Research approach and data collection

All research involves the collection and analysis of data, whether through reading, observation, measurement, asking questions, or a combination of these or other

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strategies (Blaxter, et al., 2006). The choice of an appropriate method depends on the purpose, the needs, the expense, and the time. David & Sutton (2004) describe data as “not what is out there to collect. Data are what is actually recorded by the Researcher. Data are a product of research and with the special tools must be shaped and generate a reflection of the reality”.

Documentary Analysis. A fundamental aspect of any research is the extent usage and

analysis of documents and literature. Documents are not only library or academically based literature. They can involve the analysis of photographs, films, videos, reports, inside organisation information and other non-written sources. The effective and critical assessment is essential especially with the Internet revolution. Internet allows access to a far wider range of material of much more variable quality than that found in university libraries (Dochartaigh, 2002). Documents can be divided into primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are composed at the time of an experience. It can include interviews, diaries, letters, journals etc. When collecting secondary data, there are two key questions to be answered, as stated by Riley, et al., (2000) “first, how do you establish its quality, and second, how do you make it “work” for you”. A third kind of document is the diaries. Diaries must be a part of every research activity helping to keep a progress check on the project and, as Koshy (2005) states about keeping a research diary, “the reflecting process involved in writing a diary contributes to the professional development of the researcher”.

Interview. Interviewing is a fundamental tool in qualitative research. The research

interview is based on the conversations that have a structure and a purpose. The research interview is not a conversation between equal partners, because the researcher defines and controls the situation (Kvale, 1996). It can be done in several ways: face to face, over the telephone, with a website on the Internet, or in focus groups. A style of interview commonly used in work- based learning is the semi-structured interview. As Robson (2002) states, in this type “interviewers have a basic list with topics and aim to achieve responses to them, but they have significant freedom in the sequencing of questions, in their exact wording, and in the amount of time and attention given to different topics”. There are two major types of questions, which are used in the interview process. Open questions are used in qualitative research because they let informants respond in their own words. Closed questions produce information that can be summarised by numbers for statistical analysis. Grover & Vriens (2006) state that “it is useful to consider the questions with the six W’s who, what, when, where, why, and way”.

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As cited by Kumar (2005) there are advantages and disadvantages of carrying out interviews.

Advantages:

“The interview is more suitable for complex cases;

It is functional for compiling in-depth information;

Information can be supplemented;

Questions can be analysed;

Interviewing has a wider application; Disadvantages:

Interviewing is time-consuming and expensive;

The quality of data depends upon the quality of the interaction;

The quality of data depends upon the quality of the interviewer;

The quality of data may vary when many interviewers are used;

The researcher may introduce his/her bias;

The interviewer may be biased”.

Focus Group. Another important technique which is used to collect qualitative data is

the focus groups. The researcher uses open-ended questions with an interview guide but it depends on the dynamic of the group, whether it is possible to change the style and series of the questions. As Morgan & Krueger (1998) states “if you need to gather substantial amounts of carefully tagged data within a relatively short period, then focus groups are more appropriate”. The main advantage of focus groups is the ability to study a large amount of interaction on a topic in a short period of time. Additionally, focus groups are more interesting for the participants compared to the individual interviews because they can learn and exchange opinions with the other members. Furthermore, the small numbers of participants in focus groups limit the ability to generalise to larger populations. Kitzinger (1995) argues that “interaction is the critical feature of focus groups because the interaction between participants highlights their view of the world, the language they use about an issue and their values and beliefs about a situation”. In addition, another benefit is that focus groups elicit information in a way which allows researchers to discover why an issue is significant, as well as what is most important about it (Morgan, 1988). Furthermore, the opportunity to be involved in decision making processes (Race, et al., 1994), to be valued as experts, and to be given the chance to work collaboratively with researchers (Goss & Leinbach, 1996) can be empowering for many participants.

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Although focus group research has been a popular research approach, there are some significant restraints. Morgan (1988) states that “the researcher or moderator has limit manage over the data produced than in either quantitative studies or one-to-one interviewing”. Many participants feel uncomfortable with participating in a group environment and some may find giving opinions in the bigger group threatening (Ouimet, et al., 2004). Participants in a focus group are speaking in a precise context, within a particular culture; as a result occasionally it may be complicated for the researcher to clearly recognise an individual meaning. Blackburn (2000) state that “the outcome of a focus group can be influenced by the “group effect” in that the opinion of one person might control, that some might be disinclined to talk and that an opportunity might not be given for all participants to express their opinions”.

Another most widely used method of data collection is the questionnaire. The revolution of technology brought the computer-assisted approaches like web-based surveys, e- mailed questionnaires for large surveys, surveys with handheld computer for the questionnaires. The major aim of a Questionnaire is to transform research questions into serviceable questions. Researchers’ ideas about what should be measured and how it should be measured must be concrete before a survey begins in order to produce a questionnaire (Axinn & Pearce, 2006).

As cited by Czaja & Blair (2005) the steps in the process of designing questionnaires are the following:

“List the research questions;

Under each research question list the survey questions topics;

List all required ancillary information (background variables, etc.);

Is the Web and literature search for questions from other surveys?

Assess the variable list against general plans for data analysis;

Draft the survey introduction (or cover letter);

Draft new questions;

Propose a question order;

Revise ‘found’ questions if necessary;

Try out the draft instrument on a colleague;

Begin revisions;

Periodically ‘test’ revisions on colleagues”.

As Kumar (2005) states, questionnaires have several advantages and disadvantages. Advantages:

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It offers greater anonymity; Disadvantages:

Application is limited;

Response rate is low;

There is a self-selecting bias;

Opportunity to clarify issues is lacking;”

Observation. There is no single method of planning and implementing observational

research (Lancaster, 2005). In participant observation the researcher takes part in the activities of the research exercise with the major aim to reflect upon the hidden issues and problems of the examined aims. This method of data collection is very time- consuming during the observation and during analysing what has been recorded. An advantage of the observation method compared to the interview technique is that the researcher can avoid the potential bias that can result in a respondent’s contact with an interviewer during questioning. Furthermore, Robson (2002) states that “there is a major issue concerning the extent to which an observer affects the situation under observation”.

Chosen Research approach and data collection for this research project. In Case

Study driven research all standard methods of data collection may be employed. it depends on users’ requirements, resources and time restrictions. It is necessary to employ a mixed research approach of qualitative and quantitative approach as it should examine multiple aspects of this research.