Reflections On Educational Research In South Africa PDF

UNIT 1 REFLECTIONS ON EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH IN SOUTH AFRICA Prof GD Kamper Inaugural lecture : 2004 University of South Africa Introduction During the time the author was teaching German, he completed a MA study in German literature on the topic: Die Problematik der Wissenschaft im modernen Theat...

UNIT 1 REFLECTIONS ON EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH IN SOUTH AFRICA Prof GD Kamper Inaugural lecture : 2004 University of South Africa Introduction During the time the author was teaching German, he completed a MA study in German literature on the topic: Die Problematik der Wissenschaft im modernen Theater (Kamper 1974). This study was inspired by interest in scientific work, but likewise by interest in theatre, and what better way to combine these interests as to investigate three plays on the antics and scruples of scientists. The plays in question were Leben des Galilei by Bertolt Brecht (Brecht 1969) and Die Physiker by Friedrich Dürrenmatt (Durrenmatt 1962) and, for comparative purposes, an Afrikaans play, namely Plaston:DNS-kind by PG du Plessis (Du Plessis 1973). These plays depict the world of science as alien to the everyday world, and scientists as fallible, tragi-comical figures, but also as potentially very powerful and dangerous. The latter renders them particularly prone to targeting and manipulation by political powers. In each of the plays, the scientist’s dilemma of social responsibility versus the passion of scientific enquiry is skilfully dealt with, epitomising perhaps in one of the 21 theses which Dürrenmatt states at the end of his play: Was alle angeht, kõnnen nur alle lõsen. (Issues which concern all, should be solved by all.) This study has influenced the author’s thinking on science ever since, and forms the basis for the following definition of educational research: Educational research is a particular mode of social work, using accountable scientific endeavours for the continuous improvement of educational practice. The key elements of the definition will now be used to discuss the position and future of educational research in South Africa. Educational research is a particular mode of social work - - - 1 Human science can be described in a nutshell as the quest for verified knowledge about man for the benefit of mankind (cf HSRC 1997). On account of this description, human science is essentially a form of social work with a strong service ethics. This applies particularly to educational research. However, there appears to be no reassuring relationship between (on the one hand) the magnitude of research documents on education, and (on the other) the perceived impact of educational research on education practice (cf Engelbrect 1988). How, then, can the social accountability of educational research be founded and continuously improved? Points of departure which appear to be meaningful in dealing with the social accountability of educational research are ⚫ an ethical code for educational research, and ⚫ national educational research priorities. An ethical code for educational research An ethical code for educational research is desirable for three reasons: 1. Educational research deals with a corpus of knowledge that is of social importance, and which can be misused/abused without the learners knowing it; or they might be incapable of resisting its application. An ethical code is therefore necessary to regulate the collection and application of educational knowledge. 2. As indicated already, educational research is a mode of social service, and as such part and parcel of the teaching profession. One of the features of a profession is that it wants to serve, that it does not seek own enrichment (Van der Walt 1979:7). The service motive of a profession can be reflected effectively in an ethical code which guides the professional activities of the members and which emphasises the well- being and interests of the client. 3. The existence of a variety of codes of conduct for professions and other service industries can be taken as indicator of the potential and established value of such codes. It is important, however, to avoid unrealistic expectations regarding ethical codes. As Van der Walt (1979:8) points out, an ethical code can do no more than to provide certain 2 guidelines for professional conduct, with the aims to ⚫ leave the professional practitioner in no uncertainty regarding course of conduct in sometimes highly problematical situations which he/she may encounter; and ⚫ to lay down standards of conduct which will gain the confidence of the general public, and will establish professional autonomy (e.g. through societal confidence that the profession is capable of running its own affairs in a socially accountable way). The research code of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC 1997) can serve as a good example of an ethical code of research. It deals with ethical issues in human sciences research concisely, but comprehensively (when compared with similar and other professional codes of conduct - cf. Van der Walt 1979:11-13; Watson (ed) 1985:1-8; Sammons 1989:39-46; Raffe, Bundell & Bibby 1989:15; Simons 1989:134-135; Sieber 1992:18-19). Significantly, the code has a direct, personal touch (mentioning "the researcher", rather than "research" or "science"). It is written in accessible language and the text design is reader-friendly. In short, the HSRC research code (HSRC 1997) commits the human sciences researcher to uphold and respect the principles of participation, transparency, professionalism and accountability in his/her research through inter alia ⚫ scientific integrity and excellence, social empathy and responsibility, and the recognition of the dignity of the individual; ⚫ safeguarding the confidentiality of data, and ⚫ doing research which serves the interests of society as a whole (rather than sectional interests), and which deals noticeably with the improvement of social welfare and quality of life. These commitments are essential in an educational research code. In addition: ⚫ An educational research code (hereafter: the code) should have a national focus. A proliferation of regional and institutional educational research codes will hardly serve any purpose. 3 ⚫ The code should be drawn up by an organisation which is esteemed in South African society as human sciences research agent. The HSRC seems to be the logical choice. Obviously, the compilation of the code should be done with proper academic, professional and societal input. ⚫ The code should be endorsed by all educational researchers, including master’s and doctoral students. ⚫ The code should be concise, reader-friendly and available in all major languages. The establishment of a national educational research code on the basis of these considerations and guidelines will provide the much-needed parameters for ensuring ever- increasing social accountability in educational research in South Africa. National educational research priorities The notion of social work implies that focussed attention should be given to the relevance of actions which are planned and exercised. In the context of educational research, this involves continued attention to the research agenda, essentially to national educational research priorities. Determining and following such priorities is essential for visionary policy- making in education (cf. Engelbrecht 1988:15). In the previous dispensation, and especially since the so-called De Lange investigation into the provision of education in South Africa (HSRC 1981), the HSRC did major work in continuously setting and revising national research priorities for educational research, derived from the continual work of the 18 Work Committees of this investigation. Since the university sector was to a greater or lesser degree represented in the work committees (author’s experience), the national research priorities were identified, and also followed up in this sector, even in the work of masters and doctoral students. In recent years, the situation has changed. The National Research Foundation (NRF) was established in 1999 through the NRF Act (NRF 2003) and sets the research scene in South Africa. Particular focus areas for research have been identified, and research programmes and projects are funded accordingly. The focus area for education is called Education and the challenges for change and within it, seven so-called research issues have been set, covering major issues such as 4 restructuring in higher education and further education and training; science, technology and mathematics education; language issues and literacy, and HIV/AIDS in education (NRF 2003). These focus areas, although important, are broad, and presently there is little reason to believe that supervisors and promoters take pains to locate masters and doctoral studies particularly within these areas. More conspicuous is the need to do meta-analyses (cf Engelbrecht 1988) of all the projects undertaken within a particular focus area in order to facilitate policy and practical impetus. Considering its mandate, the HSRC (HSRC 2003) is in the best position to set national research priorities and to initiate national research programmes in the human sciences. It could, for example, embark on a comprehensive research programme on the alleviation of poverty (locally, regionally and on the continent), a programme which would inter alia involve a meta-analysis of all poverty-related NRF-registered projects. Evidently, educational research will make a major contribution to such work, giving unmistakable evidence of its accountability and relevance vis-à-vis national social issues. - - - using accountable scientific endeavours - - - This part of the definition poses the question: How should educational research be conceptualised, and what renders such research academically accountable? Attention will firstly be given to the nature of educational research, where after the academic accountability of educational research will be discussed with reference to dissertations/theses, scientific articles and national educational research programme reports. Nature of educational research The debate about the nature of educational research is on-going (cf Engelbrecht 1988): Is it a discipline or a field of study? What paradigms can be distinguished in it? Can one understand it terms of qualitative and/or quantitative research? What role does theory have? More disconcerting are critical questions about the significance of educational research: Do policy-makers and practitioners really heed to research findings to any meaningful extent? These questions are rife. The following three points are raised as an attempt towards clarification: 1. The nature of educational research can best be understood by realising that teaching 5  is a profession, and that any profession has and needs “usable knowledge” as part of the profession (cf. Lagemann 2002). Educational research is therefore “use-inspired” (ibid) with potential application in a wide variety of contexts. 2. Following on the above, educational research cannot be understood as a discipline in itself. Lagemann (2002:1) states aptly: “[E]ducation research must translate and combine understandings from the disciplines about all the factors that may affect a particular educational situation. [- - - -. ] It is this function of combining knowledge of many sorts and thereby providing evidence about the changes of accomplishing one’s goals that should distinguish education research from other kinds of investigation”. 3. This description implies the following key features of academically accountable educational research: It is transdisciplinary, rigorous (in terms of professional quality assurance), open (in terms of stakeholder involvement) and praxiological (contributing to continuous improvement of practice by linking the academic context with the context of application). This view of the nature of educational research has distinct implications for the NRF rating of educational researchers. For many years, researchers in the natural sciences have had the opportunity to apply for formally acknowledged peer rating of their scholarship at the former statutary Foundation for Research Development (FRD - now replaced by the NRF). Being rated by the NRF has distinct benefits, especially in the acquisition of rsearch funds. The opportunity for peer rating has recently been extended to social researchers. It is disconcerting that the NRF is seemingly very discipline-orientated in its rating criteria (bron), making it difficult for Mode 2 researchers (as in educational research) to make it towards (proper) rating. Representatives form education faculties in higher education institutions should urgently discuss this matter with the NRF. The academic accountability of ER in terms of its most common forms of reporting, namely dissertations (including theses), scientific articles and national research programme reports, will now be briefly discussed. Dissertations/Theses 6 From the in-depth research done by Lessing and Schulze (2002), as well as data on supervision as summarised by Schulze and Kamper (2003), it is evident that the quality of ER is compromised by factors which inhibit proper supervision and quality control. These are inter alia the following: poorly prepared students (in terms of language proficiency, knowledge of research methodology, work experience, project planning capabilities), inexperienced and/or unavailable (often absent) supervisors, and questionable examination practices (like nepotism in examiner selection; and lack of generic examination guidelines). One could just wonder: What would a comprehensive audit of a representative sample of recently completed ER dissertations and theses reveal? Scientific articles My observations on scientific articles in the ER domain are mainly based on own editorial experience. Incidences which compromise the quality of ER in terms of rigour and effect are the following: ⚫ Locally, a limited number of accredited educational journals has to cope with an avalanche of articles. Due to publication pressure, many of these submissions are poorly prepared and an outright plague (not to mention insult) to referees. The latter do the work voluntarily as part of academic citizenship, but are becoming increasingly overburdened and consequently unwilling to continue this crucial work. Journal editors are increasingly suffering to keep the peer review process afloat and on course. The results are inevitable: bad work can slip through, contributing to critical questions which are sometimes asked about the general standard of research writing in the social sciences and humanities in South Africa (cf. Pillay 1997:50). What will a comprehensive audit bring to light? ⚫ Looking at content, it appears that most articles are isolationist, revealing little discourse on previously published articles in the same journal, and almost no incidences of co-authorship which transcends institutional or national boundaries. Furthermore, articles on meta-studies of ER are scarce, contributing to the paradigmatic malaise ER finds itself in, as alluded to earlier on. 7 ⚫ The overall impression (which is certainly not confined to ER) is that everybody writes, but nobody reads - a dichotomous oversimplification indeed, but nevertheless to be taken seriously. Evidently, educational practice does not benefit from this situation, which is a pity in view of the fact that educational Rome is burning in various places. Solutions to these problems are without doubt possible: ⚫ It would for instance be possible to negotiate with the NRF in providing much needed support in the peer reviewing of articles. This could entail that the NRF appoints and funds groups of peer reviewers per study field or discipline on a contractual basis. Journals can then make use of these peer reviewers and be assured of quality, consistency and timeliness of feedback. ⚫ An ER clearinghouse can play a meaningful role in breaking the isolationist culture of ER. I will come back to this later on. National research programme reports National research programme reports are traditionally the best showpieces of high quality ER. Two examples come to mind, namely the 1981 HSRC investigation into the provision of education (RGN 1981) and the National Education Policy Investigation in 1992 (NEPI 1993). As already mentioned, the former produced 18 comprehensive research reports on key aspects of education provision, followed in ensuing years by numerous subreports. The NEPI was smaller in scope, but produced 12 comprehensive reports which set an education policy framework from which the new government could make use, and stimulated further research, also by masters and doctoral students. ER programmes of this magnitude have not been undertaken in recent years, although the potential and need for such undertakings has certainly been there, e.g. in view of national dilemmas such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic and ever increasing poverty (Kamper 2003a). National ER programmes presently undertaken by the HSRC in its Education Policy Research programme involve inter alia education in rural schools, school integration, and gender in education (HSRC 2003). However, the scope and eventual impact of these programmes are unknown. Projects with regional scope are undertaken with overseas sponsorships, and with mostly contextual relevance. Strict peer review measures ensure that the quality of such reports is usually 8 beyond question. To sum up: National and other research programmes have indicated conclusively that ER can boast of a strong base of expertise and scholarship. As indicated however, the available expert capacity is overtaxed, with negative consequences for ER quality in terms of scientific rigour and practical impact. In the short and medium term, there is only one solution, namely a huge initiative to train supervisors and promoters. In a recent article, Van der Westhuizen and De Wet (2002) give an outline of the required training, and this also applies to ER. The argument is simple: a good supervisor will ensure good research training (of student and mentoree), quality research, effective dissemination, and eventually a dedicated and respected academic citizenry. Supervisor training is one area in which (for example) the Institute for Educational Research at our university should focus its activities. - - - for the continuous improvement of educational practice. It is important to note that the notion educational practice has a policy, as well as an operational dimension. I will briefly discuss both vis-à-vis ER. Policy dimension One of the most intriguing issues in ER is the question: To what extent, and under which circumstances, can there be a constructive interaction between ER and education policy making? Put more bluntly, in the cloak of scepticism: Is it not true that most education policy making happens in the realms of politics, that is, without any meaningful inspiration and direction by academic ER?In a thought-provoking article (Jansen 2003) which was published earlier this year in a reputable international journal, Professor Jonathan Jansen, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria, discusses the model of Reimers and Mc Ginn (1997) which specifies the prerequisites and procedures to be followed for meaningful ER influence on education policy making. Jansen then discusses education policy making in South Africa by identifying several policy orientations towards research as these manifested since 1994. He points out that the main orientation has been “research to justify a policy decision already taken” and he cites research initiatives to justify the controversial outcomes- based education as an example. He concludes that there is presently a distinct disjunction between education policy and ER, simply due to the primacy of politics in bringing about rapid and radical changes. This (I quote) “leaves little room for the logic and discipline of 9 research in an environment where policy symbolism outweighed practical considerations” (Jansen 2003:91). He closes the article with five prerequisites which must be fulfilled in terms of the Reimers-Mc Ginn model. I cannot mention all of these here, but one seems to be of particular importance, namely the establishment of a research culture in officialdom through dedicated research structures, and most importantly, the appointment of trained researchers in such structures. Presently the situation is that very few officials (I quote) “have ever worked in sophisticated policy environments where information is critical in allocative or programmatic decisions. Few have engaged in advanced study in higher education, let alone policy studies” (ibid:93). Jansen’s observations concern the dispensation since 1994, but what happened further back in history? I have already referred to the HSRC investigation into the provision of education (RGN 1981). In this case, the government of the day instructed the HSRC to conduct an in- depth investigation into all facets of education provision in South Africa. Within 12 months, the HSRC had to make recommendations on guiding principles for a feasible education policy, as well as on wide-ranging managerial and organisational aspects of education provision. The investigation had to cover all levels of education, i.e. pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary education. This initiative created a hive of research activity, steered by the 18 work committees already mentioned. What was its eventual effect on policy- making? To answer this question, Van Zyl (1991) did an extensive retrospective study of the aftermath of the HSRC investigation. This study was done in 1991, i.e. exactly ten years after the release of the original HSRC findings and recommendations. In her report, she lists 54 key recommendations of the HSRC investigation, and then indicates the extent to which these were taken up in government policy (Van Zyl 1991:125-145). The results are illuminating: Of the 54 recommendations, 16 (30%) were fully implemented, 21 (39%) were partially implemented, 10 (19%) were not implemented at all and the remaining seven (13%) disappeared into oblivion. Van Zyl warns against clear-cut conclusions: the manner in which legislation, as well as recommendations are operationalised in practice is a “diffuse and subjective field of study” (Van Zyl 1991:120). She also highlights the over-arching power of politics as follows: “History has shown how the report and its recommendations were drawn into the political arena, because decisions on educational provision are, after all had been said and done, made by politicians within an existing or changing political framework” (ibid:121). 10 On the whole, however, it appears from Van Zyl’s work (Van Zyl 1991), as well as from the very existence of the Reimers-Mc Ginn model (cf. Jansen 2003), that constructive academic research impact on education policy is indeed possible. But, as Jansen states pointedly, there is a prerequisite: “Policy-orientated research cannot simply be the handmaiden of the state; it also needs to retain a critical distance and space which enable studies to emerge that show how policies might in fact be implicated in deepening racial divisions or class inequalities or spatial (urban/rural) differences” (Jansen 2003:94). The main future challenge for ER in the realms of education policy is indeed to jealously maintain this critical distance and space. Operational dimension The operational dimension of ER in the continous improvement of educational practice can best be understood in terms of (metaphorically speaking) the “democratisation” of ER, i.e. in breaking down academic ivory towers in ER. I will briefly discuss the rationale for this, and then provide some guidelines. The following reasons can be given for “democratizing” ER: 1. There is a dire need to investigate the potential role of indigenous educational knowledge, especially in the ABET field. 2. It has already been indicated that ER is a particular mode of social service. As with any service, the scope of the service will correspond with the number of service providers: The more service providers, the bigger the scale of the service. 3. In view of the above, the intrinsic role of stakeholders in ER must be emphasised, based on the principle that the user of ER findings belongs to the research community (Engelbrecht 1988:17). 4. Le Grange (2002) makes the illuminating point that ER should be perceived as a process that embodies democratic values. i.e. in empowering participants through democratic processes. In this sense, ER should be contextual, responsive, emergent, participatory, critical and praxiological (Le Grange 2002:39): 11  - Contextual: the research process respects and relates closely to the workplace issues of the participants. - Responsive: the issues explored are those of interest and concern to participants themselves. - Emergent: the knowledge contributes to the knowledge base of the particular study. - Participatory: all participants are involved as equitably as possible in all dimensions of the research process. - Critical: the research looks beyond the surface layers of what is being investigated. - Praxiological: the research represents an interplay between theoretical and practical considerations. 5. Like in other professions, action research (or operational research) should be part and parcel of teaching and tutoring. Action research is generally understood as workplace-based research which is undertaken by professionals to improve aspects of their work or to solve immediate problems in the work situation. 6. The acceptance of an ethical code for ER (as discussed already) can provide the basis of common understanding of ER irrespective of the context in which it is done. And now to some guidelines: 1. In ER, there should be a clear distinction, but not a division, between academic and action researchers. The former are M and D students, as well as academics and professional researchers; the latter come from the ranks of excellent teachers. 2. The following scenario is perhaps ludicrous in its idealism, but gives an idea of what could happen as part of continous improvement of education practice:Action researchers work together in “research guilds” (research fellowships) which are constituted on a regional or local basis. These guilds meet periodically to discuss suggested research topics, and to establish research project teams. The emphasis is on research and development. The product is mostly a new programme or an innovative procedure, rather than a new publication. Educators who are involved with action research use innovative ways of data gathering (e.g teacher narratives – see Paola 2002) and report writing (divorced from the conventions of “academic writing”). 12  Moreover, action research enjoys the unreserved support of institutional management, and it entails career credit for those involved. As an aside, I wish to mention that the Gauteng Department of Education started a laudable action research initiative a few years ago, but it would appear that it did not take root as expected. The reasons for this deserve an in-depth investigation. It must be accepted that developments will be slow and evolutionary. There can, however, be no doubt that, notwithstanding the initial existence of perhaps only a few ER guilds in the whole of South Africa, the initiative will be worthwhile as a step of unleashing the vast potential of ER in an innovative and unconventional way for the benefit of learners, teachers, and society as a whole. 3. The liaison between academic and action researchers does not have to be unnecessarily formalised. It could happen, for instance, that someone is an action, as well as an academic educational researcher (e.g. as a master’s or doctoral student). It is important, however, that academic institutions and ER guilds should liaise closely – this can best be arranged on local or regional level. It is also important that ER guilds should have a national forum, supported by an appropriate publication. 4. Effective “democratisation” of ER implies the need for a clearinghouse with inter alia the following functions: ⚫ Maintaining a data base on ER projects, comparable with (for example) the ER database of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER 2003). ⚫ Dissemination of information on academic and action research projects and findings through appropriate media. ⚫ Provision of guidelines on the establishment and functioning of ER guilds, and serving as national forum for these guilds. ⚫ Facilitating ER discourse through information technology and other appropriate media. ⚫ Close liaison with the HSRC and NRF on national ER priorities and programmes 13  Clearinghouse funding should be provided by the NRF. The actual placement of the clearinghouse can be determined by the NRF on a tender basis. EPILOGUE In closing, I wish to link up with my earlier remarks on an ethical code for ER, and the notion of professionalism which underpins it. Teaching is a profession in the true sense of the word, and I have often noted with dismay how teachers are treated in unprofessional fashion by authoritarians in education management. Another threat to professionalism in education has come to the fore, ironically from teacher unions. In a recent inaugural lecture at Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), Davies (2003) gave a disturbing account of a new culture of workerism amongst many teachers, brought about by the adversial and opportunistic vantage points and acts of teacher unions. He indicates conclusively how this is endangering the status of teaching as profession. The implication for ER are grave, bearing in mind that the academic status of ER directly depends on the professional status of teachers and lecturers. A perhaps controversial and elitist remark seems appropriate here: Professionals are per definition intellectuals. The key role of ER then, appears to be the development of intellectuals in education. Intellectuals can also be adversial, but in a way which differs fundamentally from typical union demands. Said (1974, as quoted by Jansen 2001) defines an intellectual as follows: The central fact for me is, I think, that the intellectual is an individual endowed with a faculty for representing, embodying, articulating a message, a view, an attitude, philosophy or opinion to, as well as for, a public. And this role has an edge to it, and cannot be played without a sense of being someone whose place it is publically to raise embarrassing questions, to confront orthodoxy and dogma (rather than to produce them), to be someone who cannot easily be co-opted by government or corporations, and whose raison d’etre is to represent all those people and issues that are routinely forgotten or swept under the rug. The intellectual does so on the basis of universal principles: that all human beings are entitled to expect decent standards of behaviour concerning freedom and justice from worldly powers or nations, and that deliberate or inadvertent violations of these standards need to be testified and fought against courageously. 14 In this vein, ER represents the conscience of educationists, a conscience which should nowadays be fully activated in view of signs that the biggest educational disaster in our country’s history is looming through the neglect of individual learner responsibility, as well as basic numeracy and literacy skills in the new curriculum. Back to Bertolt Brecht. In Leben des Galilei the main character eventually finds himself in dire straits. Out of fear for state reprisals and death threats, he betrays the truth and positive societal impact of his research. His student Andrea asks him (freely translated): Do you still believe that a new dispensation has dawned? Galilei answers with a single word: Indeed. This answer, this single word is the crux of the play, and denotes a world of positive scientific thinking. Do I still believe in the positive impact of ER on the philosophy and practice of education? Indeed. REFERENCES Australian Council for Educational Research 2003. Homepage. http://www.acer.au. (Accessed on 11-08-2003)Brecht B 1969. Leben des Galilei. (10. Auflage) Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag Davies EH 2003. Teacher professionalism - a South African prognosis. Inaugural lecture at Rand Afrikaans University, presented on 11-07-2003. Johannesburg: Rand Afrikaans University (Faculty of Education and Nursing Science). Du Plessis PG 1973. Plaston: DNS-kind. Kaapstad: Tafelberg Dürrenmatt F 1962. Die Physiker. Zürich: Arche Verlag. Engelbrecht SWH 1988. Educational research in the RSA: trends and perspective. In: Institute for Educational Research, Human Sciences Research Council 1988. Research perspectives on education. Occasional paper 41. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. 15 Hay D 2000. Quality research in South African higher education: illusions, imperatives and ideals. South African Journal of Higher Education 14(1):53-61. Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) 1981. Provision of education in the RSA: report of the main committee of the HSRC investigation into education. Pretoria: HSRC. Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) 1997. Code of research ethics. http://www.hsrc.ac.za/about/researchEthics/ (Accessed on 8-08-2003) Human Sciences Research Council 2003. Research programmes. http://www.hsrc.ac.za Jansen JD 2001. Why Tukkies cannot develop intellectuals (and what to do about it). Innovation lecture series: 11 May 2001. Pretoria: University of Pretoria. Jansen JD 2003. Can research inform education policy in developing countries? A South African experience. International Journal of Educational Development 23 (2003):85- 95.Kamper GD 1974. Die Problematik der Wissenschaft im modernen Theater. Unpublished MA dissertation. Potchefstroom: Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education. Kamper GD 1996. Is educational research fit for the future? Some considerations about ethical accountability. Conference proceedings: International conference on education and change. 18-21 Sept 1995. Pretoria: UNISA 1996. Kamper GD 2003a. Armoede, waardes en onderwys - ‘n verbandlegging. Referaat aangebied tydens simposium van SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns. Universiteit van Pretoria 19-20 Junie 2003. Kamper GD 2003b. The mission of the African university in the third millennium. Paper delivered at biennial conference of SA Association for Research and Development in Higher Education. University of Stellenbosch 25-27 June 2003. Lagemann EC 2002. Usable knowledge in education. http://www.spencer.org/publications (Accessed on 23-07-2003) 16 Le Grange L 2000. Is qualitative research a meaningful term for describing the cross- fertilisation of ideas, which characterises contemporary educational research? South African Journal of Education 20(3):192-195. Le Grange L 2002. Educational research, democracy and practice. South African Journal of Education 22(1):36-39. Lessing AC & Schulze S 2002. Postgraduate supervision and academic support: students’ perceptions. South African Journal of Higher Education 16(2):139-149. Levy CS 1976. Social work ethics. New York: Human Sciences Press. Mouton J 2000. Patterns of research collaboration in academic science in South Africa. South African Journal of Science 96 (September/October 2000): 458-462.National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI) 1993. Framework report and final report summaries. Cape Town: Oxford University Press. National Research Foundation (NRF) 2003. Focus areas. http://www.nrf.ac.za/focusareas/educate/ (Accessed on 06-08-2003) Paola R 2002. Narrative discourse in research on teaching. Journal of Language Teaching 36 (1&2):134-145. Pillay G 1997. Human sciences in a new age society. South African Journal of Science 23(2): 50. Raffe D, Bundell I & Bibby J 1989. Ethics and tactics: Issues arising from an educational survey. In: Burgess, RG (ed). The ethics of educational research. London: Falmer Press. Sammons P 1989. Ethical issues and statistical work. In: Burgess RG (ed). The ethics of educational research. London: Falmer Press. Schulze S & Kamper GD 2003. International perspectives on postgraduate supervision: a report back. Paper delivered at bi-annual congress of the South African Association for Research and Development in Higher Education at University of Stellenbosch, 24-26 June 17 2003. Sieber JE 1992. Planning ethically responsible research: A guide for students and internal review boards. London: Sage Publications. Simons H 1989. Ethics of case study in educational research and evaluation. In: Burgess, RG (ed). The ethics of educational research. London: Falmer Press. University of Cape Town (Faculty of Education) 2001. The state of educational research in South Africa. Unpublished proceedings at Spencer Colloquium 7&11 May 2001. Cape Town: University of Cape Town (Faculty of Education). Van der Walt JL 1979. Die etiek van die onderwys. Studiestuk 137. Potchefstroom: Instituut vir Reformatoriese Studie, Potchefstroomse Universiteit vir Christelike Hoër Onderwys. Van der Westhuizen PC & De Wet JJ 2002. The training needs of supervisors of postgraduate students in the social sciences and humanities. South African Journal of Higher Education 16(3):185-195. Van Zyl C 1991. The De Lange report: 10 years on. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. Watson D (ed) 1985. A code of ethics for social work: The second step. London: Routledge. 18 UNIT 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Dr JM Squelch Paper presented at 1999 research seminar for Med students. Institute for Educational Research, University of South Africa  learning outcome At the end of this study unit you should: understand what a literature study is appreciate the purpose of a literature study in quantitative and in qualitative research be able to locate literature sources know how to review and select literature recognise how to avoid pitfalls 19 1 WHAT IS A LITERATURE STUDY? A literature study is: a systematic and critical analysis and summary of existing literature relevant to the current research topic, and it involves reading an appropriate proportion of the voluminous literature that is available. A literature study is one method of acquiring information. Although it is a very important means, since much vital information and personal experiences have never been published, it is necessary to use other methods such as questionnaires, interviews and observation to gather information. 2 PURPOSE OF A LITERATURE STUDY Why is a literature study necessary? A literature study serves several purposes in research. You need to conduct a literature study in order to do one or more of the following: Define and limit the research problem. Most research studies that add to educational knowledge investigate only one aspect of a larger topic. The researcher starts by becoming familiar with the broad topic and then eventually demarcates the research problem to a subtopic within a larger body of previous theory, knowledge and practice. This requires a thorough preliminary literature review of the major works on that topic. Develop a clear research design. In order to design your research you need to consult a range of sources on research methodology to be able to select appropriate methods. It is also useful to study the advantages and disadvantages of the 20  research methods used by others, in order to adopt or improve on them in one's own research. Sharpen and deepen the theoretical framework of the research. Clarify the relationship between the proposed study and previous work on the topic. This gives the researcher an idea of what has already been done. It is also important for a researcher to be familiar with the latest developments in the area of research. A literature study enables you to identify gaps in knowledge, as well as weaknesses in previous studies, so that you will be able to add to existing knowledge and introduce new ideas and perspectives. Place the study in a historical perspective. Researchers analyse the way their research relates to existing research and how it adds additional knowledge and builds on existing research. Develop an acceptable body of knowledge on a topic and gain further insights into the topic. Identify variables that must be considered in the research. Initially, you might start with a very broad topic which needs to be refined and demarcated. Avoid unnecessary replication. A thorough literature study enables the researcher to select a problem that has not been exhausted by other research. However, a researcher may deliberately replicate a study for verification. 3 THE LITERATURE REVIEW IN QUANTITATIVE AND IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH In quantitative research, the emphasis as far as the literature review is concerned is on a thorough orientation of, for example, the research problem, possible hypotheses that can be formulated, previous investigations into the research topic, findings made by other 21 researchers, that require further investigation, and methodological problems that the quantitatively oriented researcher can expect to encounter. Once this orientation has been completed, it is highly exceptional for the researcher to make any further literature review in the course of the research project. As far as qualitative research is concerned, the function of a literature study and when to conduct it, are still hotly debated. Here are some views. (1) Some researchers feel that there are both an exploratory investigation and a continual, comprehensive literature review. The purpose of an exploratory literature review is usually only to help create a well substantiated research proposal. After this, a more and more intensive review and analysis of relevant literature follows. Thus the qualitatively oriented researcher continues to engage in reviewing the literature from the beginning to the end of the project. He or she continues to try and detect and analyse relevant literature even during the data-gathering and analysis stages. (2) Other researchers are of the opinion that in qualitative research the literature review should only be done after an empirical study of the phenomenon. Thus the researcher does the research in an unbiased and inductively oriented manner. The empirical results are then compared to what was written in the literature. This is called a literature control. 4 LITERATURE SOURCES The most common problem when starting a literature study seems to be identifying relevant sources. Literature for review includes a wide variety of sources. These are generally categorised into primary sources and secondary sources. Primary literature is the original research and writings of researchers. It includes research articles in journals, abstracts, research reports and scholarly books. Primary sources are valued more highly than secondary sources. Journals are the most valuable primary source. There are thousands of journals which tend to contain information that is more up-to-date. 22  Secondary literature is once removed from the actual results of previous research. It synthesises the previous literature. Examples of secondary literature are review papers, anthologies of readings, textbooks and encyclopaedias. These can be used to track down references to primary sources. 23 When first starting your research, locating relevant literature can be a formidable task - - - given the plethora of literature that is available! Initially, your search might seem slow but it should get easier as you develop a substantial list of sources and become more familiar with your topic. It is also much easier if you adopt a systematic approach from the start! To begin with, you need to familiarise yourself with all the library facilities. To compile an initial list of references, consult subject abstracts (which provide a summary of articles), reviews, indexes (which list the bibliographical details of articles by subject), bibliographies, library catalogues, which come in various formats (eg, hard copy, CD-ROM, on-line and microfiche) and, of course, the Internet for those who have access to this computer facility. Once an initial list of books and articles has been compiled, the next step is to expand the search more directly. Whereas the initial list may cover a range of information, the new selection should focus more precisely on the present research problem. 5 REVIEWING AND SELECTING LITERATURE During the course of your research you will review and consult a vast number of sources, many of which you may not even use. When you carry out a literature search, the aim is to identify all those items which deal specifically with your topic and to exclude irrelevant material. Ask yourself the following questions when you are reviewing and selecting material. Is the literature relevant to my study? (Is it very relevant, relevant or useful background literature?) Why am I including this study or reference? How will the source contribute to the study? Is it a primary source? If not, how can I access the primary source? Is the source reliable? Is the source up - to - date? 24 Everyone has their own style of studying and you will no doubt develop your own methods or techniques for finding and reviewing literature. However, it is essential to: Begin with a clear idea of your research topic. A literature study should be systematic and purposeful (have a clear aim in mind), or else you can waste a great deal of time wading through literature that is irrelevant. An unduly broad subject can overwhelm the researcher with literature and the resultant mass of material can cause the time limit to be exceeded. On the other hand, a subject which is too narrowly defined can leave the researcher stranded with only one or two articles or books - - - or even with nothing A good introductory text will not only serve as a 'classic' or 'primary' source of the particular theme, but should also contain a selected bibliography of basic textbooks and reports on research projects dealing with the subject. What the title of such a basic source might be is discovered in due course as the student thoroughly searches and/or questions lecturers, the subject librarian or other sources. Such a primary, basic manual becomes a 'road map' on which the researcher can base the rest of his literature study. Experience has taught us that the use of one such a guideline can be of great value. All the other literature is then divided into the subdivisions of this authoritative source. The guiding source can, of course, change as the research proceeds. The original choice can he replaced with a new one if a better source is found later. Naturally a synthesis of the divisions can also be made from more than one basic guidebook. It is interesting that the specific authors who have written or done research in a relevant field are readily identified, as the same names appear repetitively in most of the sources. It is recommended that basic books be studied before moving on to journal articles. Keep an accurate and up-to-date list of all the sources you consult. This aspect cannot be overemphasised. It is very frustrating when you use a source and halfway through your study you have no idea where it came from! 25  Keep a record of where you found the material. The traditional way is using a card system on which you write all the bibliographical details, the reference number indicating where each can be located in the library and a few key words describing the nature and content of the source. However, most students now work on computers. You can therefore keep your bibliography up - to - date during your research by using your computer. Open a separate file just for your bibliography. Check and recheck all particulars as you compile your bibliography. The latter is, without doubt, the easiest and most effective method of storing a bibliography and is therefore recommended for the present-day researcher. Adopt a system to organise your material. As you progress with your study, you will accumulate piles of books and articles which need to be organised. It is useful to organise or classify material according to topics and/or according to the chapters of your dissertation. For example, keep a separate box file for each chapter in which you place the material that pertains to a particular chapter. 6 AVOIDING PITFALLS Remember that a literature study is an ongoing process that requires a great deal of self-discipline, perseverance and persistence. It is therefore essential for you to remain focused and to use your time expediently and efficiently. Don’t include unnecessary information. Select material very carefully. Don't repeat in detail what has already been written. Don’t be influenced by the results of previous research so that you fail to discover new possibilities. One may run the risk of emphasising what has already been done and keeping within an already established framework, instead of exploring new approaches and adding your own interpretations and perspectives. Don’t accept information without criticism. You may well be reading the works of famous theorists but that does not mean to say that you may not disagree or challenge what they say. Adopt a constructive critical approach that allows to you 26  to analyse, compare and evaluate literature, rather than simply providing a catalogue of information. Don’t try to report everything you now know. Once again you need to be selective and include sources that are most essential and valuable. Many students do not complete their research because they do not know where to draw the line. They constantly want to add "just one more source” - - - a new book or new article they have just read, and so on. Your supervisor will guide you in this respect. Don’t waste time by becoming sidetracked with other issues. Often new issues emerge from a study that are interesting but not necessarily pertinent to your topic. Keep focused on your research problem and dissertation. The key to completing a dissertation in the given time period is commitment, perseverance and consistent hard work! Don’t use fillers. There is always the danger of including sources simply to expand the thesis and to make it longer. Just because you may have spent hours reading a particular book or article does not mean to say that you must include it in your dissertation. You will read a great deal of literature that you will eventually discard for one reason or another. This is part of the process of reviewing and selecting the most relevant material. 27