A NÁLISIS DE COSTOS Y BENEFICIOS

In order to shed further insight and gain a deeper understanding of the findings and themes arising from the focus groups the author conducted five semi-structured interviews with a range of experts who have a deep insight and knowledge of the world of intellectual disability and the research topic. Skinner (2006, p.7) claimed that in order to gain a deeper insight in any phenomena ‘participants can be sampled purposively based on their knowledge, expertise and experience of the topic under investigation’.

Thus, the decision on who to invite for interview was determined by the literature review, the topic under investigation and each interviewees’ insight, knowledge and expertise on the research topic under investigation.

One interviewee had a background in disability policy and legislation, one was an academic who has written extensively on the topic of sport, disability and the SO, one was an experienced manager in disability services with an in-depth knowledge of disability regulation, one was an advocate for inclusion and the social model of disability and the final interviewee was a healthcare professional and an advocate of the SO. As with the focus groups, the interviewees that agreed to participate in this research study voluntarily consented and their anonymity was guaranteed. An ‘Interviewee Information Sheet’ was also provided to them prior to the interview taking place (see Appendix 5).

This document provided a detailed overview and purpose of the research study, why each interviewee was invited to participate, how all information collected would be handled and a written guarantee that their anonymity would be protected.

All interviews for this project were either conducted on a face-to-face basis or over the telephone. According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009, p.321), ‘single participant interviews are usually conducted by meeting the participant on a face-to-face basis but

123

there are situations where you can conduct an interview over the telephone’. As some of the interviewees for this research project lived overseas or were not attainable for a face-to-face meeting due to work related issues, family commitments or distance, they were interviewed by telephone. Burke and Miller (2001) claimed that phone interviews are becoming more popular and are being increasingly used particularly in multi-stage research studies. According to Lindlof and Taylor (2002, p.187), ‘interview discourse should be recorded and the choices are twofold: note taking or tape recording. The chief virtues of note taking are that it can be done anywhere, at anytime and there is no need for the use of mechanical devices’.

All interviews conducted were carefully recorded through the process of note taking.

While it was considered that note taking may result in the loss of some of the information, Breakwell (2012, p.378) claimed that note taking ‘can be selective and facilitate quick analysis if pre-structuring of response categories has been done’.

To ensure no significant information from the semi-structured interviews was overlooked the researcher took notes throughout each interview and added to them immediately after the interview was completed. The researcher also followed up on some of the points made by some of the participants via email. This allowed for the clarification of some comments made by interviewees and to explore some of the discussion in further detail to ensure what was said was accurately understood. According to Ison (2010, p.69), using a system such as follow-up emails ‘allows the researcher a second chance to ask follow-up questions, clarify information and gather more detail’. (See Appendix 7 for Interviewee Notes and Follow up Emails). All participants (both focus groups and interviewees) that participated in this research study were assured that the project had been submitted for peer review and was approved by the University of Ulster in 2014.

Details of how ethical considerations were dealt with, including how all data collected was kept secure are dealt in the next section.

124 5.7 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

In conducting the research study, particular care was taken to ensure that the ethical considerations as detailed and submitted for peer review to the university were adhered to. Having provided each participant with a ‘Participant Information Sheet’ containing an overview of the aims and objectives of the research project and having achieved their written consent to participate in the focus group, a digital recording of each session was made. The digital recordings were made using a recorder which was password protected and only the researcher had these details. A transcript of each recording was made and each participant was allocated an identification code to ensure their anonymity. A sample of transcripts representing both age brackets from all four provinces of Ireland can be found in Appendix 6.

Similarly, with one-to-one interviews, consent was sought and given by each interviewee. They were also provided with an Interviewee Participant Sheet which detailed the aims of the research study, why they were invited to participate and how their anonymity would be protected. While each interviewee agreed that their general background could be referred to in this study, they were not individually named and their anonymity was assured and guaranteed. The author took extensive notes during the interview process and had permission to follow up with some of the interviewees via email if required. All materials collected for this research project were kept safe (on an encrypted laptop and password protected devices) and will be destroyed in accordance with the University of Ulster’s policy on research data collection and retention. In conducting all focus groups and semi-structured one-to-one interviews the wellbeing and avoidance of harm to every participant was a priority for the researcher. Written consent from each participant was sought and their anonymity was guaranteed and respected at all times throughout this research study.

The final section of this chapter details the limitations of the study. According to Volpe and Dale Bloomberg (2008, p.79), ‘regardless of how well you plan your study there are always some limitations which should be explicitly acknowledged’.

125

This demonstrates to the reader that the author is aware that no research is without its limitations and has given some consideration to the shortcomings in the process.