right issues surrounding divorce in Saudi. This sample satisfies the needs of the current study. Summary This section has aptly detailed the research design and the chosen research methodologies that suit the current study. It involves qualitative case study; exploring the views and perceptions of divorced women in Saudi with regards to divorce application and human right issues surrounding divorce in the Arab nation. To achieve this, the researcher has made use of qualitative research techniques in answering the research questions. The qualitative research methods included semi-structured interviews. The section also discusses the interview designs, data collection procedures, sampling and the data analysis techniques. It also describes the strategies used to ensure that the data collected and used for the research were of high quality. The section looks at some of the ethical concerns of the research and how the ethical issues were dealt with. Lastly, the section has delved in to the limitations of the study. Bibliography Arksey, H. (1999) Triangulation in data collection. In: Arksey, H. and Knight, Belisle, P. (1998). Digital recording of qualitative interviews. 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