Reflexive process

The whole process of interviewing was not just a means of collecting data, but also a reflexive process, which helped me to improve the interviewing technique while also making me aware of some issues that may greatly affect the result of the research. Telephone interviews made the process convenient and partially anonymous for participants, which increased the chance to recruit respondents. From my experience, however, validity is not always concomitantly increased as a result of partial anonymity because respondents were aware that the interview was being recorded. I found it difficult to inspire respondents to share information in telephone interviews, whereas in face-to-face interviews visual cues were by comparison a useful method of generating information. The degree to which information was gathered depended on the setting of the interview as well.

a. The Setting of the interview

interview itself. As noted above, the environment where the interview took place influenced the level and degree of interaction and communication between

interviewer and interviewee. It can be difficult for the interviewer to break the ice in a place too constrained or too formal, such as an office, and to further establish a highly interactive relation. However, when the settings are too loose and noisy, for example in a crowded pub or café with loud music, interviewees are easily distracted and lose focus. The most desirable setting was one equalling a stable environment in which a dialogue could take place between researcher and

respondent, which allowed for privacy without setting too formal an atmosphere.

It was noticed that, as interviews took place in an office (customer relationship managers have their own office), and when it came to topics requiring responses in the form of opinions about other colleagues, interviewees usually looked at the door to double-check if it is closed, or if there was anybody close by. In addition, the interviewees in such conditions tended to lower their voice. By contrast, when an interview was arranged in a restaurant or a café, the ice was more easily broken. As time went by, the interview became more relaxed. Some of the interviewees also said they found the process very interesting, in particular because they had not expected some of the questions and found them interesting food for thought.

Apart from physical settings, those in proximity to interviewees also were a factor in the outcome and quality of interviews. Answers to certain questions were highly influenced by people close by. For instance, when Tony took the interview,

the friend who introduced me to him was also there with us. Even though the setting was a very relaxed restaurant, he still turned down questions about his plans for the future of his career. Instead of saying he did not have any plan in mind he said he did not want to answer the question. After Tony left, his friend told me he thought his appearance may result in the reluctance of Tony to answer certain questions since they share the same personal network of friends who work in the same bank. He may have thought that sharing such personal plans would cause inevitable competition in the future, especially in terms of promotion or better job opportunities in other companies.

Drawing on these various experiences, it can be surmised that both physical settings as well as the people in them have the potential to influence the quality of interviews.

b. The stance of the researcher

Within qualitative, interview-based research, the interviewer is the main

instrument in acquiring knowledge. Therefore, the importance of the researcher as a person is magnified (Kvale, 2007), especially the stance of the researcher. Interviewing is interactive, involves close interpersonal interaction between interviewers and their subjects. It is crucial to keep a balance between maintaining professional distance and building up a close personal relationship. ‘Ties to either group may lead the researcher to ignore some findings and emphasize others to the detriment of an investigation of the phenomena being as comprehensive and

unbiased as possible (Kvale, 2007: 29).’

However, during the process of researching, it became difficult to find a middle ground. Keeping a degree of professional distance from participants turned out to be more of an obstacle to the aim of developing more interactive communication. In order to promote interaction and inspire respondents, I instead began to share my personal experiences with them. For instance, I told my informants about my own experiences with overseas education as well as some personal experiences or opinions of when I was abroad. Interaction then improved to a certain extent (- a finding reported frequently in research involving the exploration of relatively intimate areas of investigation; for example. Oakley (1981) reporting on research on motherhood. However, it led to another problem. It led to the danger of interviewer bias, for instance, in leading the participants to adopt my perspective than express their own opinion. In this sense, the extent to which a comprehensive and unbiased investigation is achievable is closely related to the awareness of the stance of the researcher while researching. However, as a young

overseas-educated Chinese woman, it would have been impossible to eliminate the possibility of this fact influencing responses, and I concluded that taking a more friendly and open approach to interviewing would, on balance, have a positive rather than negative effect. As I analysed the data, I was nevertheless aware of the importance of evaluating the extent to which personal involvement, or vice versa professional distance, may have led to either biased or restricted

5.6. Summary

This chapter follows from this study’s research aims, questions, and conceptual framework, focusing on a related methodological approach, research design, and the research methods used in this study. Evincing the constructionist stance of this project, the notion of ‘Chinese returnee’ is viewed as a social construct embedded in different organisational settings in the context of the Chinese labour market. The methodology of the case study is adopted in this research because of its capacity to explicate returnees’ differing contexts, while recognising the importance of a guiding theoretical framework. The case study approach also allows for multiple methods, which in this study comprise of online questionnaires, documentary analysis, and semi-structured interviews.

After describing the data collection process, research methods were reflexively analysed in terms of recruitment methods as well as the different forms interviews took. Also discussed was the influence of the physical setting and the people within it on the interview process itself, in connection with the stance of the researcher in the field. It is very difficult, yet a requirement, to try to find a balance between maintaining professional distance to avoid biased responses while building up a close personal relationship that might lead to higher quality information.

Considering the hierarchical structure of power in SOEs in China, using a manager as a gatekeeper proved more effective than in MNC Bank. In MNC Bank, social networking played an important role in recruiting participants. This hints at a

distinction between these two different types of organisational setting. The next chapter further compares the two.

6.

Organisational Settings: SOE Bank and