Having chosen individual interview as a method of research holding individual interviews, I have held ten interviews with different individuals. According to the degree of formalization, I focused on holding semi structured interviews (they are also called the semi structured or semi formalized). The order of questions in such interviews and their formulation were being changed with every talk. One of the interviews involved a third person, which, probably, might have influenced somehow the way the answers were formulated. Semi structured interviews enable to move smoothly from one aspect to another and, even more so, to go back to some certain aspects by reformulating the question in another limelight. Prior to some interviews, I was not aware for how long this interview could last as the respondent had a longer amount of time.
To hold the interviews I had to be present both in Narva and Ivangorod. It happened that I had to cross the Estonian-Russian border as often as six times a day. One interview was held in Saint Petersburg.
I was not engaged in an active dialogue with my respondents and, without sharing my opinion, I tried to be objective. This concerned both the formulation of the questions asked to the respondents and the tone this or that question was pronounced with. Thus, a favorable environment for the research was provided. I gave questions not only regarding the borderland cooperation between Narva and Ivangorod, but also questions concerning the pressure exercised on the municipalities by the central authorities; aspects of a possible status of tension at the border, question concerning the influence of policies pursued by the central governments on the municipalities. So, the characteristics of the research were completely factored during every interview.
All the interviews (except for one, which is on the transcript) were recorded on tape. I have preserved all the voice recordings of the interview data. The recordings were performed as part of obtaining a prior consent for such recordings from each respondent.
One interview was conducted remotely by telephone. The telephone interview was also recorded on tape. An interesting interview was taken with S.V.Nikitin, during which we examined the remarkable places of Ivangorod (including the old Narva Znamenskoye cemetery in Ivangorod). Three interviews were conducted remotely, via e-mail, due to difficulty of holding them on the phone or in person.
A sociological approach to the studies requires that all texts of the interviews conducted by the author and which are referred to in the work be deciphered. To meet this requirement I transcribed all my interviews with the respondents; and I considered it necessary, since I refer to
33 them, to include them in the Annex I, that follows immediately the thesis. The volume of the thesis has increased but, in accordance with the normative document (Section 3.2) of Tartu University, the volume limit does not apply to Annex.74 Moreover, the usefulness of the interviews collected for future researchers of the Concept of the Twin Cities and the theory of securitization cannot be overestimated, that is why I attached the collected interviews to the thesis. One interview (with S.
V. Nikitin, due to its considerable volume – longer than two hours) was reduced, and it is given in the Annex I in a shortened form.
The texts of the interviews in the Annex I are shown in the original language, that is the language I spoke with my respondents, namely the Estonian and Russian languages. In order to preserve the authenticity of the texts, the text of the interviews were not translated into English.
One interview conducted by e-mail (with Yu.P.Maltsev) has not been published by me because the respondent did not give his consent to its publication, but allowed to refer to the interview with him in the Master's thesis.
As to the Narva-Ivangorod case, the interviews with local residents were conducted by Eleonore de Montesqiou in her book published in 2010.75 However, she got down to the matter creatively rather than scientifically, asking ordinary locals about their life, work, about the life at the border. E.Montesqiou is a video artist and photographer who made several short films about the Estonian-Russian border. The interviews in her book are at times bright, at times are tragic, sometimes with a touch of nostalgia.
Another researcher I mention herein, who has conducted qualitative interviews with ordinary people in Narva and Ivangorod, is Katri Siim. In her work (2000),76 she collected twenty interviews, both in the Russian and in Estonian languages.
I interviewed people who meet the following criteria (they were selected to these criteria):
the involvement in social and political life of Narva and Ivangorod, the occupation of high-ranking posts. The characteristic feature of my research is the fact that I conducted interviews not with ordinary people (as did the researchers in the two previous works), at times not familiar with the conception of securitization (as it is secondary for some people, not a significant phenomenon), but with representatives of the administrations of local municipalities, with museum staff members, officials involved in cross-border activities, activists, researchers, with experts to be said
74 Riigiteaduste instituudi magistritöö juhend. Kinnitatud sotsiaal- ja haridusteaduskonna nõukogu poolt 24.10.2013.
Tartu Ülikool, Tartu. 2013 URL:
http://www.rti.ut.ee/sites/default/files/rti/rg_magistritoo_juhend_kinnitatud_sh_noukogus_24.10.2013.pdf (Accessed 10.09.2015)
75 Eléonore de Montesquiou. На грани (предел, граница): Нарва‐Ивангород = Na Grane (on the border, at the edge): Narva‐Ivangorod = Na grane (piiril, äärel): Narva‐Ivangorod = Na grane (à la frontière, à la limite): Narva‐
Ivangorod. Berlin, 2010
76 Siim K. Elu piirialal: paratamatus ja võimalused. Narva ja Ivangorod. Bakalaureusetöö. Juhendaja: Judit Strömpl.
Tartu Ülikool. Tartu, 2000
34 in one word. This helped me acquire a more or less objective and honest image, avoiding excessive emotionality and empirics. I asked them various questions on municipal life, their relation to the processes taking place beyond the river Narva, about their views on the further development of relations between the twin cities. I used for the half of the interview the same/similar initial questions, for the other half of the interview the questions were new (therein lies the concept of semi-structured interviews).
I should add that in addition to conducting the interviews, I had private personal communications with senior officials (the mayor of Narva, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia), also referred hereto. With such people, having tight schedules, I would prefer to communicate in international student conferences, in which I happened to participate). I also was involved in communication with other responsible persons. It is noted in the footnotes as “Personal communication”.
Interviews collected by me personally, I used in Chapter 5. In Chapter 4 I used statements by officials and interviews with them, which are published on the official websites of international organizations (NATO, the EU), public authorities (Estonia, Russia) and the media. Each of these three chapters is based on the analysis of twenty interviews (based on 16 interviews with securitized speech acts, 4 interviews - with desecuritized speech acts). In my opinion, this proportion reflects the real agenda in relations between actors. Speech acts in interviews and statements, resulting in the thesis, were used to analyze the factors of relations between NATO and Russian, the EU and Russia, Estonia and Russia, Narva and Ivangorod. In the case of interviews, in order not to summarize different ideas uttered in interviews to prove my understanding, the texts were analysed according to the concept of securitization, for analyzing securitization in text.
Other analysed texts were chosen on a specific topic in random order. They were taken not to prove author’s point of view, but to prove the applicability of the theory of securitization to the selected topic. the texts were analysed in terms of the presence in them the components of securitization theory. They should help to answer the research questions and to give an understanding of the nature of relations between different actors.
In addition to the method of interviewing, I used methods of external and included observation, as well as the method of conducting public opinion polls among the residents of Narva and Ivangorod. External observation is the way to gather data about psychology and human behavior using direct observation. An individual, group of people or community could be the object of external observation. Participant observation is the type of data collection method used in qualitative research, which is widely used methodology in many disciplines. Aim of this method is to gain a close familiarity with a given group of individuals and their practices through
35 an intensive involvement with people in their cultural environment over an extended period of time.77 Using this method the observer is a real member of a group. However, this method entails an ethical problem - the duality of the position and the inability to conduct surveillance of yourself as a member of a group. Opinion polls include questions of broad thematic spectrum. The disadvantage of this method is that only a few respondents who are competent in a particular issue can provide thoughtful and informed answers to a specific question.
However, the special value consists in the presence of the collected interview, which can be found in Annex I. It is they which are designed to answer the research questions and show the cut of views on cooperation of the twin cities.
Application of sociological methods in political science research is now popular among researchers. This can more accurately and inclusively reflect the real picture of what is happening.
Securitization/desecuritization practices are sustainable behavior models and sociological methods are the best way possible to reveal and understand the essence of these practices.