CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY

1.0 OVERVIEW

This chapter assesses the roles of a General Overseer in developing the church leaders under the

current dynamic Christian environment in New Hope Bible Church in Zambia. However, it

discusses the research methodology, rationale for participatory research, research design, study

site, research instruments, target population, sample size,sampling procedures and explains the

stages and processes involved in the study. It also highlights the data and ethical considerations

noted in this study

3.1 PRIMARY METHODOLOGY

The study used participatory action research as primary methodology. Participatory research is

considered as a subset of action research which is systematic collection and analysis of the data

for the purpose of taking action and making change by generating practical knowledge (Gills

&Jackson,2002:264). Mouton (1996:35) describes methodology as the means or methods of

doing something while Polit and Hungler (199:648) looks at it as the process of following the

steps, procedures and strategies for gathering and analyzing the data in a research

investigation.Thes methods describe in detail how the study was conducted .According to

Burns(1998:581),methodology include the design, setting, sample, methodological limitations

and data collection and analysis techniques in a study. This is the know-how of the scientific

methods and techniques employed to obtain valid knowledge. Furthermore, participatory action

research is a qualitative method for data collection.

In conducting the research on the assessment of the role of the General Overseer in developing

the church leaders under the current dynamic Christian environment in New Hope Bible Church
in Zambia, the researcher applied a mixed research methodology consisting of qualitative and

quantitative methods. It employed the qualitative since the study wanted to get in depth

information about the phenomena and to gain a deeper comprehension of how a particular group

of people make sense of their social world or environment (Munhall,2007).Also, it provides

insight in the development of concepts which help us to understand social issues in natural rather

than (experimental) setting, (Shadish, et al., 2002)

3.2 RATIONALE FOR PARTICIPARTORY RESEARCH

The primary purpose of using participatory action research in this study was to establish the

conceptual frame work of assessing the roles of a General Overseer in developing the church

leaders under the current dynamic Christian environment in Zambia, in particular, in New Hope

Bible Church for effective leadership structure ,development and supervision. Participatory

action research offers a radical alternative to knowledge development, self-reflective inquiry for

the purpose of improving the situation in a community or marginalized groups of individuals

(Koch.Selin $Kralik,2002:Maguire,1987).

One merit of it is that it is a valuable research methodology to be considered by any researcher

wanting to take action and make changes. Also, understanding of it in terms of its history,

principles, definitions, strengths and challenges, it serves as an ideal tool for practical

suggestions which are imperative.

In addition, participatory action research is taken to be a systematic and oriented analysis of data

whose answers require the gathering and generation of interpretation directly tested in the field

of action (Greenwood &Lewin,1998:122).Action research involves an action researcher and

community or organisation members who are seeking to improve their situation. Therefore, it is
concerned with an agenda for social change that embodies the belief of pooling knowledge to

define a problem in order for it to be resolved (Green &Levin). Thus, action researchers view

themselves in relation to other individuals in their social contexts (McNiff & Whitehead, 2000)

while the epistemology assumptions underpinning action research embrace knowledge creation

as an active process ((McNiff & Whitehead, 2000 :26)

3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN

Neuman (1977) asserts that a research design is a plan or pattern for data collection and

interpretation. The research design is composed of blue print for correction, measurement and

analysis of data (Coodican, 1994). It assists the scientist the scientist in allocating of his limited

resources causing crucial choices (Mulusa, 1990).

This study employed a case study which is interpretive and descriptive subject for analysis

through qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative researchers tend to analyze their data

inductively. In an interpretive case study, the researcher analyses, interprets and theorizes about

the phenomena against the backdrop of a theoretical framework. Meriam (1998) states that

qualitative case studies in education are often framed with concepts, models and theories. An

inductive method is then used to support or challenge theoretical assumptions. Since” meaning”

is of essential concern to the qualitative approach (Bodgan and Biklen, 2003),the participant’s

perspective on their own conception of practice will be the focus. The study adapted a case study

design to provide a plan for the research. Preissie (1993:30) states that the research design

involves deciding on what the research purpose and questions would be; what information most

appropriately will answer specific research questions, and what strategies are most effective for

obtaining.
The researcher used qualitative and quantitative research methods based on a case study for this

research. Qualitative methods are more concerned with understanding the meaning of social

phenomenon and focuses on links among a larger number of attributes across relatively few

cases. It emphasizes personal experiences and interpretation over quantifications. Quantitative

methods on the other hand are concerned with attempts to quantify social phenomena and collect

and analyze numerical data and focus on the links among the smaller number of attributes across

relatively few cases. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches involve a systematic

interaction between theories and data.

In conducting this study, the researcher used also a narrative or descriptive approach for the

phenomena understudy. It considered both independent and dependent variables that influences

other issues in the study and dependent variables are those that are influenced by the counter

party variables under observation.

Secondly, it used a descriptive research design because this study relied on both qualitative and

quantitative methods of inquiries and also as useful tools for collecting people’s attitudes,

opinions, habits or issues of the phenomena in the selected towns and provinces in which the

Branches of New Hope Bible Church exist in Zambia (Kombo and Tromp, 2006).

3.4 STUDY SITE

3.5 TARGET POPULATION

A population is a group of individuals, objectives or items from which samples are taken for

measurements (N’gandu, 2006).

The target population of this study consisted of key stakeholders concerned with the

development of church leaders in Zambia. These included: New Hope Bible Church leaders
Theological Seminaries, Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, New Hope Bible Church members

and local Bible Colleges. The population was sampled and interviewed in order to collect the

relevant and adequate information for the successful completion of the study. The target

population was estimated to be 7500. This population was huge enough to successfully anchor

the study under observation and yield representative results.

3.6 SAMPLE SIZE

Phiri (2006) defines a sample as a finite part of statistical population whose properties are

studied to gain information about the whole. However, the sample may imply the number of

individuals, groups chosen from the population for the investigation of the phenomena in the

study.

In this study, the sample size consisted of 140 participants broken down as follows; Ministry of

Religious Affairs and National Guidance (5), New Hope Bible Church leaders (25); Evangelical

Fellowship Of Zambia ( 20) , New Hope Bible Church members (40), Theological Seminaries

(10), Bible Colleges (10), Pentecostal Association of Zambia (15) and Zambia Institute of

Human Resource (5).However, the population was sampled and interviewed in order to collect

the relevant and adequate information for the successful completion of the study. The target

population was estimated to be 6000.

The researcher used simple random sampling and purposive sampling methods during the

process of data collection from this set of respondents. Sampling is essentially a technical device

used to select, in an appropriate way, a small and restricted set of persons from which the actual

information was drawn in order to make the necessary inferences about the whole population.
Simple random sampling in which the sample is selected in such a way as to afford every

element in the population an equal opportunity of being selected for the study.

Purposive sampling is one in which the researcher uses his or her judgment to choose the

elements that are required in a particular sample or that which would from a representative

sample. Simple random sampling was used in order to avoid bias in selecting the respondents to

be included in the study. The randomness is important in eliminating bias because bias destroys

the validity of the study.

In terms of purposive sampling, the researcher chose the main characteristics to be considered in

the study beforehand. This technique of sampling allowed the researcher to select only those

respondents with relevant information to be included in the survey. In other words, the researcher

did not want o waist time screening all the people, but went straight to those who were relevant

to the study.

3.7 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

Sampling, according to Sidhu (2006), is the process of selecting a sample from the population

such that the selected group contains elements representative of the characteristics found in the

entire group. Its merits include greater accuracy, speed, convenience and saves time. Sampling is

essentially a technical device used to select, in an appropriate way, a small and restricted set of

persons from which the actual information was drawn in order to make the necessary inferences

about the whole population Simple random sampling a technique in which the sample is selected

in such a way as to afford every element in the population an equal opportunity of being

Sampling is essentially a technical device used to select, in an appropriate way, a small and
restricted set of persons from which the actual information was drawn in order to make the

necessary inferences about the whole population selected for the study. The researcher used

simple random sampling and purposive sampling methods during the process of data collection

from this set of respondents.

Purposive sampling is one in which the researcher uses his or her judgment to choose the

elements that are required in a particular sample or that which would from a representative

sample. Simple random sampling was used in order to avoid bias in selecting the respondents to

be included in the study. The randomness is important in eliminating bias because bias destroys

the validity of the study. In this study, New Hope Bible Church leaders (25), Evangelical

Fellowship of Zambia (20) and New Hope Bible Church members (40) were subjected to simple

random sampling in order to collect the relevant and adequate information for the successful

completion of the study.

In terms of purposive sampling, the researcher chose the main characteristics to be considered in

the study beforehand. This technique of sampling allowed the researcher to select only those

respondents with relevant information to be included in the survey. In other words, the researcher

did not want o waist time screening all the people, but went straight to those who were relevant

to the study and these included potential participants, for instance; from Ministry of Religious

Affairs and National Guidance (5), Theological Seminaries (10), Bible Colleges (10), Pentecostal

Association of Zambia (15) and Zambia Institute of Human Resource (5) respectively.
In terms of purposive sampling, the researcher chose the main characteristics to be considered in

the study beforehand. This technique of sampling allowed the researcher to select only those

respondents with relevant information to be included in the case study. In other words, the

researcher did not want to waste time screening all the people, but went straight to those who

were relevant to the study.

3.8.0 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

In this study, observation, in-depth individual interview, and focused group discussions were

used as instruments for data collection.

3.8.1 IN- DEPTH INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEW

An in-depth interview guide is a qualitative research tool comprising a set of questions which is

used by a researcher to gather detailed oral information from the respondents (Mouton, 2005).

Interview guides are used because they are flexible, and enables the researcher to get a complete

and comprehensive information right at the source. Also, Sidhu (2006) defines semi structured

interview as a two–way technique which permits an exchange of ideas and information. It

involves the collection of data through direct interview between the interviewee and the

interviewer. Its merit is that, it promotes rapport and opportunity to give opinions on the subject

matter by the interviewee. In this study, semi structured interviews were used to collect data

from the senior church leaders and ordinary church members.

3.8.2 FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

A focus group discussion is a research instrument that gathers data from the individual who

certain characteristics, which is relevant for the study. It has the merit of providing a lot of

information quickly, good for identifying and exploring beliefs, ideas or opinions from the group

of people in a community (Kombo and Tromp, 2006:95).In this research, the focus group
discussion was used to the relevant information collect information from the church leaders and

members.

3.8.3 STRUCTURED QUESTIONNAIRE

A questionnaire is a research instrument that gathers data over a large sample and comprises a

series of carefully and thoughtfully prepared questions by the researcher (Kombo and Tromp,

2010). A questionnaire was administered using both closed and open ended questions to collect

data from the church leaders and ordinary church members. A questionnaire was also used

because it was easily presented to each participant in exactly the same way to reduce the role and

influence of the researcher. In addition, data obtained from the questionnaire could easily be

analyzed. However, this research used structured questionnaires to collect data from the church

leaders and ordinary church members

3.8.4 OBSERVATION SCHEDULE

The observation schedule will also be used by the researcher to physically see the areas of

interest and make impression in relation to the information being looked for in the study. The

information to be collected will be used for the purposes of data triangulation. Data triangulation

is a technique that involve the usage of different sources of information in order to increase

validity of the study ( Olsen,2004).This was used done to enhance the validity of the information

collected from the other sources instruments.

3.8.5 DOCUMENT ANALYSIS

Document analysis usually refers to scrutiny of written texts and materials that relates to the

topic in question (Taylor, 2009).I n research, documents are widely used because they offer

evidence and comprehensive data which is largely reliable and representative and is prone to

minimum changes. It can be used to describe and formalize the relation between qualitative and
quantitative research work, or as a strategy for promoting the quality of research work, or as an

approach to carry out quantitative work. In other words, it can be outlined as the process of

combining different methods of data on the ground of the theoretical perspectives, which are

applied to the data. Therefore, this research made use of document analysis to critically compare

the evidence done by other scholars on the research topic and harmonise it with the data

collected to establish the authentic information.

3.8.6 VALIDITY

Validity refers to the degree to which the test measures what it is intended to measure

(Aggarwal, 2015). In this study, the researcher employed various research tools to collect

different information in order to increase the validity of the data.

3.8.7 RELIABILITY

Sidhu (2007) outlines reliability as the accuracy of the statistics to be measured. In this study,

triangulation of data collected was executed by means of qualitative and quantitative methods to

enhance the accuracy of the results for the issues understudy.

The reliability of the instruments was tested by carrying out pilot study in New Hope Bible

Church in five provinces Lusaka. A second test using the research instrument was executed

after one week and again the results yielded similar results which were analysed.

3.9 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE

Data collection refers to the collection of information to serve, or prove some facts. Its merit is

that it helps in the dissemination of accurate information and development of meaningful

programmes (Kombo and Tromp, 2006). However, in this research, data was collected from the

structured questionnaire, and semi interview schedules by quantitative and quantitative means

and also data from the senior church leaders, church leaders and ordinary church members were
selected using the purposive sampling method using interviews schedule and focused group

discussion.

3.10 DATA ANALYSIS

Data analysis has been articulated as the manipulation of the collected data for the purpose of

making inferences that reflect the interests, ideas and theories that initiated the research

(Ng’andu, 2013). Additionally, Babbie (2004) defines data analysis “as three linked sub-

processes: data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing verification”. Cooper and

Schindler (2003) describe it as the reduction of accumulated data to manageable size, developing

summaries, looking for patterns and applying statistical techniques. In business, research the

study often demands the analysis of the relationship between two variables. For this study, data

collected was analyzed using both tables and figures. Qualitative data were analyzed using

attributes which are descriptive in nature while quantitative data were analyzed using variables

which were measurable and quantifiable using Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and

Microsoft-Excel to generate charts, tables, and graphs for this study. The data analysis tools in

the study were mainly tables and figures because these were not complicated to use and were

cheaper.

using Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft-Excel to generate charts,

tables, and graphs for this study. And qualitative data was analyzed using themes.

3.11 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

According to the Cavan, (1977), ethics has been defined as:

“A matter of principled sensitivity to the rights of others. Being ethical limits the choices we can

make in the pursuit of truth. Ethics stipulate that respect for human dignity is better, even if, in

the extreme case, the respect of human nature leaves one ignorant of human nature”.

A social scientist generally has responsibility not only to their professions in search for

knowledge and quest or truth, but to preserve their dignity as human beings. Such as ethical

behaviour, also for the subjects they depend on for their work. Social researchers must take into

account the effects of the research on participants, and act in such a way as whatever the specific

nature of their work. However, privacy, anonymity, confidentiality, and betrayal should be

respected when using respondents or participants in a research project.

In this study, therefore the researcher ensured that consent from the research ethics committee at

Logos University and New Hope Bible Church Headquarters from the General Overseer in

Lusaka District was sought before carrying out the research in New Hope Bible Church in

Zambia.

The researcher also respected the human rights of free choice of the participants and the

informed consent to be completed before carrying out any interviews. Anonymity was rendered

to all participants and those who wish to withdraw from the research were permitted as it was

their right. Also, the researcher did not force the participants if they were not willing to

participate in the study. Confidentiality was also strictly observed and all the data collected were

used for academic purposes.

3.12 SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER

Chapter three discussed the research method, research design and site of the study It also

highlighted the target population, the sample size, and sampling procedures, research tools, data
collection procedure, data analysis, and ethical considerations. Next is the discussion of the

findings in chapter four.