In thinking through different methods and developing a research strategy my ideas were shaped by the importance of choosing a research design that reflected the research
objective.295 In seeking to explore how vocation is understood by clergy and how vocational understandings affect ministerial practice, a method that could capture data about how clergy understand their vocation, and data on how their perceived vocation influenced their practice was needed. As outlined, whilst research on vocation and ministerial practice provides some insights in this area, it does not provide a solid base from which to test a particular hypothesis. Given the lack of research in this area, an exploratory and inductive methodology, which could generate theories about vocation and ministerial practice, was viewed as best suited for this project.
3.5.1 Considerations and Complexities Associated with the Research Area
Following the considerations discussed in 2.5.1 on growth and decline, it was essential that any research design took into account the issues present, avoiding a simplistic approach to measuring outcomes through the one variable of numerical growth. Consequently, a key principle necessary for the research design was the ability to capture data which allowed for the complexity of variables present in measuring ministerial outcomes. The principles of qualitative research include: naturalism, a holistic approach, seeing through the eyes of others,296 and looking at fewer cases in more detail. As such, this type of method could facilitate a more exploratory approach, and allow for the complexity of associated variables. Whilst this will not provide reproducible results, the findings may be shown to be valid and the knowledge produced transferable. Monique Hennink, Inge Hutter and Ajay Bailey suggest that qualitative interviews are helpful for identifying motivations for behaviour, determining meanings that people attach to their experiences, extracting people’s stories and covering sensitive issues,297 all of which are applicable to the study. This type of qualitative research, whilst not claiming to reveal objective data, offers to make known meanings clergy attribute to their vocation and ministerial practice, which can then be held alongside evidence of numerical growth.
A preliminary idea was to carry out semi-structured interviews with clergy, in order to capture data on how they perceive their vocation, and how that perception shapes their ministerial practice. Whilst the use of a semi-structured interview lacks the detail found in
295 Harding, J., Qualitative Data Analysis from Start to Finish, (London: Sage, 2013), 27. 296 Harding, Qualitative Data Analysis from Start to Finish, 10.
ethnographic methods, it allows for an increased number of cases, enabling the findings to speak to a variety of ministerial contexts, and so be transferable to broader ministerial practice. Through semi-structured interviews, I had hoped to gather data on understandings of vocation, changes over time, and impacts on practice. However, Graham Gardner’s study on memory suggests that such interviews would be more likely to gather data on how clergy currently felt about vocation, with current experiences and feelings shaping their memory.298 If time and resources allowed, a longitudinal study, such as Eileen Campbell and Christian Scharen’s299 work on pastoral imagination or Bloor’s300 study on vocation, would have been
ideal, but this was not a realistic option. There were also issues around the validity of comparing participants with each other during the data analysis. A person’s sense of vocation, and the affect this has on ministerial practice is both personal and complex, with candidates potentially engaging very differently with the self-reflection required during interview.
3.5.2 A Standardised Approach
In considering the issues associated with memory and the collection of reliable data the idea of using selection paperwork emerged. Various paperwork is compiled as individuals go through the selection process for ordained vocation, which includes; registration forms filled in by candidates, sponsoring papers including references drawn together by the Diocesan Director of Ordinands, and Bishops’ Advisory Panel (BAP) reports written by advisors assessing the validity of an individual’s call at the Bishops’ Advisory Panel. The registration form, filled in by candidates, includes various discrete data, such as age, gender and educational attainment. The registration form also includes a number of open-ended questions requiring candidates to write narratives about their vocation, their faith journey and experiences of ministry and leadership. BAP reports and sponsoring papers hold a collection of critical narratives, outlining how candidates perform against the set criteria. Together these could provide the necessary narratives to conduct qualitative analysis. Whilst qualitative research with documents using themed analysis is a well-established technique,
298 Gardner, G., 'Unreliable Memories and Other Contingencies: Problems with Biographical Knowledge', Qualitative Research 1, no. 2 (2001), 185-204.
299 Campbell‐Reed, E. and Scharen, C., '“Holy Cow! This Stuff Is Real!” from Imagining Ministry to Pastoral
Imagination', Teaching Theology & Religion 14, no. 4 (2011), 323-342.
300 Bloor, A., 'Who Shall I Be? Putting on Priesthood in the Church of England', in Moving on in Ministry :
Discernment for Times of Transition and Change, ed. Ling, T. (London: Church House Publishing, 2013),
the analysis of selection papers to inform practice within the Church of England has not been done before.
Selection criteria and forms are set and so provide a standardised set of data assessing the vocation of candidates at the time of their selection. A qualitative analysis of selection papers could offer a credible marker of the individual’s perceived vocation at selection, as all candidates fill in the same forms and are assessed through a standardised process. This standardising of assessment could enable a reliable comparison between candidates, and the use of historical documents would remove the questionable reliance on the candidates’ memories. Whilst the use of selection papers provides a standardised, critical and reliable measure, it is not neutral. It is impossible to assess whether the candidate is exaggerating information given, or the extent to which candidates have been helped in completing the forms. There is also no way of knowing whether candidates have omitted things, not listed in the set criteria, which nonetheless they feel are part of their sense of calling. However, the fact that all candidates respond to the same criteria, fill in the same forms and are assessed through a similar process of references and selection conferences, provides a reliable framework from which to study the vocation of a candidate in relation to other candidates. Or in other words, it enables a study of individuals’ vocation, within the framework and criteria of the selection processes of the Church of England. In addition, the use of historical selection forms, together with semi-structured interviews with clergy now in ministry, could provide the means to analyse vocational changes over time, without the time associated with a longitudinal study.
There were three potential issues in asking participants to provide selection papers. Firstly, selection papers hold highly personal and confidential details which some may not be happy to pass on for research. Secondly, permission from Ministry Division would be necessary, even if clergy were providing their own registration forms and BAP reports. Thirdly, and most importantly, clergy may have lost their forms. This later proved to be the case during the pilot study, where three out of four respondents initially agreed to be in the pilot study but could not locate their forms.
During May and July 2014 I met with the Venerable Julian Hubbard (Director of Ministry for the Archbishops’ Council), Dr Tim Ling (National Adviser Continuing Ministerial
Development) and Dr Bev Botting (Head of Research and Statistics) to discuss whether Church of England documents and statistics could be made available for use in the study. These discussions initially added some confusion to my research design. However, it seemed worth pursuing, as having access to the Church of England data would increase the validity of the sampling and would also provide a pathway for the dissemination of the findings. During early discussions an option to compare selection scores301 with mission statistics for growth302 was discussed. I rejected this as a research strategy, for whilst it may be a revealing piece of research, it lacked the subtlety of qualitative research, and so lacked the ability to analyse the complexities associated with research in this area. In time, this proved the right decision when the analysis of BAP reports and sponsoring papers indicated inconsistencies in scoring from advisors. This is discussed in detail in 5.3.
I met with members of the Research and Statistics department, with selection secretaries, and visited the archives in Bermondsey, where selection files are kept. Through meeting selection secretaries I was able to learn about the scoring systems and how these have changed in the last ten years. Armed with information on how the statistics data could be used, and on which selection documents could be made available, I was able to develop the research design. By working with Ministry Division I was able to gain access to many more selection forms than would have been possible had I been contacting clergy individually. Also, as selection files are kept in an archive for five years after ordination, it would bypass the issue of participants being unable to locate their selection papers. I was now able to plan the research knowing the extent of data available, having potential access to a much larger number of selection documents, and statistics on the numerical growth of churches in which clergy were now working. The decision to use selection files alongside follow up interviews is discussed in detail in chapter four, before then, further methodological considerations are discussed.
301 During Bishops’ Advisory Panels selectors give candidates scores for criteria.
302 Mission statistics are produced each year by the Research and Statistics Department of the Church of