Interview process

This  section  examines  ethical  considerations,  the  development  and  use  of  the  topic  guide   and  the  role  of  the  interviewer  in  the  research  process.

3.4.1      Ethical  considerations  

Ethical  approval  for  this  research  was  sought  and  granted  by  the  C-­‐REC  (Ethical  Review   Committee)  at  the  University  of  Sussex  who  classified  the  application  as  ‘high  risk’.  Several   ethical  issues  of  importance  to  highlight  are;  first,  the  confidentiality  policy  applied  in  this   research  and  secondly,  the  anticipation  of  the  potential  for  highly  charged  emotions  when   discussing  mother-­‐daughter  relationships  and  the  support  given  to  the  participants  in   response  to  this.    

In  formulating  the  confidentiality  policy  I  followed  the  recommendations  made  by  Forbat   and  Henderson  (2003)  in  their  work  on  dyad  interviews  with  participants  in  intimate   relationships.  They  stated  that  conflict  of  interest  should  be  avoided  by  being  careful  not   to  disclose  issues  both  participants  had  described  differently  or  had  discussed  in  

confidence.  What  this  meant  in  practice  was  that  each  participant  was  assured  that  what   was  discussed  in  each  individual  interview  would  not  be  disclosed  to  the  other  party  by   the  interviewer  and  neither  would  any  specific  issues  that  had  been  discussed  in  

individual  interviews  be  raised  by  the  interviewer  in  the  joint  interview.  Each  participant   was  also  assured  that  any  quotations  or  narrations  in  the  thesis  that  came  from  them   would  be  anonymised  in  terms  of  names  and  locations  so  they  could  not  be  recognised  by   others  as  the  source.  The  confidentiality  policy  was  given  to  every  participant  and  

discussed  in  the  interviews.  Everyone  signed  a  consent  form  and  the  timescale  for   withdrawing  from  participation  was  supplied.  If  it  had  arisen  that  one  of  a  dyad  had   decided  to  withdraw  their  participation  explicit  approval  from  the  other  to  continue  or  to   withdraw  would  have  been  sought.  Transcripts  and  all  other  data  are  password  protected   and  will  not  be  used  in  full.  Forbat  and  Henderson  (2003)  also  called  attention  to  the   potential  for  disclosure  in  writing  up  the  thesis.  Whilst  it  was  relatively  easy  to  disguise   the  participants  from  others,  it  was  harder  to  disguise  them  from  each  other.  To  address   this  I  took  care  to  ensure  both  participants’  accounts  were  given  equal  weight  and  to  use   biographical  details  sensitively.  For  example,  descriptions  of  professions  have  been  left   general.  On  the  few  occasions  in  the  thesis  that  the  views  of  a  dyad  were  important  to   convey  in  more  detail  and  therefore  could  raise  ethical  difficulties  I  was  very  careful  not  to   share  information  or  points  of  view  that  would  be  ‘news’  to  the  other  party  and  after   writing  up  this  thesis  when  in  doubt  I  checked  the  transcripts  and  removed  any  such   information.  

Turning  now  to  the  potential  for  emotional  upset,  the  pre  tasks  acknowledged  this  in   writing  and  also  referred  to  the  confidentiality  policy  as  follows:  

I  understand  that  what  I’m  asking  might  raise  issues  that  may  be  upsetting  to  you  so   please  write  only  what  you  feel  comfortable  enough  to  share  with  me.  I  will  not  share  this   information  with  anyone  else  –including  your  mother/daughter  –  and  I  will  leave  you   free  to  decide  what  you  want  to  raise  with  her  in  the  joint  interview  we  have  planned    

At  the  start  of  the  interview  the  potential  for  emotional  upset  was  raised  again  and  each   participant  was  invited  to  tell  me  to  stop  any  line  of  questioning  they  were  uncomfortable   with,  take  a  break  or  ask  me  to  turn  off  the  audio  recording.  I  also  used  my  extensive   experience  as  a  professional  qualitative  researcher  to  recognise  and  acknowledge  any   emotionally  difficult  areas  that  came  up  in  conversation  and  check  again  on  their  well-­‐  

being.  Ethical  considerations,  in  terms  of  managing  power  relations  and  steering  an   appropriate  course  between  building  rapport  and  ensuring  I  had  informed  consent,  lay   behind  my  decision  to  send  the  conclusions  in  full  to  all  participants  (Duncombe  and   Jessop  2002).  I  am  a  member  of  the  Marketing  Research  Society  and  I  also  complied  with   MRS  and  British  Sociological  Association  ethical  guidelines.    

3.4.2      Topic  guide  and  conducting  the  interviews  

The  interviews  were  semi-­‐structured  in  order  to  ensure  that  the  same  broad  topic  areas   were  covered  with  each  of  the  different  audiences  included  in  the  sample.  The  topic  guide   was  structured  around  four  themes;  the  individual’s  relationship  with  work,  views  on   work-­‐life  balance,  anticipation  of  and/or  experience  of  working  motherhood  and  their   relationship  with  each  other.  The  order  reflected  the  intention  not  to  lead  the  participant   into  discussing  potential  or  actual  motherhood  as  their  main  or  only  concern  relating  to   work-­‐  life  balance.  In  addition,  the  views  of  the  daughters  on  their  career  choices  were   always  discussed  first  in  the  interviews,  prior  to  introducing  the  mother  daughter   relationship,  so  that  participants  were  not  ‘led’  to  focus  on  the  role  played  by  their   mothers.  

The  topic  guide  covered  specific  question  areas  within  each  of  these  four  headings  and   was  amended  and  expanded  upon  as  interviews  progressed.  For  example,  questions  were   added  on  how  well  women  dealt  with  stress  and  the  influence  of  grandparents  because   these  were  topics  to  which  the  first  few  participants  kept  returning.  As  previously  stated   in  3.2.2,  the  topic  guide  for  each  interview  was  tailored  to  cover  events  and  feelings   disclosed  in  the  pre-­‐tasks.  At  the  end  of  the  first  few  interviews  conducted,  feedback  was   sought  on  the  questions  and  interview  process  and  a  few  changes  were  made  as  a  result  of   this.  For  example,  I  became  more  careful  in  separating  out  comments  on  work-­‐life  balance   in  relation  to  children  and  in  relation  to  other  issues.  

Whilst  the  core  of  the  topic  guide  remained  the  same,  some  of  the  topics  covered  were   different  depending  upon  whether  mothers  or  daughters  or  which  cell  of  daughters  were   the  subject  of  the  interview.  For  example,  daughters  who  are  also  mothers  focused  more   on  what  had  been  the  anticipated  implications  and  choices  made  prior  to  pregnancy  in   relation  to  work  and  the  role  of  their  partners  and  then  what  actually  happened.  Some  of   the  daughters  who  did  not  have  children  were  encouraged  by  the  use  of  projective   techniques  to  imagine  what  they  would  want  the  role  of  their  partners  to  be  when  they   became  mothers.  The  topic  guides  used  are  in  Appendix  6.  

As  an  experienced  qualitative  researcher,  having  conducted  many  interviews  over  a  career   of  25  years,  I  was  able  to  use  my  tradecraft  to  build  rapport,  to  facilitate  reflective  

conversations  led  by  the  participants  and  to  structure  the  interview  and  follow  where  the   conversation  led  whilst  also  circling  back  to  ensure  all  the  key  question  areas  were  

covered.  My  approach  to  these  academic  interviews  was  different  in  its  power  relationship   in  that  I  was  inviting  the  views  of  the  participant  in  an  open  way,  rather  than  seeking  an   answer  to  a  commercial  issue.  I  was  conscious  of  no  external  audience  in  the  interviews   and  the  participants  were  highly  involved  with  and  had  vested  interest  in  the  topic.