Focus Groups

A focus group is a type of interview that facilitates rapid and easy data generation by using communication and contact between participants. In order to include the key topics, an interview guide (Gibbs, 1997) is used. For each of the sports clubs, two focus groups were used: one for players and one for coaches. Each focus group consisted of seven people. The total number of participants considered for this study was 43.

For this study, interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed (a sample of the interview transcript is shown in Appendix I). Focus groups were used to support the individual interviews and were carried out with players and coaches of the two disability sport clubs (as shown in Table 5.7). Moreover, focus groups deploy open-ended questions to enable people to offer their own opinions and think about a particular subject or topic, which would be challenging to accomplish through individual interviews only. During focus groups, participants support each other and highlight common experiences (Krueger, 1994).

Greenbaum (2000) noted that in time-limited cases, a focus group is an economical method for obtaining rapid in-depth information. However, Gibbs (1997) highlighted some major challenges in conducting focus groups, including limited control over the discussion; incorrect expression of views by participants; incorrect interpretation of views by the researcher, confidentiality issues; and the need for more planning. Some of the challenges were resolved by getting a consent form signed by the participant to ensure that everything will be kept confidential and personal information will not be disclosed. Another solution was to study the archive to extract any valuable information that had been skipped or missed during the focus groups. Moreover, the researcher maintained control over the discussions during the focus groups by bringing back the attention of participants in the case of deviation from the main topic.

In this research, focus groups were used because of their benefit in helping produce information from a group with similar experiences in this case players and coaches. The focus group interview guide was developed considering the key analytical tasks that need to be addressed for this research (as demonstrated in Table 5.5, Appendix I, and Appendix K) Since the case study is the research method used, observations were

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central to this investigation. In addition, documentary analysis was used for data collection in this study as shown in table 5.8.

5.2.6.3 Observations

Atkinson and Hammersley (1998) noted that in order to study society one has to be part of it; therefore, all social research is a type of participant observation. Moreover, Pole and Lampard (2002) identified observation as the collection of information about physical and social worlds. Therefore, observations were conducted at the DSF and the two disability clubs (DDSC and ADSC). The observation technique was also employed to gather data because the researcher wanted to perceive various communications among the partners, their interactions and their work environment. Such observations were conducted to analyse the internal functionality of these organisations, i.e. how people with disabilities are dealt with? What is the relationship between players and coaches and Board members and staff? What are managers and staff perspectives towards organisational change? Moreover, the researcher attended some internal meetings to understand the decision making process and how these organisations operate in reality. In order to best detail the working environment, the researcher visited each disability sport organisation with a notebook and recorder. To account for all settings and actions, the research used unstructured observations (Bryman and Bell 2007). Gathering data regarding participant interaction and communication was best facilitated by observation. As an example, some key informants employed their telephones to establish meetings with the researcher. In such cases, it becomes clear that official interactions and communications are established based on the original arrangements, and further fostered by participants. The researcher spent three months collecting data from these three organisations. Of the three months, the researcher spent a month in each organisation. The observation technique was used to augment the data collection and increase the study’s validity and reliability. It is worth mentioning that the organisations accepted and trusted the researcher. Eventually, the researcher was able to attend a meeting in DDSC when the manager met with coaches, and observed that there was a proper agenda in place, and the meeting was on time; there were quite friendly discussions between the manager and the coaches. They discussed the events that were soon planned to be held in the club, and how to prepare for them. The meeting attendees included four coaches and a technical secretary. The researcher wrote a report about this meeting. For the other organisations, the researcher was not allowed to attend

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any of their meetings due to the confidentiality policy of these organisations. Moreover, during observations it was noticed that none of the three organisations have any dress code policy. Both DDSC and ADSC show their achievements on various boards. In terms of the staff attitudes and cooperation, the staff of ADSC were more kind and helpful than DDSC and DSF. The researcher was invited to participate as a volunteer in one of the international championships held in the UAE hosted by the DDSC. This enabled the researcher to get more insights into the organisation.

Discussing disability sport in UAE society is not a trivial task. Whether interviewees were officials or focus groups, they would not talk about this issue freely, particularly the women. It is sometimes essential to create and ask questions in different ways and to use prompts to obtain complete responses.

5.2.6.4 Documentary Analyses

In order to complement the data acquired from the interviews and focus groups, documentary analysis was used, as official documents are significant information sources highlighting the interests of organisations and state agencies (Padgett, 1998). In this study, documents provided both an explanatory record of the development of policies and practices and insights into the communal discourse on disability sport issues in the UAE. In this manner, many lessons can be learnt about society (Pole and Lampard, 2002).

The documents used were UAE Law 2006, specifically the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs UAE (2006) – Federal Law Year 2006 concerning the rights of individuals with special needs as well as archival documents from user studies of the two disability clubs and the DSF as shown in Table 5.8.

Secondary data were collected through a literature review. Literature searches were considering using Arabic and English data bases, and different keyword combinations were used:

● (Islam) AND (disability)

● (organisational change) AND (sports)

163 ● (disability) AND (sports development)

● (contextualist approach) AND (organisational change)

● (contextualist approach) AND (sports)

● (UAE disability) AND (sports)

In the literature review, the results from the latest journal articles were given priority. Other sources included conference proceedings and book chapters. The results were reviewed and data were extracted using qualitative data analysis methods. The findings from secondary data collection were presented in Chapters 2, 3, and 4.

Table 5.8 Documents studied in three organisations (1992 to 2012)

5.3 Data Analysis

The interpretivism paradigm supports the use of qualitative methods for data analysis. Data collected from all sources were analysed through a qualitative, interpretive method; the data were interpreted and qualitatively analysed. The key elements that affect change such as factors, processes, and mechanisms were presented in individual

Documents Studied DSF DDSC ADSC

Policy Documents 2 3 2

DDSC Annual Reports

-2008/2009, 2010/2011, 2011/2012 2 3 1

Financial Reports 16 18 12

Human Resources management files 8 65 63

Meeting Memos 70 87 50

Annual Evaluation Report for Athletes - 67 25 Annual Evaluation Report for Coaches - 25 68 Evaluation Report for International events - 12 4 Evaluation Report for National events - 18 18 Newspapers containing information about DDSC - 1 File -

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tables and then mapped to each other in another table in order to find the relativity of various elements. Finally, the findings were presented by using Miles and Huberman's scale for analysis (1994). For interpretative qualitative data analysis, the tools used were making comparisons and thinking about the various meanings of a word (Corbin and Strauss, 2008). It is necessary to explain the approach and methods adopted for data analysis when conducting case study research (Yin, 2003). This approach provides a structure and arrangement that feeds in criteria for the data analysis phase. Accordingly, a plan and techniques for data processing and analysis has been established for this study (Figure 5.3). It was achieved by following the suggestions and techniques presented by Miles and Huberman (1994).

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Figure 5.3 Data Analysis Strategy Miles and

Huberman (1994)

Data Analysis Process

Robson (2002)

Case study plan comprises of four key elements (overview, procedures, questions, reporting)

Pettigrew (1987) Research theory including context, content, and process

Strategies Focus on research question, data reduction, display, and

verification strategy

Techniques Pattern matching, thematic and conceptually clustered matrix, and

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The evaluation of qualitative information requires that data reduction, display and verification be carried out simultaneously (Miles and Huberman, 1994). This research adopts Robson’s (2002) case study plan comprising four key components: overview, procedures, questions, reporting. These elements are associated with the tasks carried out for the purpose of this research. The data analysis process is further explained in the following sub-sections.

5.3.1 Reduction of Data

According to Miles and Huberman (1994), data reduction can best be described as the transformation of information found in transcripts or written notes into a simplified, organised, focused and selective form. Data reduction begins as soon as information starts to be gathered, written up or coded. In this study, the primary and secondary subjects of the theoretical guidelines provided the foundation for the coding schemes. This focused the analysis on the research objective and question and thus facilitated data reduction. There are a number of methods through which qualitative information can be subjected to data reduction, namely, through being absorbed into a larger arrangement or by being summarised (Miles and Huberman, 1994). This study incorporates the research guidelines into the data reduction phase in the following manner: to begin with, the literature review was focused only on the principal elements of the contextualist approach (Pettigrew, 1987), context, content, process, which allowed concentrating the research on its conceptual groundwork. According to Miles and Huberman (1994), any qualitative study is subject to data reduction throughout. Secondly, the key factors and ideas of the conceptual foundation were used to guide the data reduction, in accordance with practices put forward by Yin (2003). This provides an obvious structure for the gathering and analysis of the qualitative information and further enhances data reduction. Creating a research design is a vital part of conducting case studies and a full and comprehensive research structure is believed to offer concrete direction on what information to gather and on how to then analyse this information (Yin, 2003). Table 5.9 illustrates the coding of information founded on the study’s theoretical groundwork.

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Table 5.9 Key Themes with Corresponding Codes

According to Miles and Huberman (1994, p. 55), research questions and theoretical guidelines protect against excess of information. The previously established themes, which arose out of the literature review and which were expressed in the theoretical groundwork, eased the application of theoretical themes to the analytical process.

Concept/ Level Key

Themes Questions Codes

Level 1: Context

Outer

Political What, why Government, administrator, officer authorities

Culture What, why Society, traditions, habits, life style, value

Religion What, why Islam, faith, way of life

Economic What, why Budget, account, funds, wealth, money, audits, cost, exceptional

Inner

Structure What, why Constitution, change, steady, stable, enlarge, get bigger Policy What, why Strategy, plan, guiding principle

Culture What, why Community , civilization, traditions, behaviour

Level 2: Content

Services What Facilities, equipment, food, transport

Technology What Rules, regulation, phone, fax, IT, job description

People What Public, person, citizens’ attitudes, behaviours, perceptions Level 3: Process Action, reaction, interaction How, when, what

Customisation, sequencing, pace, receptivity, episodic, continuous. Communications, decision making

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Subsequently, new collections of subjects arose and iterative recoding and data analysis aided in refining arrangements of information which then made up the preliminary foundations for this study’s results.

5.3.2 Display of Data

When reduced data is transformed into more significant groupings, this task is referred to as data display. Miles and Huberman (1994) describe data display as an ordered and condensed collection of data which enables further action to be taken and findings to be concluded. Presenting data in such highly ordered and refined way enables the confirmation of research outcomes. The use of case study questions expedites the display of data in previously determined topics as these are found in the study questions themselves. As a result developing arrangements and themes can be incorporated in meticulous classifications (Yin, 2003).

Following data display, the responses to the research questions of the current study were depicted according to the theoretical framework and separated into themes (conceptually clustered matrix), within specific cases (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Following Miles and Huberman’s (1994) methodology, correlations and contrasts, as well as any proposals for data that may need to be analysed again, were identified through cyclical and iterative analysis between the data display and the analysed text. Thus, a further phase for identifying relationships between information is data display. In this context it was firmly directed by the research questions and objectives. The responses to the research question fell under: Level-1 Context; Level-2 Content; and Level-3 Process. In the data reduction phase, information was shortened in line with the bigger picture provided by the theoretical groundwork. In this phase of analysis, data reduction was refined using the research questions thus confirming the connections explored and focusing on further associations.

5.3.3 Drawing Findings

The ultimate goal of the conclusion drawing phase of research is not, in fact to establish connections and provide suggestions. According to Miles and Huberman (1994), a proficient researcher does not propose firm conclusions but keeps an open mind, offering conclusions that are as yet undeveloped and which are then progressively

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refined and verified. According to Saunders et al., (2009), pattern matching is the optimum verification technique for this study as it has adopted the conceptual technique for data analysis which forecasts particular suppositions and clarifications.

Pattern matching seeks to match empirically observed patterns with anticipated patterns. A match between these two patterns can help to support the internal legitimacy of a case study (Yin, 2003). Provided that the anticipated patterns of particular factors are generated before the data is gathered, it is argued that pattern matching is the ideal approach to data analysis (Yin, 2003). Any findings are established by identifying corresponding observed and anticipated results. In this thesis, a number of smaller tasks, namely identifying separate findings, giving names to emerging patterns, connecting findings with one another and singling out a related construct, were carried out in order to confirm the continuations of the contextualist approach (Pettigrew, 1987) and to explore the theoretical consistency of the study (Miles and Huberman, 1994).

The findings from primary data are presented in various tables in Chapters 6, 7, and 8. It is suggested that qualitative analysis should incorporate the use of computer software (Robson, 2002; Saunders et al., 2007). The optimal software programme for qualitative evaluation of focus groups and semi-structured interview is NVivo which has the added benefit of being available in multi-language packages, although this excludes the Arabic language. Coffey and Atkinson (1996) note that qualitative analysis software programmes are now widespread and are increasingly utilised. Although NVivo was recommended by many researchers, the software does not provide acceptable results for the Arabic language. Therefore, the author opted for the manual method for the analysis of data.