Overview of Data Analysis

The different data collected for this research project required various types and levels of analysis. Preliminary analysis of the interview data involved creating summary tables for responses to each interview question. This process identified key themes and

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83 emergent patterns within the responses. These key themes and patterns guided the development of a coding scheme used to interrogate the interview transcripts. The environmental audit data were analysed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including enumerations of neighbourhood characteristics and descriptive statistics. I used basic descriptive statistics to analyse the socio-demographic data collected from the closed questions and government websites for each site.

3.8.1The target group. I based the boundaries for the target group for this

study on participant age, parenting status, employment type and area of residency. Participants were required to live within the region of the study sites, be aged between 18 and 30 years, have no dependent children, be in sedentary employment, and be either studying or unemployed. These parameters were set in light of the confounding factors for LTPA identified in the literature: factors such as caring responsibilities, area of residence and previous exertion or fatigue from physical activity in the workplace. Extending the age limit to 30 years was necessary for the rural field site, where young adults tend to move to city areas for work or study, creating difficulties in recruiting enough 18–24 year olds in an already small population.

3.8.2Sample size. The sample size of 20 participants per study site was suitable

for both practical and methodological reasons. As well as being manageable for a single investigator, the sample size was sufficient to provide saturation of the data (Neuman, 2006). Key informants interviewed included the local member for council from each study site, youth group leaders and a community member. The interviewing of key informants was restricted to a small number for practical reasons.

3.8.3Ethics. The development of protocols for recruitment was in consultation

with my research supervisors and approved by the ANU Ethics Committee for Human Research. Gaining informed consent was a central requirement for all interviews and

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84 focus groups. When taking photographs in public spaces for the environmental audit I took care to highlight the characteristics of the place rather than focus on individuals within the spaces. This also served to preserve the anonymity of the public during data collection.

3.8.4Recruitment. Recruitment of participants for fieldwork in this study

followed a sequential sampling strategy involving snowballing, stratified, maximum variation and convenience sampling and some opportunistic sampling. The aim was to generate variation and rich data within each study site (Bailey, 2007). Descriptions of each recruitment strategy and examples from the fieldwork in this study are included in Table 3.3.

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85 Table 3.3

Purposive Sampling Strategies Used During Fieldwork Purposive

sampling strategies

Description Examples of recruitment strategies used from this fieldwork

Snowballing or chain sampling

Recruitment of cases as they are referred by other participants

Referrals by gatekeepers

Referrals by other research participants Stratified or

deviant case sampling

Selection of cases from different subgroups

Recruitment in areas differentiated by SEP and interest areas, e.g., TAFEs and university campuses, shopping centres, public parkland (skate park)

Use of flyers & blog site Maximum

variation sampling

Selection of cases from different subgroups

Focus groups from a range of interest areas, e.g., faith based, non-faith based, small friendship groups, small family groups

Convenience sampling

Selection of cases from an easily accessed group or place

Recruiting individual participants from the focus groups

Recruiting from particular places of employment, e.g., café, grocery store, leisure facility

Opportunistic sampling

Use of cases or situations that unexpectedly become available to the researcher

Flyers Blog site

‘Cold-calling’ techniques mostly by phone and email but sometimes face-to- face, e.g., employees in businesses, skate parks

Note. Adapted from A Guide to Qualitative Field Research, 2nd ed., by C. A. Bailey, 2007, Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, p. 65.

3.8.5Sampling and bias. Preliminary advice from gatekeepers (people who

worked in a teaching, community development or a chaplaincy role) in all three of the study sites was that young adults would be difficult to recruit. Of particular concern would be locating a range of rural young adults without children who have remained within the rural locality. Locals advised me that young adults who remained in the rural area held a wide variety of jobs, and I should recruit initially through church leaders and a few main employers (mainly the local grocery store, takeaway food outlets and public bars). From initial discussions with gatekeepers, then, it seemed feasible that this strategy would find participants through church youth groups or particular small

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86 businesses in town, but was not likely to achieve enough range or variety of ideas from one specific source. Therefore, I needed to incorporate snowballing and sequential techniques until saturation had occurred.

I used both snowball and deviant case sampling strategies in each fieldwork area to recruit young adult participants for both focus groups and individual interviews, and purposive strategies to recruit key informant interviewees. This meant using print-based materials (a flyer), electronic sources (a blog site), media releases designed for print- based news and radio outlets, and referrals from gatekeepers in each area.

To minimise further the possibility of bias arising from the placement of recruitment information, I distributed the same flyers in as many publicly accessible places as was permitted at the time, for example, public libraries, tertiary education institutions, retail outlets, community notice boards and places of leisure (public and commercial). Where required, I obtained the permission of the operators and centre management.

I aimed marketing material at young adults and included a request for participation in both a focus group and an individual interview. I anticipated that participants would initially gather for a focus group and then I would arrange a suitable date and time for an individual interview. In the recruitment information, I offered basic tokens of appreciation in the form of a gift voucher or movie ticket.

I recruited the key informants directly through email or phone introductions, and sourced members of the local council through local government websites and the other informants through referrals from a gatekeeper in the respective community. (I offered no tokens of appreciation to key informants or members of council.)

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