Qualitative Analysis
1. Why did Jim feel it necessary to analyze reflective material produced by students rather than just interview final-year students in his research? [25 Marks]
Jim found it necessary to analyze reflective materials by the students rather than interviews because;
- He had limited resources- interviews are very expensive to organize and carry out. The cost of invitations, recording instruments and stationary is very high. Mobilization of the interviewees would also involve financial obligations, which were rather hard to come by. Analyzing reflective materials by the students would only mean mental and time obligation. It looked like a cheaper and most convenient means of getting the information needed for his study
- The topic was complex. The topic at hand was rather complex, and he needed an in-depth understanding before he could make any conclusions. Interviewing the students would have involved the use of complex questions, which would require complex answers.
- Construction of interview questionnaires was a tough task for him. Due to the complex nature of the study, it was difficult to come up with the interview questions. He preferred he would rather use the reflective materials from the class.
- Time was a limiting factor. Interviewing the students would have meant the use of more time resources.
In the end, Jim realizes that the analysis of reflective materials did not answer his research questions adequately. He decided after all to go with the interviews.
2. What advice would you give to Jim in terms of addressing the issue of:
a. people shifting interview appointments, and [15 marks]
Jim is not having his ways with the interviews. Most of the students keep postponing their appointments. There are several ways to deal with this problem.
- He should schedule the interviews during weekends or holidays so as not to clash with the student's program. This will consider the fact that these are final year students and they must be very busy.
- He can schedule the interviews over cell phones or over Skype. This will ensure that the interviewees are not inconvenienced by interrupting their schedules
- He should use snow-balling technique to be successful. This means he should use the successful interviewees to be as mediators to convince their colleagues to make time the interviews.
- Jim can also employ the help of the most popular student in that class to act as his mobilize. Of course, this will come at a cost. The mobilize can easily convince their colleagues to make it to the interviews.
- Jim has an advantage of all the interviewees being classmates, he can schedule his interviews immediately after the class lecture until he interviews are complete.
- The structure of the interviews should be very interesting; it should be quite enjoyable so that those who have already been interviewed can positively recommend the interviews to their busy colleagues.
- The interviews should be as short as possible so that when he is making the interview request, he states the least time possible. Of course, no student would love to sit for three hours, worse still if they are final year students.
- He should not give up in trying reaching out to the students at all. He should be politely persistent (Longsfield, 2004).
b. the hostility he faced from some of the interviewees? [10 marks]
It is quite normal to face hostilities when conducting interviews especially to a stranger. In the scenario, we see that Jim have tried to reach the students earlier by himself but they declined. It is only after the module tutor from the business school had intervened that he was able to pin them down.
The following strategies were used when dealing with hostile interviewees;
- Jim should remain calm. He should compose himself and not show any emotions. When the hostile interviewee realizes he is calm, he or she will eventually cease to be hostile.
- Jim should choose his wordings carefully. He should not let the hostile interviewees tone push him to use harsh words. He should at all times use polite words and be as friendly as possible.
- Jim should try to get to know more about the interviewee. He should strike general conversations with the hostile interviewee and not be too formal. He should chat freely with the interviewee and refer to him or her with her first name.
- Jim should try to explain politely to the hostile interviewees the significance of their participation. He should notify them that the research is a noble course and that their participation is priceless. Once the interviewee has known this, they would be calmer and take the interview voluntarily.
- Jim should always smile and bear with the interviewees’ hostile attitude if there are no alternatives. Provided that the data provided deemed accurate and unbiased.
- In case the interviewee is very hostile and rude, Jim should walk away and leave the interview. There are always options to consider incase the students is too rude.
3. Why was it important to plan and manage the interviews in the way described? [25
Marks]
Jim managed the interviews by classifying it into three stages. The first stage he outlined the purpose of the meeting. The second stage is the actual interview. In the third and final stage, there was an open discussion.
The general importance of this structuring is;
- It is prudent and important to always have a plan when undertaking an interview. Remember without a plan, one is always planning to fail.
- A plan will always save time as the interview will flow logically from one stage to the next without unnecessary mix-ups.
Every stage will always have its own purpose and importance,
.
Importance of stage one
The importance of this stage includes;
- It provides both the interviewer and the interviewee to become acquainted.
- It is at this stage where the terms and conditions of the interview are clearly read out to the interviewee. Issues such as privacy, mode of interview and purpose of the interview are discussed (Lincoln & Guba, 2005).
- This is the stage that Jim should use to neutralize any hostility from the interviewee by informing him/ her what the interview is all about. In this stage, the Jim makes the interviewee as comfortable as possible.
- Stage 1 is important because if it is done correctly, the interview will remain relevant. In this stage, the interviewee is informed on the subject in question and what is expected of them.
- The first stage also provides a chance for Jim to clarify all the prejudgments that the interviewee already had before coming for an interview. Jim realizes that most interviewees became defensive when questions were asked. This should be cleared at this stage (Friesen, 2010).
Incase Jim skipped this stage; the interview will be a disaster.
Importance of the second stage;
This stage is the actual interview. This stage is the core of the activity. This stage will cover the research question if the students really utilized the experience from Work-based learning in their final years of the study.
- The segmentation of this stage is important in because it is allocated more time during the interview. Jim has to do more listening than talking in this stage (Donoghue & Siegel, 2005).
- At this stage, the questions are also structured chronologically so that the next question is a buildup of the previous question.
Importance of the final stage;
This is a free discussion stage of the interview. It has the following significance;
- It allows the interviewee to give extra opinions on the research questions that might have been missed in the actual interview.
- This stage also allows the Jim to seek other related information about WBL that would be necessary for the research.
- Finally, this stage is a platform for Jim to show his uttermost gratitude to the interviewee for taking his time and honoring the interview.
All in all, the importance of structuring the interview in three stages is down to having a plan which when implemented guarantees a successful interview (Kvale, 2006).
- Why was it valid for Jim to decide to interview tutors when originally he had not intended to? [25 Marks]
The interviews with the tutors were not in the initial plan. These interviews were planned after the students’ interviews. During the students interviews various issues that needed clarification.
Specifically the students had alleged that the tutors were responsible for their tendency of not using their WBL experience during their class work. Jim thought it wise to query this allegation. It was valid and within his rights as a researcher to find out the truth after all the research was meant to cover the subject.
The follow-up interviews by the lectures proved otherwise. The lecturers were adamant that the WBL experience was definitely used in the classroom. Through this unscheduled tutor interviews, the real problem as revealed. The students had the perception that the lectures did not want them to use the WBL experience because they were not explicitly ordered to do so.
These follow-up interviews of the tutors clearly influenced the discussions and the findings of the study. They were indeed valid. However, Jim would have to indicate in his objectives and research methods section of his report about these changes (Burley, 2005).
Reference
Boyce, C. & Neale, P. (2006). Conducting In-depth interviews: A Guide for Designing and Conducting In-depth Interviews for Evaluation Input Online. http://www.pathfind.org/site/DocServer/m_e_tool_series_indepth_interviews.pdf?docID=6301
Burley-Allen, M. (2005). Listening: The Forgotten Skill (A self-teaching guide). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Donoghue, P.J. & Siegel, M.E. (2005). Are You Really Listening? Keys to Successful Communication. Notre Dame, IN: Sorin Books.
Friesen, B. (2010). Designing and Conducting Your First Interview Project. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kvale, S. (2006). Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lincoln, Y.S., & Guba, E.G. (2005). Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Longsfield, Kim (2004). In-depth Interviews. Online. http://www.aidsmark.org/ipc_en/pdf/manual/14_Research-Toolkit-Ch6-In-Depth-Interviews.pdf
[22nd October 2014].
