although individual academics tended to have extended social networks that could be utilised for effective snowball sampling. In the case of Libya the suspicion of outside researchers in an unstable environment was greatly reduced by the introductions provided by the snowballing technique.
Furthermore, Tansey (2007) argues that non-‐‑probability sampling is appropriate in political case-‐‑study research that relies on elite interviewing because participants should be selected according to particular criteria. A purposive sample frame was therefore utilised because of the concern of the study with the strategic aspect of HE and post-‐‑war recovery which required the participation of high-‐‑level officials to address most of the research questions. In selecting potential participants those occupying or formerly occupying strategic and leadership positions in the HE sector or post-‐‑war reconstruction were favoured. While these participants can be considered elite actors on a conventional definition other participants including faculty members and administrative staff would not be. For this study, elites will be defined as those possessing expertise on the given topic. Some individuals may not self-‐‑identify as elites but will be classified as elites on this definition, for example, Libyan academics possess expertise on the national HE system but are not part of the economic or political elite. Elite interviews are useful for understanding theoretical positions, perceptions, beliefs and ideologies of elites and offer ‘insight into the mind-‐‑set of the actors who have played a role in shaping the society in which we live and an interviewee’s subjective analysis of a particular episode or situation’ (Richards 1996).
4.5.2. Primary and Secondary Sources
The first stage of each case-‐‑study was a ‘soaking and poking’ process (George & Bennett 2005, p.89) involving wide reading of primary and secondary literature to gain familiarity with contextual factors. For Iraq, this was greatly assisted by observations made whilst working with Iraqi academics. Doctoral theses, primarily
by overseas Iraqi and Libyan students at foreign universities, provide an invaluable resource for understanding historical dynamics of HE. For other general and contextual sources the literature related to Iraq and Libya from political science, development studies, and post-‐‑war recovery studies was surveyed.
While the subject of post-‐‑conflict HE is very under-‐‑researched in academic literature several scholarly sources address the issue. The majority analyse a single university or country with much less global or comparative study. Reportage from analytical news sources is an important source of information on HE in conflict and post-‐‑ conflict contexts. The Times Higher Education Supplement, the Chronicle of Higher Education, University World News, and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting all offer relatively objective and reliable journalism. Online data searches in archives of these publications retrieved information particularly useful for tracking post-‐‑ conflict trends in HE.
Statistical data on aid to HE, national educational expenditure, student enrolment, and other indicators was gathered from databases including the OECD-‐‑DAC Query Wizard for International Development Statistics, the Development Assistance Database (DAD) sites for Iraq, plus governmental statistics organisations. In addition, secondary sources that provide relevant statistics have been utilised and efforts made to cross-‐‑check their validity. However, the most important type of data was gained from interviews which will be addressed now.
4.5.3. Interviews
Semi-‐‑structured interviews with pre-‐‑dominantly open-‐‑ended questions were the primary data-‐‑collection technique employed during fieldwork. Rather than pre-‐‑ determined questions aimed at eliciting short answers, a set of ‘guiding questions’ (Hatch 2002, p.101) were asked to the vast majority of participants with participant responses followed up on and probed to attain in-‐‑depth data. This is appropriate due to the exploratory nature of the research which required a qualitative approach
that seeks to understand the perspectives of research subjects, their intentions, beliefs, and systems of meaning that inform their worldview. The majority of interviews were conducted in English with an Arabic-‐‑speaking local translator used where necessary.
4.5.4. Iraq Case-‐‑study
Primary data collection on Iraq occurred in a non-‐‑typical process over the majority of the length of study. Prior to commencing the doctoral programme the author became involved in the Scholar Rescue Fund Iraq (SRF) programme to support displaced Iraqi academics whilst working as a researcher in Amman, Jordan. Through acting as research assistant for Iraqi academics and frequent conversations a degree of familiarity with Iraqi HE was gained. In June 2010 involvement in a workshop partly organised by the Post-‐‑war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) on rebuilding Iraqi HE for Iraqi SRF Scholars in Amman, Jordan enabled greater knowledge of Iraqi HE and also access to a valuable group of potential participants. This experience shaped the decision to commence doctoral research on post-‐‑war reconstruction and HE in Iraq at the University of York in October 2010.
Between June 2010 and February 2011 involvement as an assistant in an SRF/PRDU project aimed at gearing the research of displaced Iraqi scholars towards rebuilding Iraqi HE enabled further in-‐‑depth knowledge of the topic based on contact with Iraqi academics, reading and editing of draft papers, and conduct of the initial stages of PhD research. Furthermore, this experience constitutes participant observation in a programme designed to build research capacity of Iraqi scholars on the rationale that upon their return they would have major impact on Iraqi HE through the relevance and quality of their research.
The above-‐‑mentioned project culminated in a conference in Amman, Jordan in January 2011 jointly organised by the Institute of International Education (IIE), SRF and PRDU. In attendance were many Iraqi university Presidents, representatives