A gas up in Sasol: qualitative research in a team

For the first time this week I was part of a team of qualitative researchers.

Okay, let me explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative research.

Quantitative research is surveys, statistics, census and other such research that promotes over-arching solutions to problems, sometimes a "one shoe fits all" approach.

Qualitative research is also often referred to as participant observation. Qualitative researchers spend a long time in their field, getting to know the people whom they are working with. Such research may use surveys or statistics as a spring board to delve deeply into issues.

I am trained in qualitative research and I do feel this type of research yields better results inasmuch as we are able to understand issues from the various perspectives of people affected, as opposed to presuming that one solution will fit all people.

However, that said, both types have their place in improving the social structure of the world and I am very excited to be working with the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise, giving me the opportunity to learn more about quantitative work.

Our first project that we were rather quickly thrown into was, and still is, a project with Sasol. Sasol has employed the centre to conduct a rather rushed mixed methods assessment of various Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) in the Sasolburg and Secunda area. Their rationale is that they wish to uncover SME's that may be unnoticed but that are florishing and supporting the economy of these town.

So as a team of twelve researchers we set out on our first leg of the project - semi-structured interviews.

An initial scout had found the various entrepreneurs and asked them to meet us at designated meeting halls. We spent up to two hours per person, learning about the various businesses.

Because we had such a short time to spend with each person, developing rapport with our informants quickly was vital to the success of the day. I had two interviews in Sasolburg and two interviews in Secunda. I was lucky with three out of my four interviews, in that developing such rapport came easily.

The most difficult part of qualitative research in balancing the power between researcher and informant. In many societies age deems a person to be higher up the hierarchy scale than say a 25 year old with little life experience. I have been brought up to believe that respect demands respect, however, I am also aware that some people who are older than me will expect a certain amount of due respect shown towards them. As such, time must be spent inquiring about their day and the health of their family.

My first informant was an elderly women, a teacher, in Early Childhood Development and when she saw my interest in her organisation, she opened up and gave me wonderful stories. The theorist Gertz might have called this 'thick description' - lots and lots of information, including my observations using my senses, of temperature, sounds, body language and movements etcetera.

My second informant was an elderly man, and similarly, he enjoyed being given the space, and my nodding silences, to tell me about the evolution of his business.

My third informant was a young woman, close to my age, and with such ease, without having to even think about it, we began chatting, slipped easily into the meat of the interview and only half way through did I mentally step back and realise that I did not have to make a concerted effort to get to know my informant.

My fourth informant was the most difficult to crack. We also had a bit of a language barrier. Even though I had checked with her to make sure she was comfortable with English and she had said yes, "but I am not professional", I could sense that she was sometimes not able to fully express her answers. Thus, near the end we became a bit bored with each others company. There was little conversation outside of the semi-structured interview questions, and I could tell she was, throughout the whole interview, a little shy and a little bored.

In my last large research project (my 2010 thesis) I was lucky that I did not have to sit down to such semi-formal discussions with my informants. The type of people they were (break dancers) and the type of situation in which we found ourselves (language of the body,  the same place over an eight month period), meant that I was able to conduct such questions in a very informal and relaxed situation. The Sasol project brought to glaring reality the constant negotiation of power and the give and take of personal information that qualitative researchers face in their work.

One last tip - when using such semi-structured interviewing techniques, remember to keep an element of conversation in the session; show that as much as you are asking them to give to you, you are willing to return the favour and let little snippets of yourself join in their stories to you. Conversation relaxes a person; quick fire questioning does not.