Data collection

3.9.1 Semi-structured interviews.

Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. In contrast to postal and self-administered questionnaires, face-to-face interviews offer the opportunity to modify the line of enquiry, investigating underlying motives or thought-provoking responses, providing rich, informative material (Robson, 2011; Smith, 2008). Furthermore, semi-structured interviews offer the advantage of a reduction in interpersonal bias when compared with unstructured interviews, ensuring that no topics are missed but still allowing for responses that are not fixed (Langridge, 2004).

Criticisms of the use of semi-structured interviews are that data analysis is subject to bias (Langridge, 2004) and the researcher is required to have sufficient skill in facilitating the participants to talk openly whilst being aware of the impact of their behaviours upon the participant’s willingness to do so (Robson, 2011). These issues were addressed firstly by being mindful of the need for reflexivity to limit any bias, requiring the researcher to reflect upon their values and actions, and the effect that

these may have had upon the research process (Robson, 2011). Furthermore, aspects of the Professional Doctorate in Child, Community and Educational Psychology course, in addition to previous CAMHS and ongoing EPS placements, provided the researcher with the opportunity to develop rapport building skills and questioning techniques through consultation; as has the use of video enhanced reflective practice (VERP) (Todd, Landor & Kennedy, 2015) on placements.

As with all methods of data collection, semi-structured interviews have various advantages and disadvantages, however in this instance the technique was viewed to be the best method of data collection to address the research question.

3.9.2 Developing and interview schedule.

The aim of developing an interview schedule is to facilitate a comfortable interaction with the participant which will, in turn, enable them to provide a detailed account of the experience under investigation. (Smith et al., 2009, p. 59)

The research question and a range of topic areas to be covered were considered before draft interview questions were created. Initially, the draft interview questions related to attitudes towards mental health in schools and external agency involvement, particularly whether or not the participants had worked with EPs. Upon reflection in supervision, it was considered that including these avenues of exploration may be leading and reflective of preconceived notions about the pastoral leads experiences of identifying and supporting adolescent pupil mental health needs.

The initially detailed interview schedule was amended following discussions in supervision which occurred prior to the pilot interview. Whilst reassuring for the researcher, adhering too rigidly to such a detailed schedule may have intimidated the participant or failed to follow the participant’s flow of associations and perspectives (Burman, 1994). Conversely, a list of topic areas was considered, though it was important to acknowledge that in the moment, such an approach may risk the

researcher being influenced by their own perspective when asking questions or to be lost for words (Burman, 1994).

The interview questions decided upon aimed to reflect the essence of the research question, whilst allowing participants the freedom to express and reflect upon their experiences with minimal input from the researcher. The phrasing of each question was given careful consideration to ensure that they were sufficiently open ended, and that both leading and loaded terminology had been eliminated (Smith et al., 2009). Acknowledging that this may in fact lead the questions to be perceived as abstract, a series of prompts and probes were also created to facilitate participant responses.

The final draft schedule included four questions with several prompts (Appendix 12), the aim of which was to provide both enough structure to limit the researcher’s preconceptions whilst remaining open enough to elicit experience. The beginning of the interview process began with the participant being asked to view the WHO’s (2013) definition of mental health, which was printed onto a sheet of A4 paper and available to all participants during the interview process to support a shared

“funneling” towards more sensitive issues (Smith et al., 2009) by starting with a warm-up question about each participant’s job role to set them at ease (Kvale, 2007).

3.9.3 Pilot study.

A pilot interview was conducted with a fellow final year student on the doctoral training course who had previously worked as the sixth form pastoral lead for a mainstream secondary school. Notes were taken during both the interview and the discussion, but the pilot interview was not audio recorded. The data was not used in the analysis.

The aim of the pilot interview was to practise the amended interview schedule, with a particular focus on the timescale of the interview given the reduced number of

questions and whether the amended questions would be considered leading. Feedback from the pilot interview highlighted that the number of interview questions felt appropriate given the depth at which it is possible to talk about the experiences of identifying and supporting pupil mental health needs. Furthermore, the pilot participant stated that being provided with a definition of mental health was reassuring and it was not felt that the revised schedule was leading. Following the pilot interview, the amended schedule was learned to avoid potential distraction of the participant, researcher or both (Smith et al., 2009) during the interviews.

3.9.4 Conducting the interviews.

Once participation was agreed, the researcher and participant set a convenient date and time for the interview. Prior to beginning the interview and signing the consent form, the participants were given another copy of the information sheet to

read through, and were given the opportunity to ask any questions or express any concerns. Once the consent form was signed, demographic information was collected from participants regarding their gender, job role, length of time in their current role and any previous training on mental health. The audio recorder was then switched on and the semi-structured interview component began.

The duration of the interview session was one hour in total, 45 minutes was allocated to interviewing with the remaining 15 minutes for debriefing. The interviews took place in the participants’ schools, and the researcher ensured that the interview sessions were terminated after one hour given the demands on the participants’ time and risk of respondent fatigue (Robson, 2011). Following the two-week period provided for the participants to change their mind about including their data, the interviews were transcribed verbatim, retaining pauses, repetitions and emotional expressions by a transcription company (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009).