Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

Discussed in this chapter is the methodology used in this qualitative

study. This includes the research methods and design, role of the researcher,

informants of the study, the method of data collection, data analysis,

trustworthiness and credibility and its ethical consideration.

Research Design

This is designed as a phenomenological qualitative research. A

phenomenological study is interested with the individual actual experiences of

people in a certain case. The documentation involved young professionals

and students of University of Mindanao Tagum College.

Qualitative research aims an in-depth understanding of an issue,

including an exploration of the reasons and context for participants' beliefs

and actions, so was often designed to be probing in nature (Richards and

Schwartz, 2001).

In this study, the researchers conducted an In-Depth Interview and

Focused Group Discussion with the young professionals and students who

evaluate products. The interview questions were directed to the participants

experiences and outlooks towards the criterions in evaluating products. At the

root of the phenomenology, the intent is to understand the phenomena in their

own terms to provide a description of human experience as it was

experienced by the person allowing the essence to emerge (Cameron et al.,

2001).
 This research method connects well with the intent of the study to

understand their experience. The research values of qualitative studies were

based on the participants responses in context to the research questions.

Role of Researcher

In this research, the researchers stood as the role of the moderator,

secretary and recorder in the discussion. The researchers conducted a focus

group discussion and in-depth interview to the participants.

In a focus group interview, the interviewer denoted to as the moderator and

this special name will reflect the fact that the researchers role is not the same

from the one-on-one interviews. Although they need to ask questions, they still

need to function more as facilitators of the discussion than as interviewers in

the traditional sense during the session (Dornyei, 2007). Because the

dynamic of the FGD and in-depth in one of the unique features of this method,

the researchers role will involve some leadership functions, including the

assurance that no one will dominate the floor and everyone was given a

chance to express themselves.

According to Eliot (2005), a focus group discussion is a small group

consist of six to ten people led through an open discussion by a skilled

moderator. The group needs to be large enough to generate rich discussion

but just enough to accommodate everyone. The moderators goal is to

generate a maximum number with different ideas and opinions from as many

different people in the allotted time.

The three researchers were the one who conducted the FGD. One of

the researchers role was to be the moderator. The moderator facilitated the

group discussion. She was the one to ask the interview questions to the
participants. Another researchers role was to be the secretary of the

discussion. She was the one in charge of taking down notes. She took down

notes for the purpose of having a hard copy of all the thoughts of the

participants in the FGD. The other researcher was the one who was task to

record the whole discussion using a cellular phone. She was the recorder of

the shared feelings and experiences of the participants.

On the other side, Boyce (2007) argued that an In-Depth Interview is

also a qualitative technique that involves conducting intensive individual

interviews with a small number of participants to explore their perspective on

a particular idea, program, or situation. This is useful when you want to

detailed out information about a persons thoughts and behaviors or wanting

to explore new issues in depth. Interviews are often used to provide context

data, offering a more comprehensive picture of what had happened and why.

In the IDI process, the proponents role were also the same as in the

FGD. The one researcher was the moderator or the one who asked the

questions individually. The other was also the one to take down notes and the

other one was also to record the personal views of the respondents towards

the interview questions.

Research Participants

The participants of the study are young professionals of Tagum City

and students of UM Tagum College. There were seven (7) respondents for the

focus group discussions and seven (7) for the in-depth interview that makes it

fourteen (14).

In a qualitative research, as mentioned by a Crouch & Mckenzie

(2015), interviews often seek to penetrate beyond the appearance and

manifest meanings. Moreover, Kruger (2002) suggested that in an in-depth

interview there should be no right or wrong answers but only differing points of

view, where tape recording is needed to be able to capture every price of

discussion. He also noted that only one person should speak at a time. The

participants do not need to agree with other informants but should listen to

other views and opinions.

Data Collection

The following steps were taken by the researcher to solicit the relevant

information for this study.

First, in an In-depth interview the researcher selected seven (7)

participants who were subject to on-on-one interview and seven (7)

participants in focus group discussion.

Second, the participants were informed about the primary purpose and

process of the interview.

Third, the data gathered consisted of audio recordings using cellular

phone and the interviewers notes.

Trustworthiness

In our qualitative inquiry, trustworthiness of the findings were

established by employing different strategies to meet the four issues of

trustworthiness that demands attention: credibility, dependability,

conformability, and transferability (Shenton, 2004). It will be hard to ensure

that qualitative research is accurate or correct; therefore the following aspects

were taken into consideration when conducting qualitative research (Guba

and Lincoln, 2011). Trustworthiness is the quality to be achieved in the study if

the data collected is applicable and consistent. Trustworthiness of a

qualitative study can be increased maintaining high credibility and objectivity

(Suter, 2006).

Credibility. This is involved in establishing that the results of the

research are believable. This is a classic example of quality not quantity. It

depends more on the richness of the information gathered, rather than the

amount of data gathered. There are many techniques to gauge the accuracy

of the findings, such as data triangulation, triangulation through multiple

analysts and member checks. In reality the participants/readers are the only

ones who can reasonably judge the credibility of the results (Farley,

2011).Credibility deals with the focus of the research and refers to the

confidence in how well the data address the intended focus.

Dependability. The idea of dependability, on the other hand,

emphasizes the need for the researcher to account for the ever-changing

context within which research occurs. The research is responsible for

describing the changes that occur in the setting and how these changes will

affect the way the research approached the study.This is based on the

assumption of replicability or repeatability. Essentially, it is concerned with

whether we would obtain the same results if we could observe the same thing

twice. In order to estimate reliability, quantitative researchers construct

various hypothetical notions (e.g., true score theory) to try to get around this

fact (Trochim, 2008).

Confirmability. This refers to the degree to which the results could be

confirmed or corroborated by others. There are a number of strategies for

enhancing conformability. The researcher can document the procedures for

checking and rechecking the data throughout the study (Trochim, 2008).
 Transferability. From a qualitative perspective, transferability is

primarily the responsibility of the one doing the generalization. The researcher

can enhance transferability by doing a thorough job of describing the research

context and the assumptions that were central to the research. The person

who wishes to "transfer" the results to a different context is then responsible

for making the judgment of how sensible the transfer is (Trochim, 2008).

Ethical Consideration

Ethical Considerations in Quality Assurance and Evaluation Activities

is designed to assist organizations in deciding the appropriate level of

oversight for quality assurance (QA) and evaluation.

During the interview, they were not forced to share their thoughts,

experiences or opinions but rather they were encouraged to tell.

Distinguishing between right and wrong, such as the Golden Rule ("Do unto

others as you would have them do unto you") is the most common way of

defining "ethics": norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and

unacceptable behavior (Resnik, 2015).

. We also considered individual differences in order to assure

that the personal preferences of the participants were not a problem during

the data gathering. Individual differences should also be considered during

the interview so that each informant will not hesitate to share his/her

responses regarding the issue at hand (Grazianon & Raulin, 2010).