June !!!! Is that the last time I blogged - shame on me! Time to catch up.
Ethical approval was followed by a pilot interview in July. A critical element in the research process. A chance to 'test out' the biographical narrative interview technique. The interview went well, a nurse who had worked within local authority provision for over 15 years. A key area of interest was how this individual maintained her identity as a learning disability nurse even working outside of the NHS for such a prolonged period.
The interview was recorded on a data recorder and transcribed. Following transcription I had the opportunity to send the transcription to Tom Wengraf for comments. The comments received were useful and provided critical feedback. The process of interview will be discussed elsewhere in the blog as this was a steep learning curve.
August and September saw me writing the transfer report required but the University to transfer from MPhil to PhD. Initially I felt this was a 'hoop' to jump through as I already hold a Masters degree but the University regulations state that as it is more than 5 years old I had to register as a MPhil student then transfer. However, I found the process valuable and clarified my thoughts and work to date. The report was assessed and approved by early November.
With a break for Christmas, an interview for a new post, and a three week holiday in Australia I started March with a 'spring' in my PhD step.
I contacted 6 of the individuals who had agreed to take part in the study and sent out a 'final call' for further participants. This has lead to a renewed interest in the study and I am starting to 'book' interview dates and times.
A decision also needed to be made about the 3rd phase of the interview which is the online interview. I had been planning to use a 'chat room' environment but had become concerned about my lack of technical knowledge and ability to organise this. However I have discovered a website which offers simple, free and instant online chat rooms and have decided that I do want to continue to use this as part of my methodology.
So hopefully I am on track and will post around interview techniques shortly
