Research design

This research intends to fill part of the gap in the research by looking for patterns in behaviour, leading to what Saunders & Lewis (2012:109) describe as a process whereby researchers:

‘begin with specific observations and measures, begin to observe patterns and repeated occurrences of phenomena… thereby gaining an understanding of the meanings humans attach to events.”

The research started with a review of the literature available on work-life balance in Africa, especially Nigeria. Additionally, literature on work-life balance and flexible working in developed economies and other emerging economies in some parts of Asia was reviewed. This was done to help fine- tune the research and to draw upon the various initiatives that have been documented over time. It was discovered from the literature on work-life balance in Europe that WLB tends to be associated predominantly with flexible working (Hegewisch & Gornick, 2011; McGinnity & Whelan, 2009), whereas literature from the US discusses flexible working and other

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‘wellness’ programmes, as well as initiatives like employee counselling as part of work-life programmes (Hobson, Delunas & Kesic, 2001).

After scanning literature from developed and some developing countries, the researcher decided there was a need for a pilot study to clarify what is meant by WLB in the Nigerian context. This would also help with the design of the main study, due to limited knowledge and literature available in respect of work and family initiatives in Africa (Annor, 2014, Aryee, 2005, Mapedzahama, 2014).

This research phase was exploratory in nature because it involved gathering general information about the subject matter of the research. First, in line with previous research on WLB in Africa, a qualitative research approach was used because this supports exploratory studies and is particularly suited for studying developmental contexts (Annor, 2014; Barbour, 2014:16; Matthews & Liz, 2010; Mordi et al., 2013). As such, qualitative research enabled the researcher to take a step back from the general understanding of the concept of WLB and see it instead through the eyes of working mothers, HR practitioners and supervisors in Nigeria.

Secondly, based on the gap in the literature on WLB in Nigeria, it was also decided that a qualitative approach would enable the researcher to obtain richer and more detailed data (Saunders & Lewis, 2012). In order to allow some flexibility and ensure that the evidence obtained from this study addresses the broad research question effectively, the administration of semi-structured interviews was chosen as the most appropriate method.

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a method of data collection in which the interviewer asks about a set of themes using some predetermined questions, but varies the order in which the themes are covered and questions asked- some questions may be omitted if it is considered irrelevant to the participant(s) and new questions could be asked to gain new insight into a theme been investigated)”. Semi- structured interviews allow for some flexibility and thus differ from structured interviews (where questions are standardised and participants answer the same set of questions in the same order) and unstructured interviews (where discussions are informal and participants are allowed to talk freely about a topic with little direction from the interviewer) - (Saunders & Lewis, 2012). Semi-structured interviewing provides a space for sharing stories and this allowed respondents to talk extensively about the policies, informal practices and their daily routines, in order to enrich the available knowledge about what WLB means within this Nigerian context (Rossetto, 2014). Additionally, the researcher chose semi-structured interviews because this method benefits from synchronous communication, coupled with the fact that verbal cues could be of immense benefit to the research: the researcher could see when participants were not comfortable with the questions asked and when they were enthusiastic about the issues being discussed.

As discussed in chapters two and three, due to the introduction of a wide variety of related concepts in the discussion of WLB in Africa by earlier researchers (Annor, 2014; Mapedzahama, 2014; Aryee, 2005; Epie & Ituma, 2014), some interview questions were open-ended with appropriate prompts on questions relating to working mothers’ work and home spheres,

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relationship management and childcare arrangements. This was done to ensure that most of the activities engaged in by working mothers were covered by the study in order to identify areas of balance or conflict, as the case may be.

To gain maximum benefit from the semi-structured interview data, individual case studies were generated to highlight particular themes in greater depth. WLB is an area of research where more information and evidence is needed to provide a robust understanding of the concept within the Nigerian context, and case studies will provide an avenue to present WLB and WLC experiences of working mothers in Nigeria in the form of stories, using themes that reflected the importance of key issues for the participants. Presenting findings in this way summarises what is known about a studied concept and identifies areas needing further research (Vissak, 2010). The case study method, however, can be time-consuming because data can only be converted to cases after data gathering (through interviewing, examination of documentary evidence or ethnography), transcribing and data analysis (Vissak, 2010).

The researcher is a major research instrument in the interview method. In qualitative studies, the researcher needs to use a certain amount of subjectivity in data analysis. The quality of the research therefore depends on the competence, skills and subject-matter knowledge of the researcher - he/she collects data, analyses and interprets information gathered (Kvale, 2007). More specifically, the analysis of interview transcripts, sifting through sentences, looking for patterns within the data (similarities and differences

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in responses) and coding bits of texts (discussing a particular theme) which the researcher considers most appropriate based on the ideas they convey, takes time and experience (Burnard, 1994).

In addition, travelling long distances to meet participants can be costly and time-consuming, e.g., the time spent travelling, time spent conducting interviews, rescheduling interviews and the time needed for transcription (Opdenakker, 2006). However, despite the limitations of using semi- structured interviews in research, as discussed above, the inadequacy of a robust understanding of the WLB practices and policies available within the oil and gas sector in Nigeria has meant that semi-structured interviews will be most helpful and appropriate for this study.