Data collection methods

As the research was concerned with exploring the experience of having individual and group coaching, the data collection method that is most congruent with this is interviewing (Creswell, 2014). The study is concerned with the meaning each person constructed of their experience and in order to do this, a form of interaction between researcher and

participants was required (Seidman, 2013).

3.4.1 Semi-structured interviews

The data are, necessarily, highly personalised – each person had their own experiences, their own reflections on those experiences and will seek to construct meaning out of that experience and will additionally construct meaning through the process of conversation about that experience. As Vygotsky suggests, every word people use telling their story is a microcosm of their consciousness (Vygotsky et al., 2012). As such, semi-structured

interviews, which are non-standardized in nature and which can be adapted to suit the individual situation of each participant, were deemed the appropriate data collection vehicle (Seidman, 2013). As the participants comprised different nationalities (see Table 3.2) it was also necessary to adapt the language and to have freedom to explain

terminology to ensure understanding. The use of semi-structured interviews also allowed the order of the questions to be changed as required – so that respondents were not repeating answers that they had made in previous questions. Further, semi-structured interviews also enabled probing questions to be asked and for additional questions to be posed as a consequence of some answers given to questions – these could not be

54 anticipated prior to the interviews taking place. Given the nature of the research enquiry, it was essential to have the ability to probe further for meaning and understanding, to ensure the subjective nature of the topics were expressed in detail (Seidman, 2013).

The research design required AD participants who have completed the AD programme in 2013 - 2014, to take part in two in-depth interviews each lasting approximately an hour to an hour and a half across two stages. The interviews were conducted either in person, via webcam or over the telephone as I am based in the UK and participants are based in the UK, US, Singapore, Pakistan, China, Mexico, Belgium, Poland and New Zealand. Consent was gained from each participant prior to being interviewed and signed consent forms were collected from each participant (Appendix Three). Whilst there is no definitive answer to the question how many qualitative interviews is enough – Baker and Edwards (2012) have observed that the amount can vary between six and 100, depending on the nature of the questions to be asked and the nature of the respondents (Baker and Edwards, 2012). As the purpose of the interviews was to understand the perspectives of different stakeholders involved in the individual and group coaching, a sample of 15 female leaders, two coaches and two Steering Team Members was judged to be appropriate according to best practice in interviewing (Baker and Edwards, 2012). The interviews were conducted either face to face, via telephone or via webcam – the use of these various modalities was needs-driven given the global nature of the interviews and the time and distance differences between interviewer and interviewee. Interviewing via telephone and face to face as interview mechanisms do not result in any significant differences (Sturges and Hanrahan, 2004). It was also felt that telephone interviewing or via Skype could also overcome any lack of willingness to make time for meeting face to face (King and Horrocks, 2010).

The interview questions were developed according to best practice in qualitative interviewing (Seidman, 2013) and included open-ended, non-directive questions which enabled inductive and exploratory responses and further questions to be asked. In addition, my experience, role and professional practice informed the nuance of the

questions to ensure they were pertinent and focused on eliciting participants’ responses in a full and open way (Seidman, 2013). As such there was unavoidably an element of bias to the questions, however this was reduced as much as possible (Bryman and Bell, 2015). The questions formed the AD Participant Interview and a pilot interview was conducted to ensure appropriate questions were asked and the research objectives met (Baker and Edwards, 2012). Revisions were then made to the interview and the AD Participant Interview, First Interview Schedule was developed (See Appendix Five). This interview

55 explored the female leaders’ experiences of individual and group coaching and their

reflections of the overall experience of the AD initiative. Additionally, the interviews explored how the two types of coaching impacted on AD female leaders’ work and lives outside of work and sought to explore any organisational aspects of context surrounding the coaching that may have affected their experience, such as line manager involvement.

This semi-structured approach allowed the questions to be delivered through a conversational and relatively informal approach (Eriksson and Kovalainen, 2008). This approach to data collection has been used consistently in both individual and group coaching studies, as it is appropriate for eliciting information in a manner that is congruent with the experience being studied (Grant et al., 2010).

3.4.2 Stages of interviews

The interviewing approach was conducted in four stages and the analysis conducted after each stage. Figure 3.5 shows the interview stages and the analysis process.

56 Figure 3.5: Stages of interviewing and phases of data analysis

57 Stage 1 Interviews – Fifteen female leaders who participated in Cohort One of AD were interviewed approximately three to four months following completion of the programme.

They experienced both individual coaching and attended at least four out of the six group coaching sessions. Following these interviews, initial thematic coding (Buetow, 2010) was conducted resulting in the identification of several key themes that warranted further exploration and enquiry. These formed the basis for the AD Participant Second Interview Schedule (Appendix Six) and for the subsequent interview developed for the coaches and Steering Team members. These interview schedules were piloted prior to being used with female leaders, coaches and Steering Team members.

Stage Two Interviews – The female leaders were interviewed for a second time, approximately eight to nine months after completion of the coaching, which was approximately five months after participating in their first interview. These interviews followed the AD Participant Second Interview Schedule (Appendix Six) and the leaders were asked to reflect on their experience of participating in the individual and group coaching looking back after eight to nine months. The second interviews also explored in more depth the areas and themes identified from the first interviews. These second interviews

contained questions that were open and general, as well as some questions that could be considered leading. The purpose of these questions was to check the reliability of the responses as well as deepening the exploration into specific areas of interest (Kvale and Brinkmann, 2009).

Stage Three Interviews – A sample of two members of the Steering Team were interviewed using the Steering Team and Coaches Interview Schedule (Appendix Seven). These

interview questions were piloted with one Steering Team member before being finalised and used with two, different Steering Team members. The purpose of these Stage Three interviews was to gain another perspective on the research unit of analysis – that of the coaching stream of the AD initiative. The focus of these interview questions was the organisational impact and experience of the two types of coaching and how these were used as developmental mechanisms in the organisation. Previous research into coaching and organisations informed the choice and direction of questions (Bond and Seneque, 2012).

Stage Four Interviews – A sample of two Coaches was interviewed using the Steering Team member and Coach Interview Schedule (Appendix Seven). These interview questions were piloted with one Coach before being finalised and used with two, different Coaches. One

58 Coach had two individual clients who were female leaders on AD and both Coaches were Group Coaches on AD. The purpose of these Stage Four interviews was to gain another perspective on the initial themes that were reported by the AD participants in the Stage One interviews. Including Coaches in the research added a further perspective to both the individual and group coaching experience and were a further source of data for the research content, thereby deepening the richness of the data (Stake, 1995; Grant et al., 2010).

The interviews ranged in time taken from the shortest being 40 minutes to the longest being nearly 90 minutes long. Some interviewees were very keen to describe their experiences in great detail, resulting in very few prompts being required from the interviewer. Others were more taciturn and appeared to want to respond more to questions, rather than talk freely about the experience. As such, various open-ended questions and prompts were deployed to ensure as rich a picture of their experience as possible was gathered and that suited the exploratory nature of the study (Saunders et al., 2011).