ENTRE EL SECUESTRO, LA EXTORSIÓN, EL ROBO Y EL CRIMEN ORGANIZADO (2002 2004)

The analysis w as au g m en ted by a review o f tw o stu d ies p u b lish ed on th e (form er) LTSN G eneric C entre W ebsite in J u n e 2001. These studies each pro v id ed an analyses of th e first tra n c h e o f 22 b en ch m ark s. Each stu d y h a d d e m o n stra te d variab ility betw een th e ben chm ark s a n d h a d ra ised questions as to th e e x ten t th e b en ch m ark s h ad achieved th e policy in ten tio n s, a n d th e

ex ten t o f th e ir reliab ility w ere th ey to b e p u t to th e u se w hich QAA h ad id entified fo r th e m . E valuation o f th ese research p a p ers (Jackson, 2 0 0 0 ) an d (Yorke, 2001) w as helpful in confirm ing th e a u th o rity o f th e findings as to th e v a ria tio n in th e d ev elo p m en t o f th e b e n ch m ark s p ro p o se d in th is study.

Treads 3, 4 a n d

the v iew s o f those in volved in the produ ction o f

the benchm ark statem en ts: in terview in g an d a n a lysis o f the

in te rv ie w sc rip ts

In th is p a rt o f th e stu d y I concerned m yself w ith th e interview s conducted w ith ind iv idu als selected from each o f th e b en ch m ark in g groups sam p led for th e study.

In co n du ctin g th e interview s, I was in te re sted to le a rn fro m th o se involved in th e p ro d u c tio n o f th e statem e n ts th e ir views on th e initiative, inviting th em to reflect on th e ir experiences a t th e tim e a n d also in h in d sig h t. I w as particularly in te re ste d to le a rn fo r exam ple:

• th e ir p ercep tio n o f th e policy in ten tio n generally;

• th e ir p e rc ep tio n o f th e clarity of th e policy in ten tio n ; th e ir p erception o n th e relative ease/difficulty in reaching a co n sen su s w ith in th e group a b o u t th e ta sk a n d th e g ro u p s’ approach to it;

• w h a t h a d b een th e ir own m otives for p articip atin g in th e b en ch m ark initiative;

• w h eth er, in th e ir perso n al view, th e subject b en ch m ark in g in fo rm ation h a d "enabled sub ject th re sh o ld sta n d a rd s to be established" (R andall, 1997:2).

A nalysis o f th e in terv iew scrip ts so u g h t to discover w h a t each of the re sp o n d e n ts h a d said. The d a ta was search ed m an u ally initially. M anual search in g a n d coding so u g h t to fo ster a close u n d e rsta n d in g o f th e data.

I search ed fo r re p re se n ta tio n s a n d sh ared depictions o f issues identifiable in th e tra n s c rip ts as a w hole. I was in te re sted in w h at su ch rep re se n ta tio n s m ight denote, fo r exam ple in te rm s o f re sp o n d en ts a ttitu d e to th e benchm arking ta sk a n d re p re se n ta tio n s o f sh ared values. I w as conscious in th is search o f th e d ifferen t in te rp re tiv e contexts w ithin w hich th e policy h a d b een a) form ulated a n d b) referred , ie th e in terp retiv e context o f th e D earing C om m ittee w ith one set o f values a n d concerns a n d its recep tio n in a d ifferen t in terp retiv e context o f th e ‘sm all ex p ert te a m s ’ (NCIHE, 1997: rec 25) o f sen io r academ ics selected to p ro g ress th e reco m m en d atio n w ith th e ir ow n distinctive (a n d m ultiple) sets o f values a n d concerns. It was a t th a t interface w here th e re m ig h t b e expected to b e discernible reactio n to th e p resen ta tio n o f academ ic stan d a rd s as p o rtray e d in c h a p te r 10 of th e NCIHE report, an d I w as a lert to th e language a n d discursive re p e rto ire s em ployed by academ ic colleagues in th e b en ch m ark in g g ro u ps o n th is point. I was also alert to echoes w hich m ight d en o te ‘resistan ce to any change’, as suggested by Y oung to be particularly p rev alen t in th o se areas o f th e academ y asso ciated w ith ‘high statu s know ledge’ (Young, 1971: 34-36).

I w as also conscious o f how re sp o n d en ts’ co m m en ts m ig h t reflect th e ir p ercep tio n a b o u t th e in terp retiv e context in w hich th e ir resp o n ses m igh t be view ed a t so m e fu tu re p o in t in tim e following th e p u b licatio n o f th e thesis..

To su p p o rt th e analysis I d rew u p coding sheets. The w o rd p ro cessed interview tra n sc rip ts w ere p u t in to th e fo rm at re q u ire d by NUD*IST, a n d th e codes applied.

From th e in itial codes, a n u m b e r o f fu rth e r th e m e s em erged, arising from rev elatio n s p ro v id ed b y close scrutiny. T here w as th e re fo re b o th an expansion a n d a ra tio n a lisa tio n o f th e codes as th e analysis p rogressed.

NUD*IST w as ‘to ld ’ fo r each interview : th e relevan t b en ch m ark , w h eth er it was fro m th e pilot, first tran ch e, o r th e seco n d tra n c h e, w h eth er th e re sp o n d e n t w as a chair, a rep resen tativ e o f an old o r o f a n ew university. This process, re p e a te d several tim es, allow ed th e interview d a ta to b e 'chunked' an d organised. P a rticu la r th e m e s em erged from th is process w hich h elp ed tow ards o rg an isatio n o f th e analysis.

Tread 6: im plem en tation

In th is final p a rt o f th e trajecto ry study, I w as in te re ste d to u n d e rta k e a p relim in ary ex p lo ratio n in to th e use to w hich th e b e n c h m a rk sta te m e n ts w ere being p u t in H EIs. To th is en d I u n d e rto o k a lim ited e-m ail survey of academ ics in th e sam e disciplinary areas as m y original interview s in a n u m b e r o f in stitu tio n s across th e UK. The survey w as u n d e rta k e n in A ugust a n d S ep tem ber 05. It w as conducted by e-m ail. The in itial resp o n se was po o r a n d th e q u e stio n n aire was sen t out a second tim e by e-m ail to th e sam e resp o n d en ts. In to ta l 6 responses w ere received in resp o n se to 60 e-m ail req uests, each o f w hich h a d b een adm in istered twice. Two o f th o se responses co n sisted o f a decline to com plete th e q uestionnaire, how ever, th e com m ents m ade by th e se tw o resp o n d en ts are them selves are o f in te re st in th e context of

th e survey a n d are sh o w n sep arately in C hapter 5 D ata P resen tatio n , Analysis a n d Findings. I a d m in iste re d th e q u e stio n n aire a th ir d tim e, th is tim e by post com pletely an o ny m ised . This w as because one o f th e resp o n d en ts in th e first tra n c h e o f e-m ailed resp o n ses h a d suggested som e anxiety ab o u t anonym ity, a featu re n o t possible in th e e-m ailed survey. N ine resp o n ses w ere received in resp o n se to th e p o ste d q u estio n n aire.

T he re su lts are in te n d e d to be indicative ra th e r th a n conclusive how ever, they d id c o n trib u te to th e research question: “W h at ex p lan atio n s can b e fo u n d for th e divergence b etw een policy in ten tio n s a n d policy o u tco m es”. H ow ever no claim s a re m ad e fo r th is p a rt o f th e study, b ey o n d bein g o f in te re st in th e context o f th e original id ea o f th e policy trajectory.

4*5 Research design and method: critical reflection on