Interview Setting and Maps of Both Sites

Most semi-structured interviews took place on site at Tuol Sleng or Cheoung Ek.

Permission was sought from both sites to conduct the interviews before travel to Phnom Penh and Cambodia. However, there was a lot of confusion regarding who to attain permission from; even the Cambodian Consulate and tourist board ‘Tourism of

Cambodia’ could not really identify who to ask, their response was ‘you do not need permission!’ Due to the sensitivity of the subject this answer was not satisfactory.

Several e-mails to both sites went unanswered. After analysing the maps and photographs of both sites, a few cafes were identified as places to conduct the semi-structured interviews. However, after speaking and seeking help from a local guide in Phnom Penh, permission was granted very enthusiastically from both sites to conduct the semi-structured interviews within the sites. The researcher was also offered limitless access to the visitor comments books and moreover, this study was allowed to take photographs of the comments books. This qualitative research was not anticipated, but was greatly welcomed and helped inform the findings of this study.

The positionality and subjectivity of the author of this study is in various contexts; a mature, white, western middle-class female and mother of two teenage children, with life experiences and spiritual beliefs. The author’s early life was spent living in various countries across the world, which meant that when approaching visitors and conducting interviews, the author was already very comfortable and at ease talking to a wide variety of nationalities and cultures. Life experiences of the researcher, as well as the social cultural and political factors that influence a person could impact the type of research one chooses to engage in (St Louis and Barton, 2002) and the author’s long term experience of living under a ruthless dictatorship, has resulted in an interest in political regimes and their legacies such as the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia

However, it was expected that the commonality of being a western person, asking other western people about their reasons for visiting a site where a brutal regimes’ legacy is very apparent, would aid with the introduction process and flow of the conversations.

Nonetheless, care was taken when conducting the interviews to maintain a neutral position, so not to influence the participants and their responses (Bourke, 2014). As evidence by the wealth of data collected and length of interviews (see appendix two), it is apparent that the participants were comfortable with talking about their opinions and experiences. The context of positionality might have been different if the study intended to interview local people.

The semi-structured interviews took place during a five-week period over the months of June and July 2013. The interviewer typically arrived at the site at around 1000am each day and left around 5.00pm. Interviews took place over the seven days of each week.

All of the semi-structured interviews were conducted in informal environments, mostly either inside Tuol Sleng and/or Choeung Ek. A few were conducted at the café immediately outside the gates of Tuol Sleng. On map one of Tuol Sleng, the blue circles mark the spots within the site where the semi-structured interviews took place, and the blue star marks the café immediately outside the main entrance of Tuol Sleng where a small amount of interviews were conducted. On map two of Choeung Ek, the blue circles mark the spots where the interviews took place at that site.

Map One: Tuol Sleng

Map Two: Choeung Ek

All interviews were conducted during the day outside in warm and very humid conditions. Interviews not conducted in the café, were conducted on the shaded benches around the sites marked on both maps. All interviewees gave their permission for the semi-structured interviews to be recorded, and the use of the digicorder did not seem to stem the flow of conservation. All participants answered questions at length, quite often in an emotional state, with a few respondents openly crying. Due to the humid conditions all respondents were asked if they would like a cold drink during the semi-structured interview, with about half taking up the offer.

Respondents were initially approached and asked firstly if they spoke English. After an introduction and explanation of the study and assumed length of the interview, respondents asked if they had time and willingness to either sit down now, or at another stage of their visit to have an in-depth interview on why they have visited. Only a few people approached declined, largely due to their own time constraints. A few respondents preferred to give their interview at the end of their visit, and those interviews took place in the small café opposite the gates of Tuol Sleng (approximately 10 metres away), see map one.

Any person who looked like a typical western tourist (arrived by tuk-tuk, spoke English to other tourists or to their tourist guides and typical western dress) were identified as possible respondents. As the intention of this study, was to question tourists with no apparent connection to the sites, any visitor that looked Cambodian or South East Asian were dismissed as potential interviewees. As mentioned in the introduction of this study, facts about attendees to the sites were hard to attain, so there was no prior knowledge on nationalities and age groups of tourists who visit either site. The intention of the sampling was to be open-minded to any English speaking western tourist, and not target any particular age group or nationality. A researcher with ‘openness is often more receptive to the emergent (theory)…’ (Glaser, 1978: 46). However, during the process, each evening, after reflecting on the day’s interviews, the age, gender and nationalities of the interviewees were noted. The research process was mindful to not unintentionally focus on any specific age group, gender or nationality.

The respondents where made up of sixteen nationalities, namely: Austrian; Australian;

Belgium; Brazilian; British; Canadian; French; Finnish; Hungarian; Irish; New

Zealand; Norway; Polish; Swedish; Swiss and American, and there was representation from three continents. The age range of the respondents was 18-72, and the majority of the respondents were in their 20s, and the average age of the respondents was 30 years and 2 months. As will be discussed later on in chapters five, six and seven, no themes emerged with regard to age and nationalities. The results of this study generally focuses on the human sub-conscious, and therefore, potentially applicable to all humans. For a more detailed profile of the respondents, please refer to appendix two.

The setting for the interview can influence its success as the more natural the setting, for the respondents, the more likely they are to give naturalistic responses. Although some academics argue that context is problematic (Dilley, 2000), the social science researcher often looks for meaning within a context. Brinkmann (2016) argues that context in qualitative interviews is implicitly or explicitly important. As this study attempts to ascertain dark tourism motivations to two sites in particular, Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek, it was important to the study that the interviews tool place at or near the sites.

During the interviews, respondents were able to point to things around the sites to help them make their point, and thus, help validate the findings of this study.

Stage three: Blogs as a research tool

As already discussed, grounded theory is a design of inquiry in which the researcher derives a general, abstract theory of a process, or interaction grounded in the views of participants. The process involves using multiple stages of data collection and the refinement and interrelationship of categories of information (Creswell, 2014). As

more data is analysed additional properties are determined allowing categories to be clarified. Stage one helped inform the themes of stage two and analysis of a further twenty travel blogs for stage three of the research process helped clarify and confirm the themes that emerged from the first two stages.

As with stage one, although many respondents said that they would blog about their visit to Tuol Sleng and/or Choeung Ek, it was decided to look at blogs written by authors who had not been interviewed, thus, offering unsolicited views on their motivations and experience of visiting the sites, and therefore, further validating the findings of this study.

As with stage one, blogs were identified through an internet search, for example, ‘blogs on visiting Tuol Sleng and/or Choeung Ek in 2014’. The twenty blogs that were studied in depth at this stage of the research process, were selected because firstly, they were written in English, although it was not always obvious what nationality the author was.

Secondly, they provided more than just a factual, historical account of the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities that they imposed. The themes established in stage one and two, helped toward a more refined study of stage three.

Stage four: Comments in the visitors’ books

The final stage and final research instrument was the examination and evaluation of the comments in the visitors books of Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek. This was an unanticipated research tool, and one that was offered whilst on site at Tuol Sleng. It provided the chance to have a triangulated approach to the study and help further

validate any findings. Due to the interpretive grounded theory approach of this study, the author realised that this might reveal valuable insights to motivations and adapted the methodology to include the comments in the visitor’s books.

Photographs were taken of the last 150 comments (in English) at each site. Each photograph contains 2-3 comments. They were later put into categories that roughly contained the sentiments of their comment. For example, Category A, contained comments that hinted at human nature. Category B, contained comments that included sentiments about ‘awareness and educational’. Category C contained comments that included sentiments about ‘must not forget’. Category D, contained comments with sentiments about ‘being thankful’. Category E contained miscellaneous sentiments that did not form a theme, or fit into the first four categorisations (see appendix three for an example of each category).

The comments were then examined to see if they either reflected, or otherwise, the established themes that had emerged during the semi-structured interviews, and the study of the travel blogs. They were also examined to see if new themes could be identified. After examining the comments in detail, it was ultimately established that the comments validated findings of the semi-structured interviews and study of the travel blogs that are detailed in chapters five and six in particular.