Primary Data: In-depth interviews and questionnaires

According to O’Leary (2014:201) primary data is data collected by researchers “expressly for their research purpose,” hence, cannot “exist independent of the research process.” It is the very current data targeted at the specific issues of the research question. The researcher entirely owns the data. O’Leary considers interviews, surveys and questionnaires, as examples of primary research methods. This study, therefore, exploits in-depth, open-ended interviews and questionnaires as methods for sourcing primary data. As Patton (2002:4) posits, interviews and questionnaires tap direct quotations from informants “about their experiences, opinions, feelings and knowledge.”

This study considers interviews and questionnaires as the most ubiquitous methods of obtaining primary information from those with it. Burgess (1984:102) regards an interview as “a conversation with a purpose” in the context of “knowledge excavation” and construction. Interviews determine “what people think, how they feel about given issues and what they believe in,” (Robin, 1993:189). The researcher structures the questions for the open-ended interviews. Unlike structured interviews whose closed questions “force the interviewee to choose from two or more fixed alternatives,” in-depth open-ended interview questions “provide no restrictions on the content or manner of the reply other than on the subject area” (Robin, 1993:233). Flexibility is one of the major tenets of the interview and questionnaire methods.

They allow the interviewer to probe so that he may go into more depth if he chooses, or clear up any misunderstandings…They encourage cooperation and rapport and they allow the interviewer to make a truer assessment of what the respondent really believes. Open-ended [questions] can result in unexpected or unanticipated answers

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which may suggest hitherto unthought-of relationships or hypotheses, (Cohen and Manion, 1989:313).

Thus self-completed questionnaires and open-ended interviews are “very efficient in terms of researcher time and effort” (Robin, 1993:243). They facilitate a convenient “study of issues in depth and detail … [to] produce a wealth of detailed information,” (Patton, 2002:14) that describes and “takes us, as readers, into the time and place of the observation,” (ibid: 2002:46). The dynamic, non-linearity and flexibility of their execution allow concurrent data collection and analysis for the on-going research. Gwekwerere (2013:136) argues that such flexibility permits subsequent data collection and analysis procedures to be modified in light of earlier findings “to enable the gathering of more specific information and the exploration of new and unanticipated areas of interest.”

This study utilises face to face interviews, either on a one to one basis or in group discussions. Face-to-face interview method of data collection involves the researcher seeking direct open-ended answers to issues relative to the research question. The questions are designed cognisant of the intellectual background of participants. In face to face interviews, the researcher aims to explore reality form the viewpoint of the participants, to “see things the way group members do and grasp the meanings they use to understand and make sense of the world” (O’Leary, 2014:133). This helps the researcher to suspend pre-conceived ideas or judgements about the study question and to enter the world of the participants in order to interpret meaning from within their context. Such immersion permits the researcher a rich understanding of complexities of the research subject, (the short story canon) from the perspective of the participants.

Apart from face to face interviews the research also exploits the internet interview option. As observed by Jupp (2006:157) “developments in computer and information technology have resulted in other formats, for example internet interviews.” In this study, internet interviews offer the researcher the most convenient way of reaching out to participants. Electronic communication in the context of interviewing reduces travelling expenses, especially in cases where short story practitioners, writers and critics, publishers and academics are geographically dislocated. Jupp (2005:157) augments;

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In some contexts and for some purposes interviews may be conducted by telephone or by way of electronic communication such as email or fax. Interviews of this nature are popular for reasons of cost effectiveness and for the speed of data collection. The cost effective Internet mediated interviews and questionnaires eliminate the research’s need for physical access to dislocated informants. However, in electronic interviews information is collected in designated “places” of interviewees rather than in the natural field setting of the research problem. This stifles the intimacy gained by face to face or in person interviews.

The researcher anticipates the production of biased responses by informants to be the major challenge of relying on interviews and questionnaires. Robin (1993:383) alerts, “the trustworthiness of the data is always a worry” when data is gathered through interviews and questionnaires where information may either be withheld or fabricated. Creswell (2003:186) worries that “indirect information filtered through the views of interviewees” may not be “equally articulate and perceptive.” The researcher concedes Robin’s (1993: 236) view that “it is virtually impossible to determine whether the respondent is giving serious attention to the questions or regarding the exercise as a tedious chore to be completed in a perfunctory manner.” Data collected through interviews and questionnaires will only be used to establish general trends since the researcher assumes the data may not yield the expected outcome.

However, the reliability and validation of research outcomes can be ameliorated “through source comparison” (Robin, 1993:383). He further notes:

If two sources give the same messages, then, to some extent, they cross-validate each other … if there is a discrepancy, its investigation may help in explaining the phenomenon of interest, (Ibid: 383).

The researcher also resorts to documents analysis in order to mitigate the challenges of superficiality that may obtain from interviews and questionnaires. These involve primary and secondary sources of documented data. Short story collections and university course outlines form the core of primary documents whilst critical works suffice for secondary sources.

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