Selecting the Sample 92

Sample and site selection within this research project are inextricably linked. Both are focussed on achieving the facilitation, description and investigation of

meaningful experiences of participants on a wilderness journey as they vividly occur.

This research uses purposeful sampling, this being deemed most likely to provide data of an enhanced quality. Purposeful sampling, in the context of this research project, involves looking for meaningful experiences in contexts where they have been previously observed and are most likely to be accessible and well articulated:

The logic and power of purposeful sampling derive from the emphasis on in- depth understanding. This leads to selecting information-richcases for study in depth. Information-rich cases are those from which one can learn a great deal about issues of central importance to the purpose of the research, thus the term purposeful sampling (Patton, 2002, p. 46).

Efficient data collection mandated access to multiple participants from individual trips. Using entire trips as the context allowed for the possibility of my own participation on the journeys and the development of relationships with fellow participants that could help explicate descriptions of personal experiences. A further criterion used in the selection of trips was that participants voluntarily chose the experience, and that the purpose of the trip was recreation and/or holiday, rather than the improvement of technical skills.

Though the sampling technique here described might seem to be an example of what Patton calls “convenience sampling” (2002, p. 241), in terms of using multiple participants from existing trips for the sake of convenience, at the heart of the sample

participants were purposefully selected based on contexts where the phenomena under investigation had been previously observed, and randomly in the sense that trips, and therefore participants, were selected prior to any experiences (meaningful or otherwise) taking place. In other words, participants were not selected post trip – based on reported meaningful experiences. Rather, they were selected prior to any experience and regardless of likely outcomes. I selected the first available trip of the season, and continued to use subsequent trips as they became available based on the timeframes and available spots on the trip. In this sense the participants were: “randomly selected in advance of knowledge of how the outcomes would appear… The credibility of systematic and randomly selected case examples is considerably greater than the personal, ad hoc selection of cases selected and reported after the fact – that is, after outcomes are known” (Patton, 2002, p. 241). A selection of both commercial and private trip participants was used in order to gain variety within the selection process.

The overall result for the sample was 32 participants (aged 17-65), with 20 males and 12 females. All participants were on mixed gender nine or ten day trips on the

Franklin River during the period 2006-2009. The sample size was not fixed prior to the commencement of the research. Instead, by focussing on the research questions the sample size was determined by the quality of data available from each new participant that added to the insights of the meaningful experiences described by other participants.

4.3.1 Commercial Clients

The commercial company, World Expeditions, was approached in September 2007 through a letter to the Australian operations manager outlining the research project and requesting the opportunity to invite clients to participate in the research over the summer 2007/08 season. World Expeditions agreed to provide:

• Access to clients from selected trips, initially through a letter of introduction and then at the pre-departure meeting prior to the trip.

• A place on the Franklin River trip for myself as a de-facto client, where the clients agreed to allow me to participate and observe.

I participated in three commercial Franklin River rafting trips during the season, which provided the following sample:

Table 1: Sample of Participants from Commercial Trips During the 2007/08

Season

For the season 07/08, World Expeditions had an overall ratio of less than one third females to two thirds males, so while the commercial participant sample involved a higher proportion of males to females, it reflected the general ratio within trips for that season. Whilst not all clients on the trips participated in the research, all agreed to my participation on the trip and to be observed. The critical factor for the four clients not participating was the inclination not to be interviewed at the end of the trip, with a lack of time available being the commonly cited reason.

4.3.2 Private Recreational Participants

Private recreational participants came from three distinct categories; individual participants from two private trips during the 2006/07 season, a private trip during the 2007/08 season and two trips during the 2008/09 season. I was present, as a participant, on four of the five journeys. While I had no direct role in selecting any of

World Expeditions 1 World Expeditions 2 World Expeditions 3 7 Clients – 5 participated 8 Clients – 6 participated 7 Clients – 7 Participated

Gender Age Gender Age Gender Age

Female 26 Male 61 Female 33

Male 30 Male 63 Male 44

Male 49 Female 31 Male 65

Male 47 Male 60 Male 42

Female 35 Male 48 Male 25

Male 29 Male 40

the participants for these private trips (each trip was pre-organised before I had interaction with the group) in all cases the leaders/guides of the trip were known to me. In this way the sample selection was similar to that of the commercial trips in that the original contact was based on the convenience (depending on dates) of a pre- organised trip.

From the guided private trips, the following participants were added to the sample:

Table 2: Sample of Participants from Private Recreational Trips During 2006-

2009

Participants were assigned pseudonyms and a code that represented the trip they were on. For example, Diane (WE3) was a female participant from the third World Expeditions trip, whereas Morris (PT1) was a male participant from the first Private Guided Trip.