Browsing by Subject "methodology"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Are we there yet? on a journey towards more contextually relevant resources in speech-language therapy and audiology
    (AOSIS Publishing, 2013) Pascoe, Michelle; Rogers, Christine; Norman, Vivienne
    Audiologists and speech-language therapists working in developing contexts like South Africa have the opportunity to address a range of needs through their research. One of these needs is the development of assessments and therapy materials that are appropriate for their clients’particular language needs and cultural background. This editorial paper aims to introduce original research in speech-language therapy and audiology, which has been carried out in South Africa and other developing contexts and is presented in this volume of the journal. In addition we suggest that while the focus of much research is on the destination or end product that is developed, there is a need to share the methodologies that are used to reach that goal so that more research can be carried out by a wider pool of students, researchers and clinicians. We describe some of the methods that we have used in our research – often in small scale projects with budgetary constraints, which would be feasible for clinicians in their routine clinical contexts. Our hope is that others can build on these approaches, critique and share their own strategies for the ultimate advancement of the professions in southern Africa.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Continuing Conversations at the Frontier
    (2010) Mulaudzi, Maanda; Schoeman, H M; Chirikure, Shadreck
    Researchers involved or interested in the 500 Year Initiative (FYI) gathered at the University of Cape Town in June 2008 to explore how different disciplines engaged in historical studies may better communicate and collaborate within and between each other. Appropriately titled ‘Continuing Conversations at the Frontier’, participants in this conference challenged themselves to cross the theoretical and methodological borders separating archaeology, history, geography, anthropology and linguistics, in order to understand how and under what influence modern southern African identities have taken shape over the past 500 years. These conversations made it clear that new insights are not only reliant on new data, but that it is equally important to expose our methodologies and processes of gaining understanding. In addition to confronting disciplinary boundaries and methods, social and spatial frontiers were key loci for discussion, although it became apparent that historians and archaeologists have approached frontiers in different ways. We briefly explore the roots of these approaches.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Methodology matters: what methods for quality improvement?
    (University of the Free State, 2007) Luckett, Kathy
    This article discusses methodological issues in relation to models of quality assurance for higher education. It first traces the historical development of the widely adopted pragmatic model and shows how this model has been adapted by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) for the South African context. It then sets out some basic tenets of critical realism in order to critique the pragmatic model from a critical realist perspective. Finally it proposes a theory-based approach to evaluation located in a critical realist paradigm as an approach that has the potential to effect the improvement or even transformation of educational practice as a possible outcome of quality assurance.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Observer experience and minke whale sighting ability in the IWC/IDCR-SOWER surveys
    (Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 2003) Mori, Mitsuyo; Butterworth, Doug S; Brandão, Anabela; Rademeyer, Rebecca A; Okamura, Hiroshi; Hiroyuki, Matsuda
    The relationship between observer experience and the number of minke whale schools sighted on International Whaling Commission/International Decade of Cetacean Research-Southern Ocean Whale and Ecosystem Research (IWC/IDCR-SOWER) surveys from 1993/94 to 1998/99 is investigated for Independent Observer (IO) mode survey. Observer experience is defined as the number of past sightings surveys in which the observer participated. During the third circumpolar set of surveys (from 1991/92 onwards), about half of the observers had participated in fewer than five previous sightings surveys. Based upon the QAIC model selection criterion, the observers are classified into two groups depending on their experience: ‘Beginners’ (0-4 surveys) and ‘Experts’ ( > 4). The sighting rate for minke whale schools by Beginners is estimated to be 42% lower than that by Expert observers. Furthermore, perpendicular distances to the sightings do not show significant differences in relation to observer experience. These results jointly indicate that the probability of detection on the trackline, g(0), may be less than one when Beginners are amongst those observing. Abundance estimation for minke whales in IO mode involves the sightings made by triple observer combinations, with two observers in the barrel and one observer in the Independent Observer Platform (IOP) all searching simultaneously. Surprisingly, given the result above, no significant trend in sighting rate with the combined experience of this three-observer combination is detected. This might be an artifact of small sample size for some observer combinations, such as Experts in all platforms. When observer combinations in the barrel are pooled across, the estimated trend in the sighting rate with combined observer experience becomes steeper. Furthermore, when like-minke sightings are also taken into account, the trend becomes steeper still. In this case, when observations are pooled across observer combinations in the barrel, a model for sighting rate that includes an observer effect is selected in terms of the QAIC criteria. These analyses thus provide suggestive evidence that the introduction of Beginner observers during the third circumpolar set of surveys may have reduced g(0) and hence negatively biased abundance estimates for minke whales, both in absolute terms and compared with estimates from the second circumpolar set of surveys.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    Skills development lectures
    (2012-09) Freeman, Laura; Goodman, Rachel; Marchant, Michael; Nkomo, Mandisi; Wirtjes, Sylvia; Lekalake, Rorisang Nikiwe.
    The lectures have been designed in such a way that one lecture is given per week. The lectures track the progression of the course and the skills that need to be refined. As such, the lectures are sensitive to coursework submissions and provide guidance within that context. The lectures are presented most commonly by the postgraduate team of tutors. This enables students to ask questions more freely. The lectures aim to be interactive – with tutors roaming the lecture space and encouraging participation (be it through questions, class or group exercises). This lecture series is aimed to help undergraduate students (in particular, those in senior years of study) to navigate through the academic challenges they face. The series focuses on more sophisticated forms of reading and research. It also aims to assist students in writing longer and more complex pieces. The series offers both theoretical/conceptual and practical guidance. The lecture series programme is as follows: 1. Concept, theory, case: seeks to differentiate between areas of analysis, and instil an understanding of concepts and theories as contested, changing, and often part of wider debate; 2. Building an argument: encourages students to think about their writing more critically and to form strategies for improving their argumentation; 3. Finding Your Academic Voice: this lecture aims to show students how they can source more effectively. It goes on to discuss how students can evaluate sources and the importance of not losing their own voice/argumentation in their writing; 4. Acting on Feedback: discusses how students can discern the meaning of feedback and respond accordingly; 5. The Merit of Methodology: touches on approaches to research and the need to consider methodology when developing research questions; 6. Writing a Research Proposal: discusses the use of a research proposal as well as the practicalities of putting one together; 7. Research Essay: Research, Think, Write: emphasises the need to plan and research before writing; 8. Research Essay: Structure, Argumentation, Originality and Etiquette: discusses the challenges and pressures of writing a longer academic piece; 9. Tests and Exams: revision and exam tips.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Student voice as a methodological issue in academic literacies research
    (Taylor & Francis, 2012) Paxton, Moragh
    Academic literacies research has been identified as an emerging but significant field in higher education. This article extends the discussions around methodology in academic literacies research by drawing on the current text and context debates in sociolinguistics and linguistic ethnography. It uses illustrations from a recent academic literacies research project to reflect on methodology and to emphasise the importance of a prolonged engagement with participants' writing practices and experiences as well as the collection and analysis of a range of types of data to allow the researcher to become more familiar with the context. Methods such as allowing students to interpret their own writing, classroom observation and students' written literacy histories gave the researcher real insights into the way students made connections to their own familiar contexts in order to learn. The research also highlighted the manner in which communication between students and teaching staff can break down because teachers misinterpret student utterances when they do not understand or know the contexts that the students are drawing on. At the same time, however, the researcher sounds some caution about the use of dialogue in ethnographic methodologies because communication is a two-way process and allocation of linguistic resources has been unequal. Therefore, where students' resources do not match the context, they may struggle to communicate with the interviewer and to interpret their written texts. In these cases, interviewees who are first language speakers from privileged schooling backgrounds may be able to contextualise and interpret their writing more fully than interviewees who are speakers of English as a second or foreign language and who come from poorer rural schools.