Data Collection Methods

Data collection methods include interviews, focus groups, observations and questionnaires. The present study selects interviews and questionnaires, both of which will now be explained in turn.

4.5.1 Interviews

Interviews are a kind of conversation, a conversation with a purpose. The interview approach is commonly used for social research, possibly in part because the interview appears to be a quite straightforward and non-problematic way of finding things out. To

illustrate, it is ‘a situation where one-person talks and another listens: what could be easier; we do it all the time’ (Robson, 1999: 228).

Interviews can be divided into three types: ‘structured interviews’, using standardised questions, ‘semi-structured interviews’, which have a list of questions that may vary from interview to interview and ‘unstructured interviews’ (in-depth interviews), which explore general ideas in detail (Collis and Hussey, 2003; Saunders et al., 2003). In the following sections the three types of interviews are discussed in relation to their usage.

4.5.1.1 Structured Interview

The use of structured interviews is linked with survey research. This is probably the technique most people are familiar with because the approach relies upon the use of a questionnaire as the data collection instrument. According to May (1997: 110), the theory behind this method is that each person is asked the same question in the same way, so that any differences between the answers are held to be real differences and not the result of the interview situation itself. Given this, the role of the interviewer is to direct the respondent according to the sequence of questions on the interview schedule and if clarification is sought, then little or no variability in such elaborations should be apparent.

It is assumed that this method will permit comparability between responses. It relies upon a uniformed structure and a calculated number of people are interviewed, so that they are representative of the population for the purposes of generalisation. Resultant data are then collected and tested for response patterns from the target population through statistical analysis.

4.5.1.2 Semi-Structured Interview

Semi-structured interviews use focused and structured techniques. The questions are normally specified but the interviewer is freer to probe beyond the answers in a manner that would appear prejudicial to the goals of standardisation and comparability.

Information about age, sex, occupation, type of household and so on can still be asked in a standardised format. The interviewers who seek clarification and elaboration on answers can then record qualitative information about the topic. This enables the interviewer to probe beyond the basic answers and thus enter into extended dialogue with the interviewee.

May (1997:111) indicated that these types of interviews are said to allow people to answer more on their own terms than the standardised interviews permit; however, they still provide a greater structure for comparability over that of the focused interview. If researchers have a specific focus for their interviews, within a range of other methods employed in their study, the semi-structured interview may be useful. In the current research, in the third phase, 57 semi-structured interviews were held, with the banks’

executives, business and IT directors and consultants, to confirm and explain the quantitative results obtained.

4.5.1.3 Unstructured Interview or Focused Interview

The main difference of this type of interview from the structured and semi-structured interview is its open-ended characteristics. This provides the interviewees with an ability to challenge the preconceptions of the researcher and enables them to answer the questions in their own way.

It is sometimes called the ‘informal’, ‘unstandardised’ or ‘unstructured’ interview, May (1997:112) states that this method achieves a different focus for the following reasons:

‘First, it provides qualitative depth by allowing interviewees to talk about the subject in terms of their own frames of reference. By this I mean drawing upon ideas and meanings with which they are familiar. This allows the meanings that individuals attribute to evens and relationships to be understood on their own terms. Second, it thereby provides a greater understanding of the subject’s point of view’.

The focused interview clearly involves the researcher’s having an aim in mind when conducting the interview but the interviewee is freer to talk about the topic. The current research used an unstructured interview in the first phase. This involved an initial study where one or two interviews were held with the IT directors of each bank in the Saudi banking sector, consisting of the central bank and 11 commercial banks.

4.5.2 Questionnaire

The main data collection method in this current research uses a questionnaire technique.

This is one of the most common methods and is often used in business and management research (Saunders et al., 2003). Questionnaires have several advantages: they are extremely efficient at providing large amounts of data, at relatively low costs, in short periods of time (Robson, 2002), with the possibility to be completed at the respondents’

convenience, which allows them to consult their files and give a considered view on issues (Sarantakos, 1998), they cover a wide range of data variables (Dillman, 1978), offer a greater assurance of anonymity (Sarantakos, 1998), can encourage frankness when sensitive areas are involved (Robson, 2002), and finally, they are relatively easy

to analyse with quantitative data analysis techniques (Saunders et al., 2003).

Consequently, this research will benefit from these advantages; in particular, concerning the amount of data required and the greater assurance of anonymity which is needed in the banking sector.