0.2 Research design and methodology  (Page 5/6)

The use of recording devices during interviews has its advantages and disadvantages. I am of the opinion that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages and agree with Patton (1989; 137) who asserts that the tape recorder is indispensible to increasing the accuracy of data collection and allows the interviewer to be more attentive to the interviewee, however it does not eliminate the need for taking notes. Saidman (1991; 70) concurs when he states that there is no question in his mind that in-depth interviews must be tape recorded – the researcher has to transform these spoken words into written texts.

On this basis nine interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. Observational field notes were taken which described the setting, gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice and general body language [Henning, et al (2004; 73)].

Data analysis

Qualitative data analysis is primarily an inductive process of organising the data into categories and identifying patterns among the categories [McMillan and Schumacher (2001; 461)]. Most qualitative researchers employ an interpretivist / subjective style rather than a technical / objective style. The criteria for deciding which form/s the data analysis to undertake are governed by both fitness for purpose and legitimacy – the form of data analysis must be appropriate for the kinds of data gathered. Patton (1989; 144) concurs when he states that analysis is the process of bringing order to the data, organising what is there into patterns, categories and basis descriptive units. The different bases of epistemology give rise to a wide variety of methods of analysing data and unlike quantitative research, data analysis can take place before the data collection process has been completed – the researcher can begin the analysis even during the interview process.

During the course of the interview ideas of analysis and interpretation were recorded in the observational field notes. Many proponents of qualitative methodologies agree that this overlapping of data collection and data analysis improves both the quality of the data collected and the quality of the analysis – however the researcher has to be careful that the initial interpretations do not bias subsequent data collected.

The method adopted for data analysis was qualitative description as outlined in Patton (1989; 147), that is a pure description of the programme and the experiences of the people in the programme – to inform the reader what happened and what it was like from the participants point of view to have been in the programme. It provides a holistic picture of what happened. According to Neuman (2001; 34) the description must be sufficiently detailed to transport the readers to the context within which the investigation took place – this allows for multiple interpretations and for readers to make their own inferences.

McMillan and Schumacher (2001; 467) state that inductive analysis means that the categories and patterns emerge from the data rather than being imposed on the data prior to data collection. They further enumerate the sources used to classify and organise data: