Research theory and methods
3.5 Problems encountered in carrying out the study
procedures followed. I have kept a journal throughout the research process where I have recorded, in note form, all the interviews with staff in Social Anthropology, the observation of the feedback tutorial and the essay marking workshop etc. Documents collected in the case study such as the essays and other relevant documents have also been filed and stored so that they are readily retrievable. Analysis of the essay feedback was done in tabular form and has also been stored in an organised system. The interviews have been transcribed and filed and both the tapes and transcriptions form part of the database.
In keeping with the principles of democratic research, a summary of the findings has been presented to the tutors in the form of a report. This was followed by a workshop where students were given the opportunity to examine the results of the study and comment on them; this served to further increase the construct validity of the case (3.4 Data Collection). As Cameron et al (1993:87) point out, results of research should be shared with the researched "in an effort to give them a greater measure of control" over the research process.
The workshop will be reported on in more detail in 5.5 Tutor workshop.
is well-known that the respondents' perceptions of the interviewer's characteristics such as race and social status can bias the responses (Kidder and Judd, 1986). I was concerned that black students saw me as a white, staff member in a university which is still perceived as very white, so I decided to employ a black female student as an interviewer and to arrange for some of the interviews to be repeated. The findings from these second interviews are described in the conclusion (6.2.2 Interviewing).
Because we are dealing with the human factor in interviews, the kinds of biases described above, can never be completely overcome. Kidder and Judd (1986) suggest that the way to reduce the effects of bias is to standardize interview procedures by sticking rigidly to the interview schedule. However, some of the richest data emerges from the probing, open-ended questions that may not have been posed on the original interview schedule.
3.5.2 The 'halo effect'
There was concern among some of my colleagues that telling the tutors what the goals of my research were could bias the results because the tutors might change their responding behaviour. However, I felt that research should be an attempt to work for and with the subjects rather than on them (Cameron et al 1993) and that it was important that the research was a "shared" project from the beginning. Furthermore, I suspected that the tutors would not have known how to change their responding behaviour, other than to try to be more constructive in their feedback (5.4.2 Positive Reinforcement). Therefore I did not believe that informing the subjects could distort the data significantly ( 5.5 Tutor workshop).
Nevertheless, because these concerns had been expressed, I decided to check for the 'halo effect' by arranging for some students to bring me essays written later in the year and this issue is discussed in 5.4.2 (Positive Reinforcement). Ethical considerations meant that the tutors had to be informed of what I had done and I used the opportunity of the tutor workshop to do this.
3.5.3 SUbjectivity
The researcher is always in a powerful position to shape meanings and values and case study research is subjective by nature. Because of this, I have made every effort to negotiate my interpretations with participants. Nevertheless, it is inevitable that my own position and experience will influence the research data.
Therefore, I feel it is important that I attempt to deconstruct my position as a researcher and reveal any hidden agendas that I may have had, so that it does not appear that as a researcher I am hiding behind an illusion of neutrality.
Popkewitz (1984) says that the position of the researcher is defined by their affiliation with other groups and interests in society. Therefore my position in the Academic Support Programme at a time when the shift toward Academic Development is taking place means that I will be particularly concerned with educational change and innovation and may be critical of outdated teaching methods. This research project is, in fact, linked to the bigger agenda of Academic Development work. The increase in student numbers and the freezing of teaching posts has meant that more post-graduate tutors are employed to tutor on the first- year courses, and staff in ASP believe that increased emphasis has to be placed on developing training programmes for these tutors.
Furthermore, I am an experienced language teacher and there have been occasions when I have drawn on that experience to make judgments about the tutor feedback in this project.
My experience as a language teacher has meant that I have developed certain attitudes and beliefs about the ways in which essay writing should be taught and I have probably also approached the research with certain preconceived ideas and expectations about the ways in which "mainstream" staff handle the teaching of writing. There is always a possibility that these attitudes will influence the data.
In addition, as a white ASP worker who has come from a privileged educational background, I need to be aware that black students would probably identify problems in the feedback that I would not be able to recognise. This is why it was important for me to negotiate with them
and to give them the opportunity to point out their problems.