Field Methods for Academic Research: Interviews, Focus Groups & Questionnaires

Contents

Contents

How to use this book

Preface

Chapter One: Effective interviewing for academic research

1.1      Introduction

1.2      Planning of an interview

1.3      Arriving for and starting the interview

1.4      How to capture the data

1.5      The interview schedule

1.6      The interview

1.7      Field notes

1.8      Photographs

1.9      Interview assistants

1.10      The impromptu interview

1.11      Unexpected challenges

1.12      Advantage: semi-structured interviews

1.13      The interview alone

1.14      Interview success

1.15      Telephone, video and internet interviewing

1.16      Group interviewing

1.17      Interviewing in a different language

1.18      Protection of informants and its limitation

1.19      Non-disclosure agreements

1.20      The transcript

1.21      Traps to avoid

1.22      Reflections on interviewing

1.23      Conclusions and summary

1.24      End note

Exhibit 1.1: Interview Protocol

Exhibit 1.2: Letter of Introduction

Exhibit 1.3: Research Participants’ Information Document

Exhibit 1.4: Letter of Informed Consent

Exhibit 1.5: An example interview schedule

Exhibit 1.6: A letter of thanks

References

Useful websites

Chapter Two: Focus groups for academic research

2.1      Introduction

2.2      Theoretical underpinning

2.3      When to use focus groups

2.4      General contextual background to the research question

2.5      Generating testable propositions or hypotheses

2.6      Eliciting issues and factors around a specific topic

2.7      Field testing or piloting a measuring instrument

2.8      Interpreting the findings of the research

2.9      Multiple voices

2.10      The sample and sampling frame

2.11      Size and time

2.12      Pre-existing groups

2.13      Evidence available from a focus group

2.14      The facilitator or moderator

2.15      Planning the focus group

2.16      Inter-organisational and intra-organisational focus groups

2.17      The focus group meeting

2.18      A field note to reflect on the focus group

2.19      Ethics committee

2.20      There are no right or wrong answers

2.21      Limited intervention of the facilitator

2.22      Virtual focus groups - telephone and online

2.23      Impromptu focus groups

2.24      Multiple focus groups

2.25      Focus groups in different languages

2.26      The output/outcome from a focus group

2.27      Challenges offered by focus groups

2.28      Issues of which to be aware

2.29      Has the focus group been successful?

2.30      Reflections on focus groups for academic research

2.31      Summary and conclusion

2.32      Traps to avoid

2.33      End note

Exhibit 2.1: Focus Group Protocol

Exhibit 2.2: Focus Group Discussion Questions

Exhibit 2.3: Letter/e-mail of invitation to join a focus group

Exhibit 2.4: Focus Group Welcoming Statement

Exhibit 2.5: Focus Group Participants’ Information Document

Exhibit 2.6: Focus Group Letter of Informed Consent

Exhibit 2.7: Form to facilitate the field note including reflection required after the focus group meeting

Exhibit 2. 8: A letter/e-mail of thanks for having participated in a focus group.

References

Useful websites

Chapter Three: Questionnaires for Academic Research

3.1      Definition

3.2      Philosophical underpinning

3.3      Strategic considerations

3.4      Different types of questionnaires

3.5      Questionnaire design options

3.6      Pre-made versus bespoke questionnaires

3.7      The range of issues needed to be considered in designing a questionnaire

3.8      Types of research

3.9      The route to a competent questionnaire

3.10      Scales used in questionnaires

3.11      Working through the questionnaire preparatory issues

3.12      Example of Questionnaire Preparation

3.13      Building the questionnaire items

3.14      Constructing the questionnaire

3.15      Pre-coded questions

3.16      Continuing building the questionnaire

3.17      Moving to hypothesis testing

3.18      Other parts of the questionnaire

3.19      Personal details about the informant

3.20      Common vocabulary

3.21      The nature of open questions

3.22      Screening questions

3.23      Layout of the questionnaire

3.24      Incentives for responding

3.25      Field testing a questionnaire

3.26      Different languages

3.27      Questionnaire and Informed Consent

3.28      Generic issues with questionnaires

3.29      Specific questionnaire types

3.30      ServQual Questionnaires

3.31      Delphi Study Questionnaires

3.32      Reliability and validity

3.33      Software to develop a questionnaire

3.34      Software for data analysis

3.35      Digital data

3.36      Summary

3.37      End Note

Exhibit 3.1: Example of a Questionnaire Protocol

Exhibit 3.2: Letter/email of invitation to complete a questionnaire

Exhibit 3.3: Questionnaire Informants’ Information Document

Exhibit 3.4: Letter of Informed Consent

Exhibit 3.5: A letter/email of thanks

References

Useful websites

Chapter Four: Responsibility for data concerning people

4.1      Keeping of data

4.2      Data responsibility in academic research

4.3      Introduction to data protection legislation

4.4      DPA Principles

4.5      The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

4.6      Data crossing boundaries

4.7      Implications for the researcher

4.8      Anonymising data

4.9      Security

4.10      Summary

References

Chapter Five: Data Management – make writing up easier

5.1      Introduction

5.2      Some details you are

5.3      Directory and file names

5.4      Directories and subdirectories

5.5      Merging files or combining data

5.6      Backing up data

5.7      Reference management software

5.8      Summary and conclusion

Appendices

Appendix 1: Qualitative Questionnaire

Appendix 2: The Measurement of IS Effectiveness

Appendix 3: Delphi Study

Appendix 4: Interviews as ‘talk tangos’

Appendix 5: A short note on two limitations of questionnaires

Appendix 6: A short note on samples and saturation in qualitative research provided by Dr K Grant

Glossary of Terms

Index

Index

How to use this book

This book has been written to help researchers improve their technique with regards interviewing, focus groups and questionnaires.

These techniques are addressed in three separate chapters and thus there is no suggestion that the reader should begin reading this book from the beginning to the end. The three data or evidence collection techniques are addressed from the point of view of having decided to use them through to the point at which the data has been captured and is ready for analysis. There is no discussion of the alternative forms of analysis available.

The forms and letters required to support the research activities described in this book are available on the Academic Publishing website: http://www.academic-publishing.org

Preface

Interviewing, focus groups and questionnaires are often recommended as appropriate methods of data collection for academic research in the business and management field of study. And sometimes this is correct. However research degree candidates are often expected to either know how to use these techniques or they are expected to pick up the knowledge and skills required as they proceed. This is probably due to the fact that every day we see someone being interviewed on television, we hear about focus groups in the news, and we are regularly required to complete questionnaires for all sort of issues.

But academic interviewing is quite different to what is regularly portrayed on television. Academic focus groups are often different to focus groups held for marketing and government surveys and the work required in designing, implementing and managing a questionnaire is really quite complex.

If these three field methods are not planned, implemented and managed correctly they will produce nothing of value and will result in much wasted time for the researcher.

This book looks closely at these three field methods and provides sound advice based on experience on how to work with these data gathering methods.

In addition this book supplies examples of research protocols, letters of introduction, letters of consent and some example questionnaires.

Dan Remenyi PhD

[email protected]

Chapter One - Effective interviewing for academic research

The art of conducting effective academic research interviews is not well understood and the practice of interviewing in the field is not always effective. Because nearly everyone has either experienced an interview or watched one on television it is often assumed that there is little to be learnt about an academic research interview. This is not correct. The researcher needs to create an interview protocol and use it as a guide during the interview. The researcher needs to project an empathic but formal image to the informant. A successful academic research interview can be a positive experience for both the researcher and the informant and produce insightful data which may be converted to an interview transcript which is suitable for academic analysis. The academic researcher always needs to be mindful that he or she is a guest of the informant and his or her organisation.

Introduction

In the context of academic research an interview is a formal technique whereby a researcher solicits verbal evidence or data from a knowledgeable informant. Verbal data or evidence may be obtained in a number of ways besides interviews. Focus groups, conversations, presentations, speeches live and pre-recorded are all potentially useful forms of verbal data. After the verbal evidence has been obtained the researcher will normally need to convert the record of the interview into a written transcript before analysis is performed, and the objective of the interview is to obtain insightful data for this purpose. An academic research interview is unlike any other type of interview such as an employment interview, an appraisal interview or a news broadcast interview. It is especially different to the celebrity interviews which are part of the current television culture. It is sometimes incorrectly thought that interviewing is simple and in fact a natural process, as we constantly see interviews on the television or hear them on the radio (Gubrium & Holstein, 2001). In reality competent academic interviewing is a skill which has to be learnt and improved by practice. The academic researcher will find it challenging to conduct successful interviews and therefore it is important to understand the issues involved and to carefully prepare for an interview (Silverman 1997). The product of an interview may be regarded as interviewer or researcher elicited or provoked data rather than naturally occurring data such as a report from an archive. This distinction needs to be made with care as a report from an archive could itself have been provoked by an incident.

There are several different types of interview and this chapter only addresses semi-structured face-to-face one-to-one interviewing.

Some academics regard an academic research interview as mostly an asymmetrical event where the objective of the researcher is to maximise the amount of data or evidence he/she can collect from the informant and thereby increase his/her likelihood of being able to answer the research question. In this view it needs to be remembered that the objective of the academic research interview is not to have an interesting dialogue with the informant but to collect evidence which will be produced in the form of an interview transcript that will be useful in answering the research question. Other academics are cognisant of the fact that the term interview is composed of the prefix inter and the noun view. With this in mind it is argued that the researcher and the informant co-create the responses to the questions and thus the data collected is not a simple list of facts. Kvale (1996) points out that there are two philosophical orientations which a researcher may take to interviewing. He refers to these as the miner and the traveller orientations. The miner orientation assumes that the informant is in possession of data or evidence which if it can be extracted by the researcher will lead to answering the research question. This is a distinctly positivist attitude towards research and data in particular. The traveller orientation does not make this assumption. As a traveller the researcher acquires data or evidence which may help directly answer the research question but is equally likely to provide more context and a greater understanding of a wider range of matters of interest. This view which represents an interpretivist orientation is usually seen as providing a wide range of knowledge or understanding.

Before addressing the practical issues related to effective interviewing it is important to mention that the data collected from an interview will at best be the recollections of the informant who may or may not recall the situation being discussed accurately. Some researchers will point out that it is difficult to use the word accurate in this context and they will argue that all memory is subjective and highly influenced by selective perception and selective retention. With this in mind interpretivists will argue that the best which can be obtained from an interview is the recollection of impressions of past event. In addition to this the data is being heard by the researcher who may or may not hear the answers correctly. In addition both the informant and the researcher will have interpreted what has been seen, heard or experienced through their own system of biases. Thus although interviewing is an increasingly important data or evidence collection technique, the data so obtained has to be viewed with caution. It is argued that observation is a better form of data collection than interviewing, but it is not possible to observe past events or for that matter past or current intentions. Where possible however, observation should be used together with interviewing. Wittgenstein (2001) supported this view when he said:-

If you want to know whether a man is religious don’t ask him, observe him.

Interviews are always open to the challenge of informant and researcher bias as well as their competence in recalling, recording and understanding the events discussed in the interviews. High quality interviewing is a craft skill which cannot be learnt from books or lectures. Craft skills are only learnt by working alongside an accomplished practitioner. Yet in general universities and business schools do not attempt to create environments in which this skill can be learnt. Researchers are expected to acquire the skills of interviewing through a process of learning by doing with actual informants. This of course leads to the problem that some interviews will not result in valid or reliable data.

Interviewing will not suit all researchers. To be a successful interviewer the researcher needs to be an outgoing and personable individual who can present him/herself in an empathic way. Introverted interviewers will have difficulty with this and would therefore probably be more comfortable using an alternative data collection technique.

Planning of an interview

Academic research interviews need to be planned if they are to be a success. Not only is it necessary to plan the content of the interview it is also important to plan the number and types of informants required for the study. It is not possible to establish numeric guidelines as to how many interviews should be conducted. Sometimes a small number will be adequate while on other occasions a larger number will be necessary. For an academic research degree it is usual to have a substantial number of informants. There is a theoretical answer to the question of how many interviews should be conducted, which is that interviewing should be continued until data saturation is reached. Data saturation may be defined as the point when additional interviews are not uncovering any new data or evidence. The challenge here is that it is quite subjective to state that no new data is being found and difficult to know how an objective benchmark could be used to justify the claim of data saturation.

With regards who is to be interviewed this chapter focuses on researchers who need to approach individuals and organisations with which they are not employed. Sometimes researchers are able to conduct interviews in-house where they work. In such a case access is often not so difficult and the arrangements to meet the informant may be a little less formal but the other issue discussed here will be relevant.

It can be quite difficult to obtain access to the most appropriate individuals. An introductory letter from the university pointing out that the research is worthwhile can be a distinct help. But often researchers have to compromise and interview those who are prepared to give them time for the interview. The primary issue here is that the researcher should try to reach the most appropriate people and this may take a considerable amount of time and it may be necessary to use indirect routes or indirect approaches such as approaching the gatekeepers. A gatekeeper is an individual or an organisation which can help a researcher obtain access to the right organisations and the most appropriate individuals within them. Gatekeepers may be auditors, consultants, professional institutions, chambers of commerce etc. Within an organisation personal assistants (PA) are often gatekeepers who have been known to jealously guard the time of their bosses and they have been known to simply refuse to pass on requests for interviews. Sometimes the only way of getting around the over protective PA is to accept an interview with another member of the organisation and then, when on the premises, try again to make contact with the intended individual. Sometimes an interview will be offered after business hours. If this is the only opportunity available it sometimes has to be accepted. However it is by no means ideal and should only be used if all other potential opportunities for meeting the informant won’t work. Be especially careful of agreeing to an interview over drinks as the informant’s attention may not be focused.

The detailed plan for an interview or a series of interviews is referred to as an interview protocol. Exhibit 1.1 at the end of the chapter shows an example of an interview protocol.

In order to be granted an interview the researcher will normally have approached the individual or informant some time in advance. A gatekeeper may have been involved in introducing the researcher to the organisation and to the informant to be interviewed. If a gatekeeper is involved then the researcher should make independent contact, preferably by voice, with the informant before turning up for the interview. Sometimes an informant may ask for a letter from the researcher on a letterhead from the University setting out what is being requested and occasionally a letter from the researcher’s supervisor or Head of Department will also be required. An example of such a letter is shown in Exhibit 1.2 at the end of the chapter. Research interviews normally take place on the premises of the informant and this will usually be in his or her office or workstation. Sometimes an informant will suggest that the interview be conducted in a meeting room or even in a refectory or canteen. The researcher may not have any influence over where the interview will take place. It is important to be on time for the interview and researchers will often plan to be at the reception of the organisation some 15 to 30 minutes before the appointed time in order not to be late due to travel delays. If the researcher is early then a period sitting in the reception of the organisation can provide an opportunity for useful observations of the organisation and the people who pass through the reception. Interesting observations made during a waiting period such as this should be recorded and these are referred to as field notes.

What constitutes an interesting observation will differ from situation to situation. Such observations may include noting the parking arrangements, the security procedures in place to handle visitors to the premises of the organisation, dress code, the quality of the reception area and the friendliness of the reception staff. It may also be worth recording if the informant was available on time or whether it was necessary to wait for the informant to be available. Whether refreshments are offered while waiting might also be worthy of note. These minor points may support the researcher in understanding the attitudes which will be obtained from the interview/s. In