Qualitative data collection

Following standard social research guidelines, efforts were made to use a combination of both primary and secondary data. As such, two techniques: key informant interviews and secondary data collection, were used to collect the qualitative data.

4.2.1 Key informant interviews

The key informant interview is a useful qualitative data collection technique for gaining a clear understanding of the research problems. Mitchell (1998) suggested that interviews were useful for understanding the research questions and identifying the study variables. In addition, key informant interviews were valuable in accessing the in-depth knowledge and experience of people involved in a given theme and to highlight issues related to social reality, cultural meaning and existing and explicit values (Chum, 2010).

4.2.1.1 Interview guide

An interview guide was prepared to ask questions around four key themes: the context of YLCBE planning and implementation, the community participation procedures, the impacts of the YLCBE on the lives of Tampuan people and community satisfaction with the YLCBE development. In the interview guide (see Appendix A), a variety of questions were used including introductory questions, follow up and probing questions, specifying questions,

direct and indirect questions, structuring questions and interpreting questions. This guide helped to structure the interviews and to keep capturing the context of the research questions (Reid, 1995 as cited in Mitchell, 1998).

4.2.1.2 Interview procedures

Interview data collection was conducted from 30 April to 04 June 2010 in the Yeak Laom Commune, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. Key informants were stakeholders with past or present involvement in the YLCBE project or those in a coordinating position that had frequent communication with community members. Initially 18 key informants were identified via the comment of one YLLMC informant about key stakeholders involved in the YLCBE development. These identified informants were government officials, members of the YLLCRC, NGO staff, community authorities, ecotourism businesses and villagers. They were from various groups representing the following interest areas in the Yeak Laom area: ecotourism management, natural conservation, cultural preservation and community development. Information sheets (in a Khmer version) were distributed to prospective participants prior to the interviews that described the purpose of the research, the project objectives and other relevant information relating to the research and the anonymity of participants (see Appendix B). The research project was reviewed by the Human Ethics Committee at Lincoln University prior to commencement and ethics approval was granted. Some key informants were recruited by personal face-to-face contact, others by mail and for those whose mailing addresses were not available, by telephone. After being informed about the research objectives and the study process, those approached were asked to meet with the researcher to be given the research information sheets. The 18 prospective key informants were contacted again one or two days later to seek their agreement to participate in the research and to obtain permission to record the interviews. Five of the potential key informants declined to be interviewed with reasons for their unavailability including being too busy, with missions outside the community and being in ill health. Of the 11 people who agreed to participate, two were government officials; two were members of the Yeak Laom Lake Management Committee; two from the Yeak Laom Commune Council; two NGO staff; two community residents and one a private ecotourism business representative in the community (see Table 4.1).

Table 4.1 List of interviewed key informants

No Code

Number Type of organization Position Gender

01 G01 Government institution Department director Male 02 G02 Government institution Deputy department director Male

03 C01 Commune council Member Male

04 C02 Commune council Member Male

05 Y01 Yeak Laom Lake Management

Committee Member Male

06 Y02 Yeak Laom Lake Management

Committee Member Male

07 N01 Non-governmental

Organization Senior programme officer Male 08 N02 Non-governmental

Organization Programme coordinator Female

09 M01 Community members Resident Male

10 M02 Community members Resident Female

11 P01 Private ecotourism business Executive director Male

Of the 11 key informants, only five gave consent an audio recording of the interviews. It is fairly common for Cambodians, especially those in decision-making positions, to refuse being taped as they want to avoid any unnecessary responsibility on their opinion. In addition, it is because that they want to feel free to express their own opinions. The recorded conversations were transcribed using a pseudonym. The terms of ‘G’ for government officials, ‘C’ for informants from the Commune Council, ‘Y’ for the YLLMC staff, ‘N’ for Non-Government Organisations staff, ‘M’ community members and ‘P’ for private business representative were used with “coding numbers”, for example G01, C02 and Y01. These pseudonyms were used throughout the Research Findings chapter in order to identify individuals but to protect them from any potential harm. Six other interviewees did not permit recordings. Thus, the important points of these interviews were written down in the form of notes.

The length of the interviews varied. Some interviews were more than one hour and others were less than 30 minutes, with an average of about 45 minutes. This was because of the different knowledge, interests and experiences of the informants in the particular themes of

the study. In addition, the majority of interviews were carried out in the office of key informants; all interviews were conducted in the Khmer language.

4.2.2 Secondary data

Another important source of data collection was secondary data. Secondary data were used to provide additional information and verify the data collected from other techniques (Mitchell, 1998). Secondary data (sources), mainly in the form of reports and strategic plans, were generated from the YLLCRC, NGOs and Cambodian government agencies. These data and documents were sourced to provide a wider understanding of Cambodian history and economy, Cambodian tourism policy and, specifically, the local context of the study area. The data and documents of the Cambodian economy and tourism policy were obtained from the Ministry of Planning websites. They were also available at other related ministry websites including the Ministry of Environment (NGOF provided useful information about the community under investigation and for project planning. In addition, other important data and documents relevant to the research project were collected from the Ratanakiri offices of the Department of Tourism and the Department of Environment, the YLCC and the YLLMC.