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Longitudinal studies are considered to be more complicated, costly and administratively burdensome than other methods such as cross-sectional approaches (Janson in Magnusson & Bergman, 1990; Ticehurst & Veal, 1999). However, a longitudinal approach to the interview program was imperative to capture the machinations of occupational decision making over time and during the transitional period from student to worker in hospitality VET students. It allowed an iterative and inductive generation of data where occupational expectations,

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experiences and future aspirations were catalogued over time as they metamorphosed into narratives that gave up identifiable sequences of experiences (Bujold, 2004; Polkinghorne, 1988). Alternatives such as cross-sectional methods would not have provided a continuous analysis of occupational decision making that was both time and experience bound.

The interview program timetable was matched to the various stages of decision making (see Figure 6) as participants moved from initial occupational decision making (e.g. „I want to be a chef‟), through exposure to the world of hospitality work into another decision-making process of early career (i.e. „Is chef work really for me?‟, „What will I do instead?‟). The first round of interviews was conducted at the beginning of the VET course (February 2007) with the second conducted at the end of the VET course (October–November 2007). The final round of interviews was conducted during August the following year. Over the course of the three interviews, both cognitive and environmental factors impacting on occupational

decision making were examined. The relatively short cycle (i.e. 18 months) facilitated greater utility of a longitudinal approach and allowed an examination of the evolution of occupational aspiration or choice and the subsequent impact of work experience on occupational choice modification.

A longitudinal approach allowed the data to illustrate a set of factors that emerged over the course of the interviews – moving away from perfunctory determinism that may exist in positivist rationalisations (Brewer & Hunter, 2006; Clarke, 2005). This was particularly important to this research as the element of change (e.g. occupational aspirations, choice and expectations) was fundamental to the way in which participants came to a final decision regarding their intention to remain in or leave a hospitality occupation. Interrogating the narrative and discourse embedded within the participants‟ interviews gave an insight into the nature of experience, the sequence of how participants came to a decision or how knowledge

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had been generated (Polkinghorne, 1988). This was captured from the beginning of the VET course into the world of hospitality work and beyond.

Narrative analysis in this case includes the consideration of the distortion of reality of hospitality work through “myths” (Denzin, 1986:199). These myths give an insight into the social context in which decisions of occupations are made and how they changed. In this context, myth means that which is created within a communication system and is part of a culture that is a “semiotic linguistic production” whose meaning can be deconstructed and traced back to audiences and authors (Denzin, 1986:195). In other words, signs, symbols and language carry with them a story of a particular culture that may not be based on an objective reality. In this case it is the language and perpetuated stories associated with work in the hospitality industry; the authors being industry players and VET teachers and the audience being VET students or prospective employees (e.g. “it‟s long hours and poor conditions, but you can travel and have fun”). As will become evident later in this thesis, the myths of hospitality work are uncovered over time to reveal a different participant perspective on their occupational choice.

Whilst the stories the participants told were always framed in the experience and unique context of the individual, they rested on the learning sequences that had been socially defined during primary and secondary socialisation (Berger & Luckmann, 1967; Gottfredson, 1981). The stories gave an insight into the means of arriving at an occupational choice (e.g.

occupational choice based on a perception of occupational status or love of the job). Interpretation of these stories was framed using the theories of Circumscription and

Compromise and Social Cognitive Career Theory. These theories were particularly important when considering the role of others in the participants‟ social space and the comparison of the reality and the myths of hospitality work to the initial perceptions of participants. The stories

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participants created were socially constructed (Durkheim, 1938; Lindesmith et al., 1977; Randall & Martin, 2003). This current research has identified the journey of people who decided to stay in hospitality: moving from secondary socialisation into a place of tertiary socialisation or the workplace environment. The stories that participants told about their VET training and early career experiences, compared with their original expectations or aspirations, provides a time-bound indication of the psychological and social machinations experienced on the journey to making an occupational decision.

The following model illustrates how the interview schedule coincided with the participants‟ move through the VET course and into the workforce or into further study. This model also indicates how the research schedule relates to the theoretical framework (i.e. Circumscription and Compromise and Social Cognitive Career Theory). An indication of how quantitative research tools underpin the qualitative data and how both methods fit with the research program over time is also illustrated.

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The qualitative and quantitative methods and tools used in this research are now discussed in further detail.