J. The more the student is motivated and capable, the more the student is actually going to participate in the student participation project According to the theoretical framework,
7. Data collection and analysis
In this chapter, data collection and analysis is examined. In order to prepare the data for analysis, several research methods have been used to translate the data retrieved from document analysis and interviews to prepare for research analysis (Punch, 2000). According to different types of (descriptive and explorative) research questions, qualitative and quantitative research methods are required for data analysis. In this study, four research methods have been used to collect and analyze data: document analysis, interviews with project facilitators (see Appendix C), questionnaires that have been filled in by students (see Appendix D) and statistical analysis. According to the main research question and the sub-questions, descriptive and explanatory research questions have been answered.
Exploring available information on Internet in combination with the carried out inventarisation by Platform Corpovenista of student participation projects that have been already initiated in the Netherlands, is used as starting points to understand what types of student projects have been initiated since 2011. Platform Corpovenista has identified 37 projects, 11 of them which are investigated further and this gives opportunities for further study research. In this study, a distinction is made between three types of student participation projects (“Living”, “Living & Action” and “Action”). This study may play a value added role in examining other cases which have not been examined before and is focused on students that are willing to carry out activities in the same neighborhood as where they live in.
Based on available Internet information, document analysis (website of the project, policy documents, studies of participation projects and other articles that are found on Internet about the project) is carried out to collect useful information. The Internet has been consulted to collect available information about existing student participation projects. If the project has an official website, the site is used to collect further useful information. Some student projects have been in the news; media articles or social media content may be available. Otherwise, additional sources (other Internet websites, policy documents or scientific articles) have been examined to collect information. Document analysis is performed to get to know more about project characteristics and presence of project elements.
Besides document analysis, additional information is collected by interviewing project facilitators (for the interview list and answers, see Appendix C). To collect all information necessary to answer the research questions, each project has been visited to conduct an interview with one or more project facilitators. The following project facilitators have been interviewed:
Gwen Hofland (housing consultant WonenBreburg, facilitator of De Wijkstudent, Tilburg) and one active project student have been interviewed. Yoni Paridaans (coordinator/project leader BredeSchool Tilburg, facilitator of Wonen in Nieuw-Jeruzalem, Tilburg) and Jacoline Pijl (social worker ContourDeTwern, facilitator of Wonen in Nieuw-Jeruzalem, Tilburg) have been interviewed. Liora Eldar (ex-project manager Project Vooruit!, Amsterdam) has been interviewed. Sara Geerken (Coordinator Utrecht, Academie van de Stad Utrecht) has been interviewed. Finally, Harald Hilbrants and Chris Niemeijer (Municipality of Groningen, Department district coordination Old Quarters, facilitator of Studenteninzet Groningen) have been interviewed. The complete facilitator interview questions are listed in Appendix C. The complete interviews with project facilitators have been transcribed and are listed in Appendix E-I. Therefore, it is possible to read the complete interview and answers per project again. In the situation of interviewing two project facilitators at the same time: facilitators have answered and filled in one interview list in consultation with each other. Therefore, one single interview per project has been transcribed (based on facilitator consultation). Interviews have been conducted to get to know more about project characteristics, degree of
information provison, the motivation of students and the degree of student participation. The interview list and the corresponding answers have been converted to IBM SPSS Statistics 22.
Finally, questionnaires that have been filled in by students that took part in a project, have been analyzed to provide additional information to answer the research questions. Project facilitators have distributed the questionnaire among active students and have asked the students to fill in the list (see Appendix D). By interviewing students that took part in a project, the opinion of project facilitators is substantiated by the opinion of students. The questionnaire is focused on motivation and capability of students, to know what are important motivations for students participate and if they are capable to participate.
Of all selected student projects, a total of n=28 students have filled in the questionnaire, which is a study participation percentage of 34,6% (28 of 81 students). A total of 28 students: 5 Students of “De Wijkstudent”, 2 students of “Wonen in Nieuw-Jeruzalem”, 13 students of “Project Vooruit”, 4 students of “Nieuw-Hoograven” and 4 students of “Studenteninzet”. Students of “De Wijkstudent” have been exluded from the statistical analysis, due to the low number of students that have filled in the questionnaire. The student questionnaire is listed in Appendix D. Questionnaires for students have been filled in to get to know the motivations of students, to understand possible capability problems and the degree of student participation. The questionnaires and the corresponding answers have been converted to IBM SPSS Statistics 22. Operationalization of the interview answers is discussed in the next chapter.