2.7 Conclusion
This chapter has reviewed literature regarding domestic
violence. The literature review itself concentrated on the overview of
violence. It has defined domestic violence and highlighted its different forms,
causes and consequences in the family and in society. It discussed the context
in which domestic violence is cultural. It also dealt with the prevalence of
domestic violence and finally, the chapter connected power, masculinity and
GBV. The aim of reviewing this literature was to discover the links that exist
between men's domestic violence and the reasons that fuel it. Evidence has
indicated that men resort to violence in the home because they want it and not
by accident.
Nonetheless, the literature review has shown that violent
men, mostly, apply violence in the home as a better way to resolve contentions.
This is culturally accepted and supported by society as a natural way for men
to assert power to and control members of the family. A society that is male
dominated fosters masculinity based on power and requires women to be
considered as inferior. The connection between superiority, maleness and GBV is
real as men think this helps them become more respected. This is the prevailing
principle of men's domestic abuse that underscores some of the underlying
social roots of domestic violence in society.
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH APPROACHES
3.1 Introduction
This chapter highlights the different methods and procedures
that the researcher used for designing the research project, how data was
collected, and the research sample. The chapter also draws attention to issues
of ethics as well as the research's limitations.
The researcher was motivated to implement a qualitative
research design because it is very effective in gaining deep, original meanings
and being able to observe interactions. This method allowed him to obtain rich,
in-depth data regarding beliefs and attitudes of male domestic violence in
South Kivu.
3.2 Approaches for data collection and procedure
3.2.1 Approaches for data collection
For data collection, this research used a qualitative method
with focus groups and in-depth interviews. To Strauss and Corbin (1992:17),
qualitative methods are a generic word for investigative approaches that reach
conclusions without statistical process or the kind of study that reaches
findings via existent social situations in which factual interests are
displayed in a natural context. Using such methods in the current research
infers that they are portrayed as anthropological and naturalistic. This
allowed the researcher to assemble data that focused on South Kivu men's
perspectives regarding their beliefs and attitudes towards domestic violence in
the province. In this way, Adler and Adler (1987:5) add that such a tactic
scrutinises the qualities and characteristics of phenomena by observing the
respondents in their natural settings, interactions and interviews. This is
confirmed by Patton (2002:39) and Baily (1997:22), who explain that the aim of
a naturalistic approach is to gain a perspective of what occurs where people
live. This, in turn, is intended to keep the research from influencing the
results. Because the phenomena under study are complex, the researcher did not
think it would have been possible to answer the research questions using a
quantitative approach. Subsequently the researcher used a qualitative approach
for the simple reason that it remains a good tool that can empirically verify
these facts by taking into account the respondents' points of view (Punch,
2005:35 and Marlow, 1998:13). Qualitative
methods deal with the description and understanding of the
subjective meaning of people's attitudes and beliefs that support their stories
(Grinnell, 1988:186). It is in this context that this research project uses an
exploratory design by interviewing men who may have caused domestic violence,
which generated awful consequences in the homes of South Kivu.
Qualitative research was selected to help the researcher to
understand South Kivu males' beliefs and attitudes toward domestic violence.
The role that variables play in the natural context in which they are
considered at the moment of research is of importance. In valuing the
relationship between the different variables in research, Baumgarter and
Clinton (1998:46) believe that in collecting detailed information with
open-ended questions, the researcher would be able to quote directly the
respondents' statements. As a result, this may lead him to become important in
research, which is different from quantitative procedures. On the other hand,
when the researcher is using quantitative methods, he collects information
using objective methods that provide data about relations, comparisons and
predictions, which removes him from the research (Smith 1983:91).
No case is ever perfect. Qualitative approaches are
criticised for being too subjective as they are not rigid with their techniques
(Becker, 1996:21 and Adler and Adler, 1987:32). In the minds of Miles and
Hubertman (1999:56), qualitative methods may depart from the original reasons
for the research as responses may change the nature of the study.
Alternatively, Patton (2002:103) disagrees that qualitative investigation
supplies richer and more valid data compared to the information that is
obtained via quantitative research tools. As to Blaxter et al. (2001:58), the
importance is that `a good qualitative research study can help to understand a
situation that would otherwise be enigmatic or confusing'.
As a consequence, qualitative research is vital in
documenting oral and written data provided by the informants. In fact, Stebbins
(2001:76) is convinced that qualitative approaches facilitate the collection of
more detailed data on a given topic than any other research approach. This
facilitation is favoured by the collaboration that is established between the
researcher and the respondents in a qualitative research. This can actually
grant more impartiality during the process of collecting the needed data on a
given subject. In the same
line with Boas (1943:312), qualitative approaches allow the
researcher to infer some information. Understanding the data gives the
researcher a greater image of the problem, which allows him to enrich the
natural and basic data into an explanation. Essentially this better fits the
research in this study as a qualitative design offers a good opportunity for
the researcher to collect more detailed data (Pamela and Richard, 1994:44). The
picture, or a clear understanding of the context, aids in understanding the
data considering that the other empirical information provides cross-reference
and validation.
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