Chapter 3: Methodology
3.2 Research Design
According to Robert Yin (2016), five salient features describe qualitative approaches.
The first is that the approach explores the life of society in “their real-world roles”. The second characteristic is that it reveals human perspectives and views. The third and fourth features pertain to the approach’s focus on the natural conditions of humans and helping to explain their behavior. The last feature of the approach is the potential relevance of different sources of information to the central phenomenon. The aim of this research is to understand why parents choose single-sex boarding schools for gifted students in the Republic of Tatarstan. The main data is parents’ perceptions. Hence, a qualitative approach is suitable to the goals of the study as it will assist in providing an in-depth description of the central phenomenon.
For the current study, this researcher chose to adopt a basic qualitative study as the most appropriate research design. According to Merriam & Tisdell (2016), a basic qualitative study is used to show how participants construe their experience and how they place
importance on it. This research also aims not to discover but to construct the view of parents
21 toward school choice and their expectations of single-sex boarding schools for gifted
students.
3.3 Definition of Central Phenomenon
The central phenomena of the study are the factors that influence parental choice for choosing single-sex boarding schools for their gifted children. The findings of this research are expected to provide an in-depth understanding of the central phenomenon of interest.
3.4 Methods of Data Collection
To answer the research question, interviews (Appendix 2) and questionnaires
(Appendix 3) were chosen as the most suitable method of data collection. The interviews are used to obtain detailed information from parents whose children are in the 7th grade while the questionnaires help to provide basic information about the parent respondents. However, based on a reading of the situation, the researcher can reorient the interview. The interviews and questionnaires make use of open-ended questions as this approach is useful when attempting to gain a deep understanding of the problem and to obtain and consider different points of view. The advantage of interviews is the opportunity to ask more specific questions of respondents to control the information that the interviewee receives (Creswell, 2014).
According to Nunkoosing (2005), we interview when we want to know something about what another person has to say about her or his experience of a defining event, person, idea, or thing and we are interested in the person’s cognition, emotion, and behavior.
The research aims to hear the views of parents about their school choice in a realistic and non-threatening way. Therefore, it was decided to conduct face-to-face interviews.
According to Robert Yin (2016), there are two types of interviews: structured and qualitative.
Structured interviews are more formal and have a list of questions that should be answered.
Qualitative interviews are not “strictly scripted” and additional questions can be asked. In qualitative interviews, the researcher uses open-ended questions. Open-ended questions
22 enable researchers to gain a deeper understanding of interviewee and allows researchers to avoid “yes or no” questions.
The aim of employing adaptive person-to-person face-to-face interviews is to hear different views on parents’ reasons for selecting the schools of interest. It is also recognized that sometimes a person can feel uncomfortable sharing their true views in a group and may hesitate to share some thoughts in front of others.
3. 5 Population, Participants, and Sampling Approach
The study was conducted in single-sex boarding schools for gifted students in the Republic of Tatarstan. These lyceums are not typical educational organizations for this region. Most schools in the Republic of Tatarstan have mixed classes and the students go to and return from after their lessons. The boarding schools for gifted students in Tatarstan are former Tatar-Turkish lyceums. The lyceums are made available to either boys or girls independently, depending upon the institution. The boarding schools also offer full
accommodation for their students. They were initially opened in 1992 by agreement with the Ministry of Educations of Turkey and the Russian Federation. The major subjects taught in lyceums are math, IT, and English. These subjects have extra hours.
As the study is interested in understanding the reasons why parents choose to enroll their children in these schools, only parents of the lyceums whose children study the first year in were considered the population of interest. As the lyceums accept enrolled students who have completed six years of compulsory schooling, the research focuses on parents of seventh grade students.
In this research, purposeful sampling was used. The purposeful sampling approach is employed when “researchers intentionally select individuals and sites to learn or understand the central phenomenon” (Creswell, 2014). According to Teddlie and Tashakkori (2009) this type of sampling helps to obtain more detailed data. For this research, eight parents of newly
23 enrolled seventh-grade students were selected. Typical purposeful sampling is the most suitable here because the study intends to focus on persons or sites that are “typical” to those unfamiliar with the situation (Creswell, 2014). The purpose of using the aforementioned sampling method was to identify participants among typical parents of boarding schools for gifted students. The group of parents of seventh graders are representing the total population.
The first step of conducting an interview is forming an interview protocol (Appendix 2). According to Creswell (2014), interview protocols are made by the researcher that include pieces of advice for the process of the interview, the questions and prompts to be asked, and place to take notes of answers from the participants. The protocols also include questions that help to elicit the opinion of parents toward school selection and begin with more general questions and end with more specific ones.
3.6 Data Collection Procedures
The participants were recruited purposefully from two different boarding schools for gifted students in the Republic of Tatarstan. The researcher sent the invitations to potential participants through gatekeepers—vice-principals of the schools. As mentioned, there were two data collection instruments: a questionnaire and an interview. The questionnaire is aimed to elicit basic information about their background as related to the parents’ children/education (Appendix 3). The interviews are used to obtain detailed information from parents of the seventh graders about their choice of and expectations for their respective boarding schools.
There were eight interviews with parents, who experienced the school selection process. To obtain consent, the researcher went to the school and explained the purpose of the study. The researcher sent the informed consent form by telegram (via gatekeepers) to potential
candidates. Those candidates that agreed to the terms of the interview then made this clear in their message back to this author.
24 The semi-structured interviews were used as the main instrument for data collection.
This instrument focused on eliciting information about the perception and experience of parents. Thus, the purpose is to understand the factors of boarding school’s choice.
Semi-structured interviews aim to identify the point of view of participants regarding to topic under investigation (Patton, 2022). Therefore, it makes the study more inclusive of the various perceptions and views of the research participants. In addition, according to Bryman (2016), due to the same structure of interviews, the researcher can make reasonable comparisons between the responses from the different participants and understand the situation on a deeper level. Another advantage of the semi-structured type of the interview is that of flexibility whereby the researcher obtains additional and often more detailed data that can complement and augment the data derived from the more structured set of questions asked of respondents (Creswell, 2014).
This research involved parent participation in a one-on-one interview and a simple questionnaire. The duration of the interview was about an hour and the questionnaire took about five minutes. The interview took place at a co-working space, Prospekt Gabdully Tukaya, 46B, Almetyevsk; Dekabristov St, 85B, Kazan, or, if the participants preferred, took place in the library, or at their respective homes. A series of questions was asked about their experience and their decision to choose the lyceum, where their child is studying. If the parents did not wish to answer a question during the interview, I moved on to the next question. With the verbal consent from the participants, I audio recorded the interview to facilitate the collection of information.
After the completion of the interview, all participants were provided the opportunity to be sent the findings. It should be noted that, at the end of the study, any information related to participants was destroyed. I conducted the interviews at the end of the week in the
Russian education system’s fall semester, 2022. The reason for this decision was that there
25 were parents that travelled from other regions to pick up their children at the end of the term.
This provided the opportunity to hear more voices from the parents of the children, one of the priorities of this study.
Most of the parents did not know the English language at all or otherwise spoke it poorly. Hence, the language of the interviews was Russian. In addition, during the interview, respondents were encouraged to confirm their interpretations of some phrases. For example, parents could understand the meaning of school quality in different ways. Finally, after the interviews, it was necessary to translate the records into the English language.
3.7 Data Analysis
Data analysis for qualitative research is a bottom-up process according to Cohen (2018). For the current study, the data that was obtained provides a direct answer to the research questions. According to Creswell (2014), there are six steps to analyzing interviews.
The first three steps include the researcher (1) preparing the data for analysis, (2)
understanding the research objectives, and (3) organizing a matrix or table. For these initial three phases, according to Merriam and Tisdell (2016), it is important “to make decisions that narrow the study” (p.197). The next three steps include(4) transcription of the audiotape into text, (5) reading, and re-reading the data, and reflecting on it, and, finally, (6) dividing it into parts by hand.
As suggested by Merriam and Tisdell (2016), while reading and re-reading the actual data, I wrote comments and divided and organized the text into major themes. The themes were then divided in accordance to which they were relevant to and provided answers for each of two the research questions. Specifically, the thematic data analysis generally involved the following seven structured steps: familiarization, coding, generating themes, reviewing themes, defining, and naming themes, and writing (Braun and Clarke, 2006). However, Byrne (2021) thinks that this structure should not be strictly followed by researcher; steps can be repeated or moved
26 forward and back during the data analysis process. Therefore, in accordance with Byrne’s arguments, for the data analysis in the current study, I did not completely follow the seven structured steps chronologically. I allowed for and implemented some level of flexibility in the process.
After that, I obtained a general sense of the data, translated the entire interview
transcripts into English, and then coded it. The quality of the translation was also checked via colleague also fluent in English to ensure accuracy. For instances when my colleague thought that the translation could have been improved, we arrived at a consensus. This level of quality assurance was considered adequate for the current study. I determined that lean coding was more suitable for this project as it seemed more relevant to me. In the end, I summarized the findings and consolidated answers to the research questions. These sequences enabled me to arrive at the appropriate conclusions.
3.8 Trustworthiness
According to Lincoln and Guba (1985) there are four elements that establish the trustworthiness of the qualitative data in the study at hand: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.
One of the criterion to ensure credibility is triangulation. Triangulation involves the use of different references or data that establish repeated outcomes. In the current study, the interviews were conducted with many parents from different schools to gather data and repeated outcomes (i.e., parental opinions and perspectives) were noted as more credible.
Another method to ensure credibility is comparing the results vis-à-vis peer debriefing
(Lincoln & Guba, 1985). In this study, I had a close colleague review the main field notes and transcripts that I had generated from my research. This was done to ensure that I had not missed any key points of ideas as expressed by the parent participants. At the end of the interview, a summary of the general interpretation of the parent participants’ responses was
27 offered back to avoid any misunderstandings and to clarify the intended meaning of the responses.
One of the factors that can establish transferability is the opportunity to use the findings in different contexts. The current survey was made with participants from different cities, with different population groups. The schools were also distinguished: one of them was only for boys and the other was only for girls. Therefore, consistent findings across both school types could be deemed more transferable. Thick descriptions were also used to provide readers with sufficient detail of the context for which the parent participants found themselves. For example, religious and other cultural aspects particular to the Tatar context were given sufficient attention. It was thought that such attention might more realistically reflect regional mores.
The current study focus and key topics were discussed informally with both my supervisor and other teaching colleagues from other boarding schools for gifted students in Tatarstan and Kazakhstan. By adopting such an approach, it was thought that any anonymous of non-repeatable findings might be picked up on and given sufficient consideration.
Confirmability of the study means ensuring that the qualitative data was checked and rechecked throughout the data collection process. Throughout the process, a clear coding schema was adopted from the start to ensure that the same process could be generally repeated by others.
3.9 Ethical Concerns and Risks of Research
According to the American Psychological Association (APA, 2010) some items should be considered while doing qualitative research. The research was deemed as
potentially useful for all research stakeholders and the researcher understood his professional responsibility to the community. Also, there was respect for people’s perspectives and the concern was taken to ensure the accuracy of the transcribed data.
28 The research started only after obtaining approval from the ethics review board at Nazarbayev University Graduate school of Education. Before the interviews, I acquainted all participants with the aim of the research. Parents were informed that they could end the interview at any stage that they wanted. I saved all associated data on a password protected personal computer. I was the only person who had access to this information. All these data were kept for three years before deleting. Pseudonyms were used instead of participants’
names to help ensure confidentiality.
Parents in this study were only considered exposed to minimal risk. For example, it was possible for a third party to overhear something that someone said during the
interviewing process or it is conceivable that my computer could be hacked. I tried to avoid these risks: the interview took place in a separate room and a unique password was used to protect my computer. If the participants were stressed or felt uncomfortable, I skipped the questions, supported them, and we took a break.
This project offered several potential benefits to the participants and stakeholders.
First, it was an opportunity for parents to share their experiences for choosing schools for their child. Secondly, participation in the research was of great significance to raise the awareness of parents’ needs and to contribute to the development of effective strategies to work with the students and parents of children of these lyceums in order to satisfy their needs. Therefore, school leaders can become more aware of difficulties that parents and students of lyceums might be facing and potentially make adjustments to improve school life.
3.10 Chapter Summary
This chapter covered and justified the methodology of the research designed to investigate parental choice of single-sex boarding schools for gifted children in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. A basic qualitative study is used to identify how parent participants
29 construe their experience and how they place importance on it. The interviews with open- ended questions were directed to obtain information from parents—specifically, their opinions and views on the selection of boarding schools for gifted students with single sex education. All participants were chosen purposefully from newcomer parents. The education in these lyceums starts from the seventh grade, so only parents of children of this age-group were chosen for this study. Data analysis was a bottom-up process. This methodology was applied to obtain a deep understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. Procedures were also put in place to ensure the anonymity of parent participants and to ensure the
robustness and validity of the results. The next chapter will cover the findings that arose from qualitative data analysis.
30 4. Findings
4.1 Introduction
The previous chapter provided a detailed explanation and justification of the research design, methods, and data analysis of the present study. This chapter presents the analysis of the data that was collected from the one-on-one interviews. The current study aims to
understand what factors affect parental choice for selecting boarding schools for gifted children. More specifically, the study’s research questions attempt to identify (1) the
academic and non-academic factors that influence parental school choice in the Republic of Tatarstan and (2) the parental expectations of boarding schools for gifted students. The data was manually transcribed and analyzed using codes that helped organize the data into
particular themes and sub-themes. The findings are reported according to the derived themes after analyzing the transcribed information. The themes and subthemes are summarized in Table 1. The order is presented from the most frequent to least mentioned.
Table 1
Derived Themes and Subthemes from Transcribed Data
Main Themes Sub-Themes
RQ1: Purpose of school selecting 1. Value-based education 2. Individual/personal approach 3. Quality of teachers
4. Academic quality 5. Surroundings/selection 6. Single-gender education 7. Accommodation and Nutrition RQ2: Expectations of parents 8. Non-academic
9. Academic
Henceforth, each of the derived subthemes for RQ1 and RQ2 are described in more detailed and enriched with personal quotes from the research participants. First, a description of the emergent factors that influenced parent school choice is provided.
31 4.2 RQ1: Academic and Non-Academic Factors that Influence Parental School Choice in the Republic of Tatarstan
4.2.1 Value-Based Education
Many parents believe that value-based education plays a key role in the development of their children. Moral education was highly rated by parents. Many participants often reported that value-based education was the most important factor that influenced their selection of these schools. The parents conceived moral education at a young age as highly influential to the lifespan of children. In addition, some participants equally prioritized moral and academic education and noted both as very important.
Moral education was for me in the first place. He will finish school, but then he still has life. (P1, Participant 1)
I knew these traditions and wanted my children to continue these traditions, [accept] these values. That stood in first place. (P6, Participant 6)
I did not want my child to be educated, but rather not be rude or egoistical. (P7) Parents from both boarding schools noted that lyceums provide education specific to boys and specific to girls. It was apparent that some of the participating parents thought that boarding school could meet their child’s specific gender-related needs. Interestingly, some parents believed that boys should generally be educated by men, and girls should generally be educated by women.
Me as a woman could not give him this male education (P2)
An up-bringing in a women’s collective and the installation of female values played important role (P6)