I was warned . . .

I have just completed transcribing my second interview.  Yikes!  I feel like I've been typing forever. And then what do I do?  Decide to type more by doing my blog.  Since I decided to stay home today, refusing to be stuck in the APEC mess, I figured today would be as a good a day as ever to get all of this done. 


I guess this would be my tenth blog.  Does this mean this is my last?  I tried to blog every week, but as you can tell, that didn't quite happen.  You've already heard about my intentions . . .


What I have realized from transcribing my two interviews is that qualitative research is very time-consuming.  Not only does it take time to schedule an interview and sit down to conduct the interview, but it takes a lot of time to transcribe them.  At least I can't say I haven't been warned.  I cannot imagine the time that goes into transcribing 60 interviews.  It just seems like a full-time job.  Maybe it gets better with more practice . . . I have at least one more interview to conduct for this project, so we'll see.  I think I had an easier time transcribing my first interview than I did with my second interview.  Of course, with my first interview, I had a lot of distractions.  Maybe that was good . . .  It didn't seem so drawn out as this second one did.  I transcribed the second interview without distractions (the hubby went fishing in Waianae and is currently stuck because of the freeway closure.  He can't say he wasn't warned, either.  Ha-ha!).  


I noticed there were some common themes between the two interviews.  What was reiterated in both was the fact that teacher evaluations had to fair, had to be helpful, and had to be non-threatening.  I thought that was weird because I never personally felt that teacher evaluation was threatening. However, I guess I can say that I have seen it used as a threat.  The two teachers I interviewed were teachers that were successful in the classroom and thought highly of.  What I should have considered was interviewing a teacher who had struggled.  I wonder if that teacher's perceptions and thoughts of teacher evaluation would have differed from those of the two I did interview.  Of course, how would I go about choosing a teacher who "needed improvement" to interview.  It would have been easier had I been doing this project on a larger scale and could interview a larger sample of teachers.  I would assume that some of the teachers in the study would be teachers who have struggled in the classroom and would not have been viewed as a "master" teachers.  That would make for a more valid study and would yield better results.  Should I proceed in turning this into a larger study, I would have to be mindful of the teachers that are included.  How would I go about finding participants to interview?  The system spans seven islands and includes about 13,000 teachers (is that right?).  Even if I had chosen to focus on one district, that would be at least 200 teachers.  How do you choose your "subjects" and ensure that they provide a good cross-section of the state population?  Or does that even matter?  I know for a fact that the people I'm interviewing for this project is not representative of all the teachers and school-level administrators in the system.  Does that lower the validity of my results?  


I will be interviewing an administrator tomorrow.  I guess I'll see how different or similar in thought administrators and teachers are on the subject of teacher evaluation after that.  


I can say that seeing the interview in words is a lot different than hearing it.  It forces you to pay attention to not only what is being said but how it's being said so you can capture that on paper.  I don't think I did a very good job at capturing that, though.  


I was also able to hear how I responded and reacted to what was being said.  I think I need a lot more practice interviewing. I don't sound like a very active listener.  I feel like there were times when I could have asked for more elaboration and times when I should have not said what I said.  Going back to validity, did some of the statements I make influence the response that came after?  Also, was there a "wealth of information" lost because I didn't ask for the interviewee to elaborate?  Things to ponder . . . 


I believe this whole experience has made me think a little more about the direction I want to head for my dissertation and I think the results I have gotten thus far helps me to see that I am not to far off in my own thinking.  This has not only opened my eyes to the world of qualitative study (which I thought I knew but I really didn't), but has also opened my eyes to the kind of researcher I am.  Ha-ha!  Qualitative researchers need to really have an open mind and a open heart because not only does the job entail listening to others, it also involves empathizing, building relationships, and earning and showing trust.  You have to be a people-person.  


And I think I'll leave it at that.  Will this be my last post to this blog?  I doubt it.  Let this be your warning.  =)