Data collection methods

The data collection method that is used in the present study is interviewing. There were 12 participants interviewed in Iraq. The selection of the sample was not random. It was purposeful selection of sample. This is because the study aims to survey the meaning which the participants added to the experience of school-building process in post-conflict Iraq. The participants were the stakeholders of the school building delivery process in post-conflict Iraq. They were interviewed at different places but mostly in their offices. The interviews were conducted in Arabic and then translated into English. The questions of the interview were created from three sources: The research objectives and questions, the literature review and the researcher’s experience.

Semi-structured interview method was used in this study. The features of this data collection method are that (Merriam, 2009):

 Questions are a mix of those of less and more structured interviews  Questions are used flexibly

 Specific data are required from all the participants

 The largest part of the interview is guided by questions that are in need to be explored In the semi-structured interviews, while the researcher tries to ask the participants a specific set of questions, he/she allows some freedom to them to express what they think about the phenomenon under investigation. Interviewees usually have information or knowledge which has not been thought of in advance by the researcher (Hesse-Biber, 2016). When the interviewees start to disclose this information, the researcher in the semi-structured

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interviews develops the conversation to elicit more data about the study subject. It has been believed that in a qualitative research an interview is a type of conversation between co- participants. During this conversation, information flows back and forth in the course of the interview. While the researcher prepares a set of questions for the participants, his/her main concern is listening intently and obtaining cues from the participants. The very heart of the qualitative research interview requires reflexivity which refers to the essential situational dynamics that are created between the interviewer and the interviewees and which influence the construction of knowledge (Hesse-Biber, 2016).

In the semi-structured interviews the researcher needs to carefully think how to select participants and why, what to ask and how to analyse data (Carla, 2013). The semi-structured interviews provide the opportunity for the researcher to elicit data relevant to his/her topic. Although the style in semi-structured interviews has been described as non-directive, the research questions guide and drive the procedures of the interview. The task of the researcher or the interviewer is to find balance between maintaining the process of the interview in a controlled way that guarantees answering research questions and giving the interviewees some freedom to talk and express their perspectives about the topic under study and bringing new insights about that topic. Preparing a good interview agenda can be helpful. The interviewer should establish a rapport with the interviewees. This can be done by asking more public questions and then moving to more personal questions. Using a stimulus to encourage the interviewees to talk is also a good idea. This stimulus can be a film, a newspaper or a piece of news (Carla, 2013).

In the present study, participants were selected purposefully and were contacted to arrange a time to be interviewed. The interviewer explained the goals and the aim of the research and focused on the problem of school building delivery process as a shared concern these days. The interviewees were interviewed in their offices and the interviewer’s identity and position helped a lot in ice breaking and establishing the rapport necessary for continuing the interviews. The interview started as a general discussion of the situation in Iraq and the urge to establish schools that protect youngsters from the dangers of the street and provide healthy shelters for them. The difficulties of achieving the processes of school building were discussed and then answering the questions started. They spoke in Arabic as the levels of spoken English were different and ranged between beginners to intermediate. Data were recorded and transcribed and then translated.

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3.13.1.Justification for adopting semi-structured interviews as a data collection method

As this study is a qualitative inductive multiple case study, semi-structured interviews are compatible with the research design which searches for data to socially construct knowledge from the participants’ perspectives and points of view on the study problem. Questionnaires in this case are not helpful because they yield general explanation of the study problem without providing an in-depth thorough in-detailed description. For this reason, semi- structures interviews were selected to provide data that allowed the researcher understand the study problem in-depth from experienced and people who had knowledge of the problem. Semi-structured interviews enable the researcher to ask follow-up questions and interrogate about something that is not understood. They also allow the researcher to ask more questions to clarify one point or another. Through the semi-structured interviews both the interviewer and the interviewees deeper understanding of the information exchanged.

The interview questions were grouped into four categories: Planning Stage, Organisation Stage, Implementing Stage and Legislative Stage. Legislative Stage was allocated a separate category because it is so essential. Legislations are a key term in any project so it is important for the stakeholders and policy makers and ministries to consider these legislations and reflect this in the project (Dudek, 2012; Winkel et al., 2007). However, it is worth mentioning that in all the stages of school building delivery process discussed in this thesis, legislation. Legislations decide what should be done in every stage and the in-depth goal of this is everyone’s safety and well-being starting from the builders to the end-users of the school ( Dudek, 2012). Legislations guide how schools should be built to be safe in the case of floods (Earthman, 2013). Legislations are also essential in planning and constructing such as the legislations on working conditions ranging from indoor smoking bans to the ergonomic qualities of the office furniture. Legislations are also there for administrative rules that affect the designer in carrying out business including those rules that rules regarding contracting and competition and which influence the choice of designers and contractors (Brooker & Weinthal, 2013).