S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

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While the researcher used aspects of both Yin’s and Stake’s approaches in designing the present case study, he made sure to clearly describe the chosen paradigm, theoretical position and methods, thereby maintaining rigour in the method. The researcher relied primarily on Stake’s interpretive or social constructivist approach, but also included quantitative data in response to the ‘how often’ and ‘how much’ questions posed in Chapters 1 and 2. 4.3.1 The researcher’s position The researcher’s beliefs relevant to the philosophical underpinnings of the research are that human beings are enabled with choice, free will and individualism. Human beings are active moral and social agents capable of monitoring their own behaviour, use speech to make comment concerning their actions, and logically and rationally plan their behaviour. They are not docile, passive, static and disconnected from their environments, but rather are purposeful, active and involved with life experiences (Cohen & Manion, 1994). Accordingly, human beings act, not merely behave. An action is considered to be more than a behaviour, as behaviour encompasses only the physical act (Erickson, 1986): ‘Thus, to understand a particular social action the inquirer must grasp the meanings those constitute that action’ (Schwandt, 2000, p. 191). By adopting an interpretivist paradigm, the researcher viewed ‘meanings’ as constantly being created, changed, modified and developed by interactions (Spivey, 1997) throughout the study. The researcher’s social reality is constructed locally and specifically through its context (Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Orlikowski & Baroudi, 1991). As an interpretative researcher, the researcher’s social reality is based on his definition of it (Neuman, 1997), not on a concept of an objective external world. The researcher’s