The Role of the Researcher in the interview process

I continually reflected on my role in the entire interview, important for qualitative interviewers to reflect on being part of the research process and articulate possible assumptions which might influence the study design and implementation (Taylor, 2005). At the outset I had to consider carefully how the participants might view my “intrusion” into their experience of their health condition, what their perspectives of themselves could be and how much information they could be willing to disclose during the interviews. It was pertinent for me to undertake adequate interview preparation, to understand and recognise an interviewee’s response to questions were influenced by factors such as age, gender, social class and professional status (Silverman, 2013). Understanding it may be difficult to uncover the true feelings and emotions of the participants during one interview session, so the benefit of interview waves allowed the narrative to move further than a public account.

Two participants knew me as a nurse from my previous practice setting while others identified me as a research student but had no idea of my professional background. I carefully considered my approach towards all participants (those that knew me before and those that didn`t have a prior knowledge of who I am) because I wanted them to view me from the perspective of a researcher even though that couldn`t possibly erase their mental picture of me as a nurse. It has been shown that participants in qualitative interviews may respond differently to questions posed to them by persons they perceive as being of higher status when compared with their responses to a student researcher or a novice researcher (Richards and Emslie, 2000; Taylor, 2005). After gaining informed consent, I fully introduced myself and encouraged general conversation to elicit any concerns the participants might have regarding the research. This helped in establishing a rapport and develop a level of trust that

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encouraged participants to feel relaxed before the interview commenced. This process was repeated at each wave of the data collection and participants were informed of their right to withdraw from the study whenever they wished which not affect their treatment in any way. It was important for me to decide in advance on what information to reveal during the interviews. I tried to be mindful of the issues as a nurse researcher, but at times it was impossible to keep one`s role as a clinician out of the interview process (Carolan, 2003; Clarke, 2006). To resolve tension, I used reciprocity, ‘the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit’ (Carolan, 2003, p.12) this enabled participants to see me as a

human being, a Nigerian, not just as a researcher. I also considered other issues such as the use of a digital recorder where it should be placed or positioned during the interviews, what I should wear to the interview sites, how to deal with emotional or difficult issues which might arise during the interview and the need to be careful of my body gestures during the interviews. I needed to consider where the interview took place at private place/room at the unit that was conducive for participants to feel comfortable to stay and agree to participate in the interviews. The frailty of participants was considered which influenced the time frame for the interviews to suit individual preferences. It was very difficult to interview participants who came from very far distances to the Hospital who did not want to be interviewed in their homes but did not present for dialysis during the day hours. This led to me needing to stay in a hotel overnight to interview such participant(s) the next day before they travelled back to their rural homes.

4.7.3.1 The Reflexive Journal

Keeping a journal helps researchers carrying out qualitative interviews to be reflexive and examine experiences to enhance their understanding of the research topic and the entire research process (Taylor, 2005). The choice of the term reflexive not reflective was deliberate since the two words have different meanings. Reflection defined as “internally examining and exploring an issue of concern, triggered by an experience, which creates and clarifies meaning in terms of self, and which results in a changed conceptual perspective”

(Boyd and Fales, 1983, p.100) is not necessarily specific to research (Dasgupta and Charon, 2004) Reflexivity specifically acknowledges the role of the researcher in the entire research process (Jasper, 2005); where researchers carry out critical self-reflection, analyse and take

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note of personal values and biases which could affect the data collection processes and the interpretation (Polit and Beck, 2008).

In this study, reflexivity formed a crucial aspect of data collection, exploring issues of personal bias, decisions along the life course of the research, reflexive thoughts and to record these in my personal memos and diaries (Carolan, 2003; Taylor, 2005; Polit and Beck, 2008). The diary provided the opportunity to explore emerging themes from the data, to make a comparison with my previous assumptions about the topic being researched (Taylor, 2005). This certainly helped to ensure the final analysis of the data reflected the participants` meaning, beliefs and views and was not just an exercise aimed at placing the data into preconceived categories. Indeed, it provided depth of understanding to context when the spoken words were not enough to convey true meanings or when someone had difficulty expressing themselves (Van Manen, 2016). The process of reflexivity was continuous, and it served as a vital resource for audit trails to elicit the trustworthiness of the entire research process (Jasper, 2005; Taylor, 2005). Extracts from the reflexive journal have been used in the presentation of the findings, to reinforce meaning and capture context, research decisions, conflict, challenges and experiences.