The population and sampling

Qualitative research sampling procedures are not clearly defined in this study as the aim of the researcher is not to seek a representative sample as in quantitative research rather explicitly to select a range of people that will allow the researcher to explore different and comparative experiences relevant to the research question and develop the theoretical ideas which may challenge the earlier assumptions made through literature review (Davies 2007).

Sampling is a procedure used to ‘identify, choose and gain accesses’ to relevant units which is used to generate data by any method. For the survey participants, quota sampling was used which is sometimes considered a type of purposive sampling (Mack et al. 2005). Purposive sampling allows the researcher to gain access to information- rich cases (Patton 2002) and to choose sample of informants who are able to demonstrate several features or processes in the area of research (Silverman 2004). Under this method, the participants were chosen based on the characteristics and criteria fit to answer the research question which focus on participants who would be most likely to experience, know about, or have insights into the area of research (Mack et al. 2005). Details of the surveyed lawyers are found in Chapter 5 and described briefly in 4.5.1.

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The non-probability sampling method or purposive sampling was also employed in the selection of 13 interviewees believed to be the informants who could provide and generate pertinent data based on their involvement with mediation in general and court-connected mediation in particular. A snowballing technique was used to maximise the number of judges interviewed where the first interview with a judge led to a number of recommendations of other interviewees based on their known expertise (Fraenkel & Wallen 1990).Yin (1994) stated it is important that those included in the sample are distinguished from the outside. Details of the samples are found in Chapter 6 and described briefly below in 4.5.2.

4.5.1 Surveys of Practising lawyers in Sabah and Sarawak

Using the above approaches to sampling, the participants for the survey were chosen because, as lawyers, they play a key role in getting their clients agree to settle through mediation or otherwise through litigation. After receiving ethics approval from Victoria University, both the President of Sabah Law Association and the Advocates Association of Sarawak were notified by the researcher through email to ask for their cooperation and assistance to get members of the bar from Sabah and Sarawak to participate in the survey. They were provided with a formal letter detailing the purpose and reason for the study which was attached to the email (‘Appendix D). Through email, the President of the Advocates Association of Sarawak responded positively to the researcher’s request to distribute the questionnaires to the Sarawak Bar. The Vice- President of the Sabah Law Association provided an updated list of lawyers practising in Sabah to the researcher.

The questionnaires were mailed out and addressed to the lawyers’ firm identified from the list of lawyers’ firm of both associations (the Sabah Law Association’s directory as at 11 November, 2009 and the Advocate Association of Sarawak’s in-house directory for the year 2008) provided to the researcher. In the state of Sabah, lawyers’ firm are spread over across Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau, while for the state of Sarawak, lawyers’ firm are located around Kuching, Sri Aman, Sibu and Miri. There were 245 questionnaires mailed out to the lawyers’ firm. The firms distributed the survey to their lawyers and 100 responded.

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Each participant in the survey was supplied with the information regarding the confidentiality of their responses and an assurance that only the summarised data, with no identifying features, would be reported in the thesis. The information sheet to the participants is provided in ‘Appendix E’.A consent form was also furnished to them to obtain their consent to participate in the survey and this is exhibited in ‘Appendix F’. 4.5.2 The Semi-structured Interviews

As mentioned in section 4.4 of this chapter, the qualitative data were collected from a series of semi-structured interviews. The list of judges was sourced from the Chief Registrar’s Office, the Federal Court of Malaysia’s official website. From this list, seven judges were selected and, as indicated earlier, their selection was based on their knowledge and experience in mediation. Of these seven judges, three were serving in Sabah and Sarawak and four in Kuala Lumpur. After the judges were identified, their emails as well as their registrars’ emails were obtained from the Information Technology Division of the Chief Registrar’s office, Federal Court, Malaysia. Judges were invited for an interview by email and when they accepted the invitation, an appointment was made. For the other non-judges interviewees they were either invited through emails or telephone calls. The semi-structured interviews in the present study were conducted between one to two hours at the interviewees’ office. They were supplied with an information sheet explaining the confidentiality of information gathered from them and their anonymity by any reference which might identify them individually. The interviews were voluntary and they could choose to leave from the interview at any time. A copy of the information sheet to the judges and other participants involved in the interviews is exhibited in ‘Appendix G’. A consent form was also furnished to them to obtain their consent to be interviewed to comply with the Victoria University’s ethical requirement. A copy of consent form is exhibited in ‘Appendix H’.

Transcribing the interviews

The transcription of all the 13 digitally recorded interviews were done entirely by the researcher using Sony Digital Voice Editor Version 3 which is user-friendly software equipped with digital pitch controller and transcription keys. These include easy search

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forward and backward. The process took nine months to complete beginning in June 2010 until March 2011. All the transcriptions were done verbatim to ensure the richness of information was kept at the maximum level. The words used by the interviewees and the way they responded to the questions reflected their enthusiasm and concern for the matters. These were captured during the transcription process. The transcriptions were labeled and numbered chronologically without naming the interviewees to maintain their anonymity during the data analysis phase.