Interview Schedule (Appendix K)

Once the consent form had been signed and the participants signaled that they were happy to proceed, I reiterated the main objectives of the interviews, to explore the trajectory of their music preferences from

adolescence to the present day. I confirmed with the participants that if they decided at any stage not to continue then they could leave at any stage. I explained the overall framework of the interviews. The first question was to ask the participants what sort of music they had listened to around the age of eleven, when most children start secondary school. This is perhaps a rather obvious question but one which I felt would be useful as an icebreaker and establish a rapport with the participants. It seemed logical to follow a largely chronological method of enquiry, which I verbally supported. If participants lost their train of thought, I had a series of prompts written down but these were followed very loosely. I wanted to maintain a semblance of a natural conversation as much as possible. They were then asked about the influences that shaped their preferences during their teenage years and how had these differed from the early years. It was of interest to determine if their influences had shifted from their parents or siblings to their peers or media. We discussed the importance of different musical attributes. For example, in adolescence was it the musical technical ability of the artists that was important, the music videos, the lyrics with a particular message, the sense of community with other fans or just simple adoration. Participants were then asked about the influence of social groups, their own social group membership and the music styles which were considered to be high or low status according to the socially constructed rules of the group. The influences of peer pressure and body awareness were discussed and the influence of the ‘in-group’ preferred music styles. This line of questioning explored Social Integration Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) to determine how these factors had impacted on their music preferences. We discussed if at present, there were any music styles which they could not listen to because of a traumatic event or loss of a relationship, or because of bullying. I then explored the differences between their music tastes from adolescence to today. It was of interest to determine if there had been a shift in the trajectory or function of the music and if so what had triggered the change. I wanted to determine if a shift in the trajectory, orientation or function of the music had been triggered by specific personal or social forces. Irrespective of whether there was a shift or not, I also explored how they felt had changed since those days. How had their sense of identity evolved over the years? Did they still feel as if they

were the same person as they had been then? Had their values, politics and their sense of identity changed?

After the discussion on the trajectory of preferences, I explored how they used music as part of normal daily activity. We discussed how many hours a day they listened to music and on what devices. I also asked if they had a hierarchy of musical format. For example, I suggested that some people saw vinyl as having a superior status to CDs and downloading music and I wanted to know their opinion.

Participants were also encouraged to discuss how important their music was today compared to adolescence. In particular, we explored whether certain styles of music had become less or more important in their daily lives since adolescence. Finally in relation to the daily uses of music, I also asked about how often and the manner in which they used the internet in relation to their music palate. Had they used the internet to search for back catalogues of favourite artists or had they used it to search for new music styles. It was of interest how and why individuals used the internet and whether these cultural practices had increased over recent years. These particular questions were largely aimed at the older participants who had been at least in their mid-twenties when the internet had become relevant in the mid 1990s. Before the interview had come to an end, to achieve a sense of closure, I asked the participants if there was anything they wanted to ask me about either the interview or my own preference trajectory.

6.8 Analysis

Rudestam & Newton’s (2007) prophetic warning should have alerted me to the dangers that lie ahead. The authors forewarn the reader that ‘describing the data analysis in the Method chapter of the dissertation may be more problematic for those considering qualitative research than it is for those undertaking conventional quantitative research’. They did not disappoint. Therefore the aim of this next section is to explain the reasons why a thematic analysis tool was selected and then I will discuss the reliability and validity content for my study.

Reflexive Questioning

After the first ten interviews I reviewed my questions and data and removed any questions which were clearly ineffective or inappropriate. For example, Christenson & Peterson (1988) identified that female adolescents are more likely than males to select music for its romantic lyrical content and that they gave higher ratings to soul, dance/ disco and popular styles of music than male counterparts. The authors also noted that gender created differences with how individuals used their music. Females were more likely to use music to management their moods than adolescent males, but males were more likely to use music to create an image to appear tough or rebellious (Bleich et al, 1991). However explorations of gender differences which may explain how individuals used music in adolescence or in school years, failed to provide any useful data. I am not aware of any obvious cause for the difference however it is possible that he difference may be due to a combination of factors such as temporal, cultural factors or technical advancements with advent of the internet and digital downloads. I will discuss these issues in greater detail in the results and discussion section. Secondly exploration of the function of music produced very little useful data. Their answers appeared to be relevant to their current salient identity or recent events but few could expand beyond this narrow field. In light of these findings, the questions were removed from the interviews. Naturally, as the interviews progressed I became more confident and adept at drawing out data. The first ten or so interviews were definitely a learning process for me.

Coding & Thematic analysis

The reason to use a simple thematic analysis was partly based on my epistemological position of symbolic interactionism which rejects philosophical argument over individual experience (Denzin, 1992;

Plummer, 1991). It is evident that philosophical grounding pervades many qualitative methodological and analytical tools. As a consequence deep discussions on the merits or power of Husserl and Ricoeur, Heidegger, Kant, Bahktin or Foucault were of no interest to me. Yet it would also appear that

philosophical argument is the sine qua non of much qualitative search. Wertz et al (2011: 80) reinforce this apparent absolute when they suggest that:

An important part of conducting qualitative research is literacy concerning the philosophical assumptions underlying the research. A strong tradition in philosophy justifies the importance and even priority of qualitative research based on the characteristics of the human being.

Clearly no adherents of a neo-Meadian reading of symbolic interactionism here then.12

However despite my attempts to maintain a determined shift away from linguistic or philosophical argument, there appeared to be few options, as most analytical tools were embedded in dry theoretical or linguistic frameworks. An obvious disparity had arisen between my theoretical lens and a requirement to select an appropriate analytical tool. Fortunately thematic analysis is a malleable tool which does not require a particular language set or theoretical framework to explore human activity was extremely useful (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2013). However this is not to suggest that it cannot be used from a specific theoretical or linguistic set, but Braun & Clarke (2006) suggest that it may be an ideal tool for those approaching their problem from a specific theoretical position. This notion appeared to hold particular relevance to my study.

Braun & Clarke’s six steps to Thematic Analysis

According to Braun & Clarke (2006), thematic analysis is based upon six simple recursive steps common to many research analysis tools but without the obligation of a theoretical or linguistic framework. It is a self-explanatory tool which gives back ownership of the analysis tool back to the researcher. I decided not to analyse the data by computer analysis tool as I did not want to become overburdened with unfamiliar technology and there was a risk that the computer programme may not recognize the meaning of the data which is fundamental to my study (Rudestam & Newton, 2007).

12

I am aware that Kathy Charmaz has written extensively on the effectiveness of grounded theory as a tool for symbolic interactionism, but as I noted earlier, there are many schools within this broad paradigm. Please see Denzin (1992) for further discussion and assessment of grounded theory within symbolic interactionism.

Stage 1. Familiarisation of the data. This step was about understanding my data. Reviewing the