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2.3.1.5. Semi-Structured Interviews
Overall, a total of 93 interviews [i] (23 at the LSE, 26 at the FU, 19 at the UPC, and 25 at the UOC) and one focus group has been conducted.
“The purpose of interviewing is to find out what is in, and on someone else’s mind. We interview people to find out from them these things we cannot directly observe” (Patton, 1980, p. 196). Hence in this research, the information in question is a) about personal practice and dispositions as well as b) about the condition of the university. Each interview was planned and scheduled to take about one hour. Several times this timeframe was exceeded due to mutual interest in the exploration of phenomena. Before the interviews started it was made clear that all data would be treated confidentially and would be made anonymous before publication. All interviews were digitally recorded after the interviewee’s agreement had been solicited.
It is acknowledged that, “both parties to the interview are necessarily and unavoidably active. Each is involved in meaning-making work. Meaning is not merely elicited by apt questioning nor simply transported through respondent replies; it is actively and communicatively assembled in the interview encounter. Respondents are not so much repositories of knowledge – treasuries of information awaiting excavation – as they are constructors of knowledge in collaboration with interviewers” (Holstein & Gubrium, 1995).
Within the interviews it is therefore attempted to establish rapport in a question and answer conversation and be aware of what Willis (1990) would call ‘symbolic work’ in order to obtain maximum meaning and information rather then intending to ‘artificially objectivise’ the obtained data through ‘cold’ or supposedly neutral behaviour.
In order to maximize the quality and amount of the yielded information the social process of establishing a convenient and liberated conversation atmosphere, a semi-structured interview format [ii] was chosen (Ellen, 1984, p. 229). An interview guide is used to ensure that certain key areas of interest are dealt with, as well as an overall directedness of the questions. The core questions of the interviews are documented in Annex E. However, the actual questions are matched to the specific context of the interview partner’s expertise and area of responsibility. The semi-structured interview method also permits one to introduce materials and questions previously unanticipated (Ellen, 1984: 230). The interviews are scheduled to be one hour in length but can be extended when appropriate. The interviews mostly take place within the premises of the university – either in the informant’s office or a meeting room. In the case of student interviews, more flexibility is necessary, resulting in a less controlled interview setting, such as cafeterias and other public areas. Notes will be taken during the interviews and digital recordings of the interview will be produced as long as permission is granted.
2.3.1.6. Selection of Interview partners
Before the beginning of the case studies a role-based identification of interview partners has been developed in collaboration with the project supervisor. Hereby it was attempted to allow for a holistic understanding of the institutional condition, strategy and practice. The role-based description of the interview partners sought can be found in Annex D.
At the LSE, the opportunity to have a video and audio recorded focus group with students emerged. This was evaluated as quite beneficial and realized accordingly. Flexibility was also necessary to grasp the perspective of UOC’s students. A document with questions had been prepared and sent out to the disciplines’ student representatives, as well as to members of student associations listed from the virtual campus and randomly selected students.
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[i] Three interviews at the UPC and six at the UOC where not exclusively for this research but conducted by peer researchers in the PIC research.
[ii] During the interviews widely acknowledged practices such as ‘repeating the last thing an informant has said’ to indicate that it has been understood what was being said, or ‘making affirmative noises’ (Ellen, 1984:234, Bernard, 1994:217) are used to encourage informants to continue and expand their answers. However in general care is taken not to influence the content an informant is reporting.
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