Inicio de la era de transformaciones: la revolución liberal de mitad de siglo

This study follows a standard sampling procedure. After initial population identification (the SQU MCD students and graduates, and two stakeholder groups: those primarily concerned with the university’s role including policymakers, and those primarily concerned with the students and graduates including employers), participants were selected by theoretical sampling, as they possessed the nominated characteristics this form of sampling requires. A purposeful sampling strategy provides the possibility for information- rich and in-depth data. Maximum variation sampling, a type of purposeful sampling as used in this study, is considered the most useful strategy for a qualitative naturalistic study (Lincoln & Guba 1985). The uniqueness of this research comes from its participants’ background differentiation and their well-informed ability to address the research

questions. In achieving their research goals in the study environment, previous researchers did not consider universities’ role in satisfying community and labour market needs; nor

did they consider the need to include a variety of participant sources for the semi-

structured interviewing revealing the social ties and trust relationships important in social capital formulations.

4.2.3.1 Categories of Participants Table 3 Interview Categories and Participants shows the nine categories of participants necessary for the diversity in opinion and experiences required within the research statement. The categories represent people who are either directly involved or have a considerable stake in the fortunes of SQU MCD graduates.

Table 3

Interview Categories and Participants Category

No. Category Type Interviewed Number

1. Parents of unemployed SQU MCD graduates 4 2. Employers from the private sector 4 3. Employers from the public sector 4 4. Government policymakers 5

5. SQU MCD academics 8

6. Unemployed SQU MCD graduates 15 7. Employed SQU MCD graduates in private sector 4 8. Employed SQU MCD graduates in public sector 4 9. Fourth-year SQU MCD undergraduates 4

TOTAL 52

As table 3 shows, representatives of the nine categories of participants were interviewed in this study. The objective behind this extensive and varied qualitative research sampling was to select information-rich or informative participants who could provide descriptive detail about the MCD graduate experience, or raise issues that contributed to the research statement and provide insight and views to enrich the study. Therefore, categories of stakeholders were selected for interview who could exhibit variations in assumptions, views and experiences and involve as many as possible of the

well-informed participants, as indicated by the literature, but whose opinions have not previously been sought in research. For example, parents were not used in previous research investigating university mass communication education and media graduates’ employability, yet their input is crucial to careers in a traditionalist society. Private sector employers were not previously interviewed regarding their expectations for, and attitudes towards, the employability of SQU MCD graduates; and their views on the mass

communications course. Inclusion of participants such as these, the researcher anticipated, opens up previously unexplored perspectives on the outcomes of higher education in Oman. In addition, SQU MCD academics in prior studies were not questioned regarding their views on the employability of their students or their opinions on quality issues arising from the MCD course. Policymakers in Oman control higher education through funding and direct administration, and government labour policies were not a factor in previous studies. Above all, unemployed graduates and fourth-year Omani mass communication students did not have input to previous studies regarding their perceived employability and reactions to SQU’s media courses. A distinctive type of triangulation in qualitative

research, as Denzin (1978) suggests, is the inclusion of multiple data sources. No research studying the employability of SQU MCD graduates used this range for sampling.

4.2.3.2 Selection of Category Participants. This study uses the following participant selection criteria:

1. willingness and the time to participate in the study 2. knowledge regarding MCD graduates’ employment

3. interest in the issues leading to and resulting from graduate employment. The rationale behind choosing this range of participants is summarised and described in Table 4.2 Rationale for Participant Selection below.

Table 4

Rationale for Participant Selection

Category No

Participants Rationale

1. Parents of unemployed graduates • establish how parents contribute to MCD students’ education and expectations

• identify how parents influence MCD students in their career decisions

• parents’ views on their graduate children’s unemployment

2. Employers - private sector • private sector media employment standards • establish MCD graduates’ assumed preference for

public sector employment

3. Employers – public sector • establish public sector media employment standards

• identify relevant job vacancies in the public sector 4. Public sector policymakers • establish policymakers perceptions on MCD

graduates’ employability

• explore the category’s role in improving graduate media employment prospects

5. SQU MCD faculty members • establish category’s perceptions of mass

communications curriculum content and standards • find their views on MCD graduates employability 6. Unemployed SQU MCD graduates • discover this category’s experiences in class and

as unemployed job-seekers

• request their views on future employment prospects in Oman

7. Employed SQU MCD graduates in

the public sector • establish this category’s means of gaining employment • request their views on working conditions in

Oman’s private sector media industry vis-à-vis the public sector media experience

8. Employed SQU MCD graduates in

the private sector • establish this category’s views on employment conditions in the private sector • consider their views regarding their employment

experiences in the private sector

9. Fourth-year SQU MCD

undergraduates • explore their views regarding the mass communications curricula • views regarding the effect of MCD previous

cohorts’ unemployment on their studies • establish their views on future employment

Table 4 presents a general overview for the wide range of sampling sources and key informants. The procedure used to select participants varied from group to group. It was not possible to have a set timetable to interview people category by category, as

participants were at liberty to choose the time and place to be interviewed and their choices were accommodated. The number of participants in each category was selected to best represent their sample weighting and for their knowledge of matters pertaining to the research questions. For example, the four employers chosen from the public sector recruited the greatest number of MCD graduates and they were therefore knowledgeable about issues arising regarding the level of skills and knowledge of recent MCD graduates and, according to research theory, were considered information rich. This also applied to the employers from the private sector. Fifteen unemployed graduates were interviewed to represent a range of annual MCD graduate cohorts.

Through the prism of this study, the data generously given by participants from these categories adds to the body of knowledge regarding the employability of graduates in global workplaces with their expectations for a high standard for graduate skills and

competencies in the use of information and communications technology.

4.3 Data Collection

This research explores Oman’s priority for future national income to flow from its current acquisition of human capital in its young population; that is, to replace its current, but dwindling, physical resources with human capital resources. This thesis posits that the direct linearity of human capital - that investments are made and economic returns follow - has not delivered the outcomes that Oman expects from its investment, nor will it receive investment returns without social capital policy change. These striking phenomena require qualitative research methodology, therefore, data collection through semi-structured interviews are considered to be the appropriate technique to answer the research question and meet this study’s aims.