The interviews

Interpretive studies, whether face to face or in written form, consider a reality of perceptions and affirm the status quo based on the individual‟s viewpoint. Individuals have the ability to choose what they believe and act accordingly (Burrell & Morgan 1979) giving rise to varying accounts of a phenomenon. Utilising this interpretive method allows the empirical collection of data based on observations (Neuman 2003). Several such studies have been undertaken in the fields of organisational theory, sourcing theory and urban planning (Clegg et al. 2005; Clegg et al. 2006; Fincher & Gooder 2007; Pouder & Clark 2009; Van Mossel & Staub 2007). Taking this interpretive approach is no longer considered unusual within the subject areas of organisational studies, housing studies or sociology. It is from these bodies of knowledge that the research questions are posed. The interpretive approach places limitations on sample size since the data from such studies is considered both „rich‟ and „thick‟ (Ezzy 2002). Sandelowski (1995) considers that there is fine line in determining sample size within qualitative research. She claims that sample sizes may be too small to achieve either informational redundancy or theoretical saturation. On the other hand they may be too large to permit the deep analysis that is the basis of qualitative inquiry.

Hughes (1971) on the other hand notes that small size samples can still tell the researcher something of value. It is not so much the size of the data sample that is questionable, but rather the depth of information that it contains. To combat this idea that large sample sizes are a necessity in social research, Hughes (1971, p.ix) stated:

„One of my basic assumptions is that if one quite clearly sees something happen once, it is almost certain to have happened again and again. The burden of proof is on those who claim a thing once seen is an exception; if they look hard they may find it everywhere, although with some interesting differences in each case‟.

Whereas, in Sandelowski‟s (1995) view, determining adequate sample size in qualitative research is a matter of judgment and experience in evaluating the

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quality of the information collected, Hughes (1971) considers one detailed interview will suffice for obtaining knowledge about the lived experience of humans within an institutional setting such as an owner corporation. A case study of just one person, providing a depth of information about a given topic is significant research. The objective in this thesis, then, is to analyse both media and a small number of interviews so that the analysis contributes to knowledge of the governance of the owner corporation.

Interviews are powerful tools for obtaining knowledge about human experience and behaviour (Kvale 1996, p. 72). Kvale‟s (1996) discussion of “miners” and “travellers” within research noted that whereas „miners‟ brought the interviewees‟ underlying nuggets of information to the surface for observation and discussion, “travellers‟ went on a journey with the interviewee, observing phenomena in situ. In both instances, “the mode of understanding in qualitative research involve(d) alternative conceptions of social knowledge, meaning, reality and truth in social research with meaningful relationships to be interpreted (in which) the subjects formulate in their own dialogue, their own conceptions of the lived world” (Kvale 1996, p. 11). In line with Kvale‟s views, semi structured interviews were considered appropriate. That is, the questions are probing for information, with few limitations placed on the type or amount of information that is gained. Topics of governance, stakeholder relations, and contractual arrangements are investigated without necessarily reverting to a set questionnaire. This approach allows the empirical collection of data based on observations (Neuman 2003, p. 86). The approach is similar to Pouder and Clark‟s (2009) strategic study of a gated community, Van Mossel and Staub‟s (2007) discussion of contract management within community housing facilities management, and Hauge et al.‟s (2012) consideration of stakeholder participation in multi-story rehabilitation.

4.2.1 Participant selection

The general approach to seeking participants from the strata industry was through professional organisations such as the Owner Corporation of Victoria (OCV). The strata industry has been supportive of this research, providing a „letter of support‟. They were also instrumental in promoting this study in the early stages through website and newsletters and some of the participants contacted me as a result of reading about the study through this medium. However this process on its own did not identify all the study participants because strata industry newsletters are circulated solely to strata managers.

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Apart from the cost of advertising in major newspapers, it was not seen as the most effective way to find participants. Two sampling approaches were considered viable. Ezzy (2002) considers that „snowballing‟ is not sufficiently rigorous. It was therefore seen as a position of last resort. Other ways of seeking committee chairs as participants were sought. The first involved advertising through university web sites. The number of part-time undergraduates who juggle study with work seemed to indicate that owners may come forward in this way, and there was a possibility that some staff, living in strata complexes, may come forward. One participant was identified though this method.

To overcome this problem of a lack of owner corporation participants, I sought access to two government databases, TheList and Landata. These databases are government specific land information systems (GIS) websites containing Certificate of Title details for all property within the states of Tasmania and Victoria. The databases were used in a number of ways. Lands Information Systems Tasmania (TheList) was accessed to identify strata developments along with individual owners, and to confirm that the participant was in fact an owner. A random set of fifty strata complexes were identified and a mail-out sought participants from these complexes for interview. A similar set of letters was generated from the Landata database for the Melbourne area. Information from TheList and Landata is public access on a fee for use basis. The databases were also used for checking property ownership details and confirming the status of participants as belonging to an owner corporation.

Melbourne City Council organised a number of forums from 2009 onwards that provided possible networking opportunities for both strata managers and owners. One of these focused specifically on issues affecting owner corporations. I attended with fliers and handed these out in the before and after sessions and at the interval break, introducing myself and the research opportunity to as many people as possible. For specific types of owner corporation, such as those with low stakeholder connectedness, governance structures and professional bodies corporate, a snowball approach become necessary to identify participants. One participant was recruited using this approach.

I conducted six interviews with strata managers and seven interviews with committee chairs. A fourteenth interview was conducted with an owner from within a smaller regional complex that identified as having no strata manager and no functioning body corporate. I gave considerable thought to this interview and

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considered that it might provide a reference point to all other interviews, and illuminate what occurred when owners within a strata scheme were left to themselves to sort out governance issues. While the actual number of interviews is not great in terms of volume, they provided both „rich and thick‟ accounts of how the owner corporation functions. Combined with the additional information gleaned through document and media analysis, I sought to achieve my aim of presenting comprehensive, well rounded research.

In the end, all the strata managers who participated in this research were identified and recruited via contacts within the strata industry. Two owner corporation chairs contacted me through university websites. Four participants contacted me in response to the leaflet drops. One participant was both a small time strata manager as well as a committee chair.

4.2.2 The litmus test

While several offers of participation occurred through word-of-mouth, selecting participants requires a much more considered approach. Litmus tests are applied where the participants need to meet specific criteria, or to exclude participants that do not meet a desired profile (Babbie 2004). Since the research focus was on the organisational aspects of the strata mechanism, a litmus test (see appendix 1) was applied to exclude participants who did not fall within the criteria of the test. Specifically I excluded owners who were not committee chairs, or were unable to speak in an official capacity about the issues relevant to a particular complex. Litmus tests are used as a way of pre-screening participants so that only those participants who best meet the research criteria are interviewed. The litmus test was used to exclude participants in the following categories:

 Strata complexes that were less than six years old were excluded. This is important because the mandatory builder‟s liability insurance expires at the end of six years. I felt this would reduce confusion between maintenance issues and valid insurance claims when talking to interviewees.

 Strata complexes that were under builder‟s warranty were excluded. I felt that there would be less confusion between maintenance issues and valid insurance claims when talking to the interviewees. I wanted any contractual information to be at the owner‟s behest where possible and not reliant on the builder.

Page 105  Strata complexes where legal disputes were evidenced or likely to occur were excluded. These were excluded to ensure privacy of the participants. I did not want any information from the interviews to be used in court at a later date and nor did I want participants to be identified through court documents.

 Owner participants who had a functioning owner corporation were required to be on the committee of management, and preferably the chairman. This is because I wanted the committees‟ view, not individual owners.

 Strata complexes that were 100% commercial in orientation were excluded, that is they needed to have some residential occupation. The issue of commercial strata while interesting is outside the scope of this thesis.

 Community title schemes in which owners with shared values come together with the specific purpose of creating shared lived space were excluded. Community title schemes are outside the scope of this thesis.

For these reasons then, only building complexes that have been in existence for at least 6 years have been included. This time frame excludes complexes that are still under builder‟s warranty and provide time for the owners to exit the forming stage of an organisation and move into the performing stage. Moreover it allows time for developers to relinquish any interest in the building complex through on-sale of strata units. Owner corporations that were involved in legal disputes were also excluded. While this may have been seen as an indication of a low performing type of organisation, I took the view that becoming involved in an area of legal dispute was in itself problematic, given that were it to be published and come into the public domain, this information could be easily traced back to the participating organisations. I could not guarantee anonymity and thus I may eventually harm those who sort to assist me. It was also important to me to select those organisations where the main focus was on residential ownership.

There has been a recent spate of advertisements for the sale of commercial strata titled properties. These fall across a continuum including offices, warehousing, hotel rooms, short stay apartments, and self-storage space. It was considered that the owners of these complexes are more likely to operate from a business perspective. At a minimum, I sought mixed-use complexes that included residential strata property or solely residential complexes for this research. Community complexes presented a difficulty because many are strata titled. Community

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complexes were excluded on the basis that these owners come together with the specific intention of forming a community that meets their needs. This is in keeping with McKenzie‟s (2006a) view that these complexes are formed by people with likeminded ideas, who have means within their by-laws and legislation to exclude prospective owners who do not meet the community philosophy. He goes on to state that they are generally high functioning with fewer disputes as a result. This type of ownership appears to play a minor part in the emerging strata industry landscape in Australia. For these reasons, community based strata title organisations were excluded from the study.

4.2.3 The interview process

Strata managers are busy people. While I was advised to find a neutral place to interview in, strata managers were less than enthusiastic about attending. Some were based in the suburbs or regional areas. Some had offices within high profile CBD buildings. One was working from a converted garage at the rear of his house. I conducted interviews in all these locations during this research. Some committee chairs wanted me to come and see their building. Others were more reticent and willing only to meet in a public place of their choosing. Given that all the committee chairs were female, this may have been a gender/ safety response. Participants were advised they could stop the interview at any time should they choose to do so. The most difficult interview was held in a café with attendant noise background problems. The participant was well known and there were frequent interjections from people passing by.

All interviews were recorded. Once completed, tapes were transcribed verbatim. There was some discussion as to whether this was necessary. I was advised by various academics within the university to transcribe „thinking of quotable material only‟. However transcribing the interviews myself, and in their completeness, was important because it enabled me to immerse myself in the interview data, and to reflect on the issues being raised. It also allowed me to hone my interview technique between interviews. However the deciding factors were anonymity (for the individual) and confidentiality (about who said what). Participants had been assured their identity would be protected. My ethics application had identified the possibly of commercial-in-confidence matters being breached. For example, should an owner corporation raise issues of performance or facility degradation, and this information become generally known, a decrease in asset price might follow affecting the owners financially. For strata managers, information shared in

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interviews could potentially result in commercial harm to their business. Thus participant information was decoded by assigning an alphabetical suffix to the participant.

The transcripts amounted to over two hundred pages. I was advised to use a simple thematic filing system. I began by reading and rereading the transcripts in line with Ezzy‟s (2002) advice. I began with piles of quotes cut and placed in a pile on the floor. However, I soon discovered this approach was inadequate to the task. Instead I coded the electronic word document using four colours within the electronic Word document itself to identify each of the four themes. As themes and subthemes emerged, I moved the transcripts to NVivo and attended workshops to develop new skills. The question that arose was on what basis quotations were being assigned? In response to this I used a code book which met the requirements for rigorousness in research. I restarted the coding procedure using NVivo, ultimately identifying the four key themes noted above as well as three emergent themes within the interview transcripts12.