Nomkhosi Nkomo

ST10122214
TAKE HOME TEST
INER7411

QUESTION 1
Q.1.1. The next step would be choosing an approach. Working on an important
research project might need careful planning. Designing your overall research
structure is a key step in ensuring that you use your time wisely. During this step, you
can decide what resources you are going to use to expand your understanding, as
well as any sources of data or experiments needed to better enlighten you and assist
you achieve the right conclusion (Du Plooy-Cilliers, Davis & Bezuidenhout, 2017).
Q.1.2. It is a quantitative research design, firstly the research is focused on the
teacher’s personal experiences in accommodating children who present with barriers
to learning in a mainstream mathematics classroom. According to Du Plooy Cilliers
(2017) a Quantitative research design is aimed at discovering how many people think,
act or feel in a specific way. Neuman state that in a quantitative design the researcher
aims to capture all the details of a social setting in a detailed description and conveys
an intimate feeling for the setting and the inner lives of the people in it (2011). Relating
to q.1.2. With this design the researcher can decide which experiments they will use
to better help you in finding an appropriate conclusion.
Q.1.3. The goal of quantitative research is to discover how many people think, act, or
feel in a particular way. Quantitative projects involve large sample sizes, concentrating
on the quantity of responses, as opposed to gaining the more focused or emotional
insight that is the aim of qualitative research.
Q.1.4. Tebogo is doing a research study on teachers’ experiences in accommodating
children who present with barriers to learning in a mainstream mathematics classroom
and we already know that a quantitative design is aimed at discovering how many
people think, act or feel in a specific way, and in this case the similarities would be that
Tebogo’s focus is investigating or researching the teacher’s personal experiences,
therefore this design is suitable for her study because it has data set, all the information
from the different individual teachers across researched is collected and from this
collected information Tebogo will be able to make certain predictions and provide the
teachers with advice on how to improve a classroom with such a group of children.

QUESTION 2
Q.2.1. It is Empirical analytical sciences. Because the conclusions of Tebogo’s study
are derived from concrete, verifiable evidence (du Plooy-Cilliers, Davis &
Bezuidenhout, 2014).
Q.2.2. Positivism:
 It examines causal relationships to control, predict and manipulate them
 It values quantitative data and an objective and universal truth
A positivist only considers observable, and verifiable facts and should be considered
when attempting to understand and explain natural and social phenomena ((du Plooy-
Cilliers, Davis & Bezuidenhout, 2014)). This paradigm best suits Tebogo’s study
because its basic affirmations are that all knowledge regarding matters of fact is based
on the positive data of experience and that beyond the realm of fact is that of pure
logic and pure mathematics ((du Plooy-Cilliers, Davis & Bezuidenhout, 2014)).
Q.2.3. Epistemological position is the study of knowledge, what knowledge is and how it is
generated. It is also a way of understanding and explaining how we know what we know', ((du
Plooy-Cilliers, Davis & Bezuidenhout, 2014)). Epistemology is also 'concerned with providing
a philosophical grounding for deciding what kinds of knowledge are possible and how we can
ensure that they are both adequate and legitimate.

QUESTION 3
Q.3.1.

 To organize and categorise aspects of phenomena to better understand the world.

 To identify concepts or key aspects of phenomena to study
 To predict and control phenomena.
 To identify concepts or key aspects of phenomena to study.
 To challenge the status quo and ask questions about the human condition.
 To promote other concepts and introduce new observation manners
 To explain causal relationships.
 To identify variables to test a hypothesis

Q.3.2. inductive theorising – is often referred to as a bottom up approach hence inductive

theorising allows the building of an existing or new theory (Du Plooy Cilliers, 2014) , here we
gather theoretical concepts from the data collected and analysed in a specific study, we move
from specific to general and apply our findings to more intellectual and broad theoretical
paradigms. Tebogo is using this theory because she collects her data from the teachers and
analyses it in a specific way.

QUESTION 4
Q.4.1. Perceptions of teachers towards learners who have barriers to learning in a
mathematics classroom: a qualitative study
Q.4.2. How do teachers in a mathematics classroom perceive learners with disabilities in their
classroom?
Q.4.3. The problem is the learners with learning disabilities.
 QUESTION 5
Q.5.1) A null hypothesis is a type of conjecture in statistics that proposes that there is no
difference between certain characteristics of a population or data generating process (Hayes,
2023).
Q.5.2) INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: music
DEPENDENT VARIABLE: learners
Alternative hypothesis: how music as a standalone does not enhance learners learning
potential.
Q.5.3. According to Du Plooy Cilliers (2014) dependent variable depends on an independent
variable, while an independent variable depends on external manipulation. For example, when
measuring how the speed of a car will affect the time it will take to reach a certain place, the
time taken (dependant variable) depends on the speed (independent variable).
Q.5.4)
Q.5.5) A Qualitative research design.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Du Plooy-Cilliers, F., Davis, C. and Bezuidenhout, R. 2021. Research Matters.

Claremont: Juta and Company Ltd 2nd ed. ISBN:978-1-48513-210-3
 Hayes, A, 2023. Null hypothesis: what is it and how is it used in investing?
Investopedia. [Online]. Available at:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/null_hypothesis.asp*:text=Alex%20Dos%Di
az-
,What%20is20%a%20Null%20hypothesis%3F,hypothesis%20by%20using%2
0sample%20data.
 Neuman, WL. 2011. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative
approaches. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.