Personal interviews were the main data collection technique used in this study.
These were, however, supported by the archival method of data collection. The interviewing technique was chosen over the other techniques because the face-to-face interview is said to be perhaps the most powerful and useful tool in research (Kerlinger, 1986). This technique has the advantages of ensuring a high response rate as well as offering respondents the opportunity to seek clarifications on the questions of the interview.
To ensure that the questions were not ambiguous, a pilot-test of the instrument was made. A number of health care decision-makers were interviewed at the pre-testing stage, and their views were sought. In addition, their responses to the interview questions were analysed to assess the quality of the instrument. This opportunity assisted greatly in structuring a good and clear instrument for the respondents.
Following the pre-test formal interviews were conducted using an interview guide (Neuman, 2000; Yin, 2003). An interview guide is a list of questions or general issues that the interviewer has decided to explore during each interview (Hoepfl, 1997). Interview guides aim to obtain consistent information from respondents without providing respondents with predetermined responses.
Respondents are at liberty to react to the interview questions posed without any suggested clue or response from the interviewer. Qualitative realistic details are sought from respondents through the use of interview guide in interview process.
Respondents can, however, give too much information, which may not be useful. In cases where too much information is given, it becomes the responsibility of the interviewer to sort and use only that information that addresses the concerns of the study. Interview guides are also helpful in ensuring good use of limited interview time. They make interviewing multiple subjects more systematic and comprehensive, and help keep interview interactions focused (Hoepfl, 1997).
The themes and the issues raised in the interview schedule for this study were mainly derived from an in-depth review of the literature on knowledge
management strategies and practices in organizations. These themes were also tailored to address the research questions guiding the study. Individuals from the selected health regions were contacted, and interviews scheduled to provide maximum convenience to the interviewees in order to minimise disruption and interruption to their working schedules. This motivated interviewees to participate fully during the interview, which was vital for soliciting quality information. A consent form (approved by the University of Saskatchewan Behavioural Sciences Research and Ethics Board) was sent to potential interviewees. This form
explained to respondents the rationale of the interview and their rights as
respondents. At this stage, potential interviewees were also exposed to the general and specific issues to be discussed during the interview. This provided them with an understanding of the interview process and gave them some insight into the issues to be discussed during the interview.
Interviews were conducted during the summer of 2005, and interview sessions tended to last about thirty minutes. Responses were audio taped, and some notes were taken during the interviews. The use of the recording device facilitated higher quality interviews and made it easier for the researcher to focus on the interviews rather than concentrating excessively on notes taking, which was done infrequently during the interviews. Each interview was transcribed on the same day of the interview or a day after the interview. This allowed the researcher to have a clear and fresh memory of the entire interview process and to ensure quality transcription of the interviews. Respondents were also given the
opportunity to review the transcript of their interviews, and to add, alter, or delete information from the transcripts as they deemed fit. This process assisted in checking for transcription errors (Neuman, 2000) and improved the internal validity or consistency of the data collected (Yin, 2003).
The interview instrument covered the following areas: (1) types of knowledge used for health care decision-making, (2) knowledge management strategy in health care decision-making, (3) knowledge management practices in health care decision-making, and (4) communities of practice and knowledge management processes.
First, data regarding the forms of knowledge use in health care decision-making process were gathered. The rationale here was to identify the dominant form of knowledge that guided decision-making by RHA members in the study
regions. Two forms of knowledge, tacit and explicit, were in use. It was expected that one knowledge form was more dominant than the other. An identification of the main form of knowledge guiding health care decision-making and its
characteristics were critical in determining the knowledge management strategy commensurate with it.
Second, data on the two main knowledge management strategies (i.e.
codification or personalization) pursued by RHAs in decision-making were also collected from the interviewees. While codification supports the capture and
storage of explicit knowledge, personalization focuses more on the management of tacit knowledge. Identifying the knowledge management strategy pursued by RHAs assisted in exploring their knowledge management practices.
Third, knowledge management practices adopted by the RHAs in support of their knowledge management strategies were also examined. Various knowledge management practices have been adopted to support knowledge management strategies in organizations. These strategies of managing knowledge become meaningful when the right knowledge management practices are in place.
Finally, the degree to which RHA members interact within communities of practice and how this influences the knowledge management processes of RHA decision-making also received attention. The literature on knowledge management strongly suggests that social capital among individuals within communities of
practice can act as a unique catalyst for knowledge management in organizations.
RHA members were asked to freely express their views on the informal interaction among board members, and how this affected their knowledge management efforts and decision making processes.
The archival method of data collection was also adopted to supplement the data gathered from the interviews. Official documents for the year 2005 (the year the fieldwork was done) which informed RHA decision-making were assessed. These documents were obtained from the offices of the selected RHAs. The type, source, and the relevance of such documents in RHA decision-making were examined.