CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Research Methodology
3.1 Research Design
This section describes the major procedures that will be used in carrying out the research.
This study is multi-site mixed method case study that will employ a Concurrent Triangulation Mixed-Method design. Using a multisite mixed methods approach, the study will strive to appraise selected peri-urban settlements situated on the fringes of Port Harcourt.
3.1.1 A Multisite Mixed Methods Approach
A Multi-site case study investigates a defined, contemporary phenomenon that is common to two or more real world or naturalistic settings (Bishop, 2010).
A multisite mixed methods approach is the type of research in which a researcher mixes or combines qualitative and quantitative research…show more content… For instance in this study, survey data and interview data were collected concurrently and the results compared which is a triangulation of methods. Different perspectives were also recorded from various persons through open-ended questions in questionnaire and interviews which is a Triangulation of subjects. The advantage with this approach is that it overcomes the weakness in one method with the strengths of another. It can also be useful in expanding quantitative data through collection of open-ended qualitative data.
The importance of this method is that it uses different data sources which help to validate findings. The reason for collecting both quantitative and qualitative data is to bring together the strengths of both forms of research to corroborate the results (Creswell, 2008). The basic idea is that integrating quantitative and qualitative data maximizes the strengths and minimizes the weaknesses of each type of data (Creswell & Plano Clark,…show more content… Regarding generalizations of findings, pragmatism places importance on external validity and transferability of findings, along with the idea that hypotheses are tied to time and context (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009). Pragmatism focuses on the problem to be researched and the consequences of the research (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998, pp. 29-30). In that sense, pragmatism allows the researcher to be free of mental and practical constraints imposed by the ‘‘forced choice dichotomy between post positivism and constructivism’’ (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007, p. 27), and researchers do not have to ‘‘be the prisoner of a particular [research] method or technique’’ (Robson, 1993, p. 291).
Pragmatists also hold an ‘‘entire presentational view of knowledge’’ arguing that research should no longer aim to most accurately represent reality, to provide an ‘‘accurate account of how things are in themselves’’ but to be useful, to ‘‘aim at utility for all’’ (Rorty, 1999p 26; Feilzer,