Interviews

This week I joined a discussion skype about interviews with other module 2 and 3 students. It was a good opportunity to see the perspectives of interviews from the different modules.

Something that I found interesting from this session is that it isn’t about getting an answer. We can plan our inquiry into the ground but the reality is, we don’t know what we are going to find and what data we will collect. We do not have control over everything. This means that some of the thoughts we had planned may not work for the data we received…and that is ok. Things change, we don’t always have control and that is ok. What this does, is give us an opportunity to look at ourselves and question why we thought certain things, why did we make those assumptions or have that bias? It gives us a way to learn more about ourselves and to push our own boundaries.

Qualitative data is very different from quantitative data regarding what information is collected. With qualitative data the researcher is involved and going to have some kind of impact on the research and data collected. But the researcher will also have an impact on how the data is analysed. One morning I could wake up and look at the data and feel a certain way about it and see certain themes. The next evening, I could look at that same data but feel differently and interpret it in a completely different way. This continues the idea that there isn’t an ‘end result’ because things are always changing. It is about reflecting on the journey we have had and an overview of what we experienced. It reminded me how important it is as researchers to be aware of how we ourselves affect the data. 

Please comment below if anyone feels the same or differently or any other ideas you may have! 





Comments

  1. Anonymous16 November 2020 at 23:50

    Hi Alys. I was not able to attend this Skype so it was helpful to get an overview on the discussion. You raise an important point that when you look at the data you collected, different themes may emerge depending on the day you look at it. Very interesting idea!

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    Replies
    1. Alys May-James21 November 2020 at 02:14

      Hi Jacqueline,
      Yes it was an interesting discussion to have and made me realise how much of an impact we have on our own research and the outcomes we get. Thank you :) Alys x

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