After selecting a design research for a project, data collection methods have to be determined. In qualitative research, different methods can be used: observation, interviews, and analysis of literature documents and other materials.200 For the purposes of this research, the qualitative data collection methods selected were an analysis of texts and documents and interviews. The study applied these research methods and techniques in order to collect data from three main sources: primary legal materials, secondary documents including newspapers and websites, and interviews with participants in state compensation processes.
2.3.1. Collecting documents and materials
Primary and secondary legal materials were collected. Firstly, data has been collected from primary legal materials including legislation and regulations and formal guidance given by courts and government agencies. Secondly, data has been gathered from academic monographs and journals, and from media and other relevant databases. It also includes materials and reports published by government agencies and relevant bodies such as the MOJ, the SPC, and the SPP. Similar sources to these were used in gathering data on other legal systems to be used in any comparative law analysis. In order to collect this data, the researcher often used library searches, internet searches and direct inquiries in Vietnamese government agencies.
Library search
Library searches are a traditional and common way to look for printed materials. The search started in Victoria University library which has an extensive collection of printed legal materials including books and journals. Moreover, the library provides access to significant electronic data bases such as HEIN online201, SSRN202 and SAGE203 which
199 John, above n 180, 175-176.
200 Ibid; W Lawrence Neuman, Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (Allyn & Bacon, 6th ed, 2006).
201 HEIN is the image-based legal research collection and contains legal history available in an online, searchable, image-based format which provides the documents in PDF format as they appear in the original print.
202 The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is an open access depository for academic research papers and journals created by Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc.
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offer a variety of options with images of the documents in PDF format as they appear as original printed materials. Through library searches, the researcher found a variety of material relating to the research topics. They are not only on methodology, justice theories, tort and obligation law, and discussions of state liability in western legal systems but also about East Asian socialism, legal reforms in China and Vietnam, Vietnamese politics, economics and society, and about the transition of economies in socialist states. Moreover, Victoria University’s library links with other libraries in Australia assisted the researcher to locate a number of more recent materials. With the support of Victoria University’s librarians, it was easy to access these materials.
Vietnamese libraries were used to access Vietnamese books, journals and magazines. As the topic of the research is on Vietnam and the researcher is a Vietnamese native speaker, these materials were very valuable sources. In Vietnam, the researcher visited the Vietnamese State Library and the library of the MOJ, the Hanoi Law University’s Library which gave access to older laws and materials including political issues, the rule of law, the history of state liability and the development of the socialist- market economy.
Internet search
The internet is more and more ubiquitous with extensive material. It is a social phenomenon, a tool, and also a field site for qualitative research.204 Because the internet makes possible the decentralized transmission of information, it enlarges the means for creating, displaying and framing the objects of study and the boundaries of the experience. It is also an effective means of reaching out to participants and of obtaining information.205 The collection, downloading, and storage of data is easier and quicker for researchers looking for legislation, cases, media stories, government reports and inquiries, speeches and opinions involving state liability for compensation. Furthermore, through internet searches, the researcher could access the websites of the VCP, the Vietnamese Government, the NA, the SPC, the SPP, the MOJ and Vietnamese journals and publishers. Some of the VCP’s policies, government reports, academic journals and speeches which might not be published in printed versions and are not 203 SAGE is a publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. Sage’s publishing program includes journals and books, reference works and electronic products.
204 David Siverman, Qualitative Research (Sage, 3rd ed., 2011) 111-112. 205 Siverman, above n 204, 114.
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available in libraries were collected through the internet. The most useful websites are included in the bibliography.
Direct search
When in Vietnam, the researcher visited a number of government offices looking for data. These included the Department of State Compensation, MOJ which is the administrative office for state liability for compensation, the Institute of Legal Sciences of the MOJ, the Hanoi Law University where some research projects, partly relating to the rule of law and the law on state liability have been carried out, and the SPC which gives final judgments on state liability cases. The researcher also attended several conferences organised by the Department of State Compensation and Department of Civil and Economic Law (MOJ) to gather updated and most recent information and to share information and opinions.
Through direct searches, the researcher collected relevant “grey literature”. According to Tillett and Newbold, grey literature is hard to find because of its core characteristics. It is not produced for commercial publication, is not available through standard distribution means, is not subject to standard bibliographic controls of cataloguing and indexing, is not peer-reviewed, and is ephemeral.206 Grey literature can broaden the scope of the research, thereby providing a more comprehensive view of available evidence.207 The collection of these documents from government offices and conferences was very useful in addressing the research questions.
2.3.2. Interview
The third source of data came from interviews conducted in Vietnam. This is also a primary source of data. An interview is a “way of accessing people’s perceptions, meanings, definitions of situations and construction of realities”.208 The interview is a formal and guided conversation involving the process of asking questions and
206 S Tillett, E Newbold, ‘Grey literature at the British Library: revealing a hidden resource’ (2006) (32) Interlending & Document Supply 70.
Examples of grey literature include: study or research reports, scientific and technical reports, government documents, including ministry decisions and statistics, and theses.
207 Quenby Mahood, Dwayne Van Eerd and Emma Irvin, ‘Searching for grey literature for systematic reviews: challenges and benefits’ Published online in Wiley Online Library 2013. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jrsm.1106/pdf>
208 K Punch, Introduction to Social Research: Quantitative and Qualitative approaches (Sage, 2nd ed, 2005) 168.
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listening.209 The interview enables the researcher to have face-to-face contact with the subjects and this helps to gain an insight into their personal views and experiences to obtain rich information on issues of state liability for compensation. Miller and Glassner argue that in-depth interviews in qualitative research provide a meaningful opportunity to study and theorize about the social world. Moreover, they suggest that “interviews reveal evidence of the nature of the phenomena under investigation, including the contexts and situations in which it emerges, as well as insights into the cultural frames people use to make sense of these experiences and their social worlds.”210 Data collected from interviews can provide in-depth opinions, attitudes, behaviours and experiences from participants which are very important to an understanding of the research issues. That is why, together with primary and secondary data collection, interviews were chosen as a method of research.
In social research, there are many types of interviews; the most common are unstructured, semi-structure and structured. Unstructured or in-depth interviews are those in which the researcher talks freely and asks as few questions as possible. The participant is free to talk about what he or she deems important with little directional influence from the researcher.211 Semi-structured interviews are those where the researcher asks the same questions in each interview but also remains flexible so that other important information can still emerge and be collected. In structured interviews, the interviewer asks a series of questions inviting limited responses and the participant ticks boxes or gives a rating according to a limited scale.212 In this research, the semi- structured interview was chosen so that the data collected could be compared and contrasted with information gained in interviews and other sources. To conduct a semi- structured interview, an interview schedule should be constructed to drive the interview process. This is discussed in section 2.4.2.
209 N K Denzin, and Y S Lincoln, (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (Sage, 3rd ed, 2005) 643.
210 Siverman, above n 204, 131.
211 Catherine Dawson, Introduction to Research Methods: A Practical Guide for anyone
undertaking a research project (Spring Hill House, 4rd ed, 2009) 27-29.
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