Interviews and Focus Groups

T h e m a jo rity o f data for this study w ere co llec te d b y in terv iew s a n d fo c u s grou ps. Q u in n -P atto n argues th a t q ualitativ e in q u iry is ‘p o w e rfu l’ fo r it is co n d u c te d in the ‘real w o rld ra th e r than in the lab oratory o r th e a c a d e m y. ’ 123 A d istin c tiv e featu re o f q u alitativ e re se a rc h is th e im po rtan ce o f u n d e rsta n d in g a p h e n o m e n o n in its o w n rig h t a n d n o t from som e ou tsid e p e rsp e c tiv e. 124 Q u a lita tiv e m eth o d s h a v e b e e n p ro v e n as a u sefu l research tool in the d o m a in o f ed u c atio n fo r th e y re c o g n iz e th at sch o o ls a n d classro o m s are com plex, m u lti-la y e re d en v iro n m e n ts, an d th a t teac h ers

125 a n d stu d en ts h a v e differen t h isto ries, in terp re tatio n s, v a lu e s an d attitu d es. H ara d esc rib es the p ro c ess o f educational researc h as w e av in g a ‘co m p lex w e b ’ w h ich c a n n o t b e so lv e d in a quan titativ e m a n n e r. 126 A s H u g h p o in ts out, th e m a n y v aria b les w ith in th e sch ool contex t dem and ‘th e q u alifica tio n o f actio ns, ideas, v alu es an d

1 *77 m ean in g s th ro u g h th e eyes o f p artic ip a n ts’.

In itial o n e-to -o n e interview s w e re co n d u c te d w ith k e y sch o o l p erso n n el. T h e se in c lu d e d p rin cip a ls and d ep u ty p rin cip a ls, re tire d a n d p re sen t, h o m e school c o m m u n ity liaiso n (H S C L ) teach ers o r g u id a n c e co u n se llo rs, sch o o l c h a p la in s/p a sto ra l w o rkers, an d m em b ers o f th e B o a rd o f M a n a g e m e n t in each sch o o l. T h e lite ratu re rev iew and the re se a rc h aim g u id e d th e d e sig n o f th e q u estio n s. T h e q u estio n s w e re open-en d ed , allo w in g fo r a m o re in -d e p th p ro b in g o f re sp o n se s, m o tiv e s a n d fe e lin g s.128 In terview s p ro v id ed the in te rv ie w e e w ith th e o p p o rtu n ity to

123 Quinn-Patton, p. 11.

124 Robert Elliot and Ladislav Timulak, ‘Descriptive and Interpretive Approaches to Qualitative Research’, A Handbook o f Research M ethods f o r Clinical and Health

Psychology, ed. by Jeremy Miles and Paul Gilbert (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005),

p. 147.

125 David Hughes, Research and the Teacher: A Qualitative Introduction to School-Based

Research (New York: Routledge, 1995), p. 26.

126 Katsuko Hara, ‘Quantitative and Qualitative Research Approaches in Education’,

Education, 115 (3) (1995), p. 353.

127 Hughes, p. 26.

128 The Sage Dictionary o f Social Research M ethods, ed. by V ictor Jupp (London: Sage Publications, 2006), p. 157; Daniel W. Turner, ‘Qualitative Interview Design: A Practical G uide for Novice Investigators’, The Qualitative Report, 15 (3) (2010), p. 756.

re sp o n d , in th e ir o w n w o rd s, treatin g th em as a u n iq u e p e rso n w ith a u n iq u e p e rs p e c tiv e.129 T w o p ilo t interv iew s w ere c o n d u c te d w ith k e y p e rso n n e l in S ch o o l 1. T h is p ro c ess w a s critical fo r it assisted in re fin in g th e q u estio n s and ex p o se d lim itatio n s in th e initial set o f q u estio n s.130

In terv ie w s w e re co n d u cted in sch o o l settin gs an d h o m e en v iro n m en ts. T h e y ra n g ed fro m th irty m in u tes to two h o u rs an d th irty m in u te s in duratio n . A ll in te rv ie w s w e re re co rd e d and tran scribed v erb atim . A d e sc rip tio n reg ard in g co n se n t is d e ta ile d u n d e r eth ical considerations. T h e d ata o b ta in e d th ro u g h the in terv iew s w e re ric h an d p ro v id ed a d etailed con tex t fo r each sch o o l; the h isto ry o f th e scho ol, th e p ro file o f th e school ju s t p rio r to th e ch an g e in stu d en t p o p u la tio n an d in sig h t in to th e ch a n g es th a t to o k p lace during th is tim e. T h is in fo rm atio n g u id ed th e d e sig n o f th e fo cu s groups.

F o cu s g ro u p s w ith teach ers w ere h e ld in a ll fo u r sch oo ls. F o cu s g ro u p s a re a form o f gro u p in terv iew w ith an im p o rta n t re lia n ce o n in tera ctio n w ith in th e group. 131 Q u in n -P a tto n argu es th at fo cu s g ro u p s are b en e ficial fo r id e n tify in g th e m e s. 132 M o re im p ortan tly , the them es id en tified em erg e from p artic ip a n ts a n d th ere fo re it is th e ir ag en d a w h ich d o m in ates an d n o t th a t o f th e re search er. F o c u s g ro u p s,

em phasise learning about the thoughts and experiences o f others. When the participants in a group interview share an interest in the discussion topic, their interaction can provide information about how they relate to the topic and to each other. The group dynamics in these participant-centred conversations allow researchers to hear how people explore the discussion topic.133

A lth o u g h fo cu s groups are con sid ered u n n atu ra l in setting , au th o rs su ch as C o h e n a n d o th e rs b e lie v e that th ey ten d to y ield m o re in fo rm a tio n th a n m a y h a v e c o m e fro m o n e -to -o n e in te rv ie w s.134 T h ey h av e b e e n e m p lo y e d in p re v io u s stu d ies w ith in

129 Quinn-Patton, pp. 347; 348.

130 Turner (2010), p. 757.

131 Research M ethods in Education by Louis Cohen, Law rence Manion and Keith Morrison,

6th ed., (New York: Routledge, 2007), p. 376.

132 Quinn-Patton, p. 387.

133 Jupp, p. 121.

e d u c a tio n.135 O n e o th er stren gth to focus g ro up s is th at a larg e am o u n t o f d ata is p ro d u c e d in a s h o rte r sp ace o f tim e.136

F o cu s g ro u p s w e re h eld in sch oo l settings. M eetin g s in S ch o o ls 1 an d 2 w e re h e ld a fte r sch o o l w h ilst in S chools 3 an d 4, th ey w e re h e ld d u rin g sch o o l h ours. A n in itial p ilo t g ro u p w as co n d u c te d in School 1. T h is o n ce a g a in a llo w e d th e re se a rc h e r to re fin e th e g en e ral p o in ts o f discussion . T h e y la ste d fro m o n e h o u r to tw o h o u rs in d u ra tio n a n d w e re re co rd e d an d tran scrib ed v erb atim . In o rd e r to d istin g u ish b etw e en p a rtic ip a n ts a n d to attach a v o ice to a resp o n se, a d etailed sea tin g arra n g e m e n t w a s re c o rd e d a n d p artic ip a n ts w e re in itially ask ed to an sw e r a g en e ral q u e stio n re g ard in g th e ir teac h in g exp erien ces in th e ir school.

A fo llo w -u p focus group w as h eld o nce th e an aly sis o f d ata fro m the fo u r fo cu s g ro u p s w a s conducted . T h e gen eral p o in ts o f d isc u ssio n ce n tred o n th e m e s th a t w e re c o m m o n to all fo u r schoo ls an d th ese th em es w e re u se d to h ig h lig h t th e o v erall fin d in g s o f th e research. E v ery effort w as tak en to en su re th a t at le a st o n e in d iv id u a l fro m e a c h sch o o l p articip ated in the fo llo w -u p fo cu s grou p. In lig h t o f co n tin u e d in d u stria l ten sio n and in creased teac h er w ork lo ad , no re p re se n ta tiv e fro m S ch o o l 3 o ffe re d th e ir free tim e fo r the follo w -up focus group. D e sp ite th is th e fo c u s g ro up w a s b e n e fic ia l as it p ro v id ed the o p p o rtu n ity fo r p a rtic ip a n ts to re v ie w th e data, to v a lid a te its accuracy, to d elv e d eep er into th e th em es th a t w e re d isc u sse d an d to ex p lo re o th e r th e m e s.137 It also affo rd ed p artic ip a n ts an o p p o rtu n ity to sh are th e ir o w n ex p e rien ce s w ith others. M o st im p o rtan tly n o n ew d ata o r th e m e s em erg ed fro m th is fo cu s g ro u p so th e re searc h er w as co n fid e n t th a t ‘s a tu ra tio n ’ w as reach ed . T h is is d isc u ss e d in m o re detail b elow .