Thursday, January 20, 2022

90 plus research interviews in 2021

As I head into the 2022 working year, I’m reflecting not only on writing done in the 2021 year gone. I’m also reflecting on research undertaken.

A highlight of 2021 was being able to conduct over 90 research interviews. This involved four different projects, for four different church denominations. In my role as Director of AngelWings Ltd I conduct quality research. In 2021, this involved requests to conduct research into future church and change, theological education, student mission and craft in mission. Most was by zoom, working internationally with folk in USA, Samoa, Fiji and Australia. There were also multiple interviews across Aotearoa both face to face and by zoom.

interviews

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

My rough rule of thumb is that one interview involves 4 to 6 hours of work, excluding travel time. There is about 30 minutes to write introducing the project, suggesting boundaries and seeking to set up an interview. There is about 60 minutes of interview. There is about 30 minutes to individually process the interview, to either walk or journal my impressions in a research memo. Then there is the interview writeup. For most of these interviews, I compiled not a transcript but a 2-3 page summary. This is sent back to the person interviewed, so they are aware of what was heard. This also includes time if the feedback process involves corrections or suggestions for improvement. (A full transcript takes a lot longer and very few industry groups see the need for that depth of accuracy). The write-up takes about 2 hours for a 1-1 interview, longer for a focus group.

So 90 interviews, each at around 5 hours of work, meant some 450 hours of work, over 11 weeks full-time equivalent for me in 2021. What a privilege, to engage, listen and learn from thoughtful, caring and passionate people.

Interviews make knowledge. You literally see wisdom emerge in front of your eyes, as people pause and say “I’d not really thought of it like this before but …” Such is the power of qualitative research to individuals and communities.

Interviews invite diverse voices to the table. When people begin with “I’m not sure I have much to say …” you realise that unless invited, so much insight is never shared. Such is the gift of qualitative research to organisations and groups.

In 2021, I was blessed to conduct over 90 interviews, across multiple projects and diverse cultures, as part of AngelWings providing quality knowledge and insight to individuals, organisations, church denominations and theological providers.

Posted by steve at 08:41 AM

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