Higher education system governance: an exploratory study of presidential decision making in the kentucky community and technical college system

Qualitative Data Collection

The interview solicitation email was sent in late March 2016 to the participants who indicated they were willing to participate in phase two of the study. The researcher sent three reminder emails. Following a third reminder email, one participant had replied and an interview date and time was scheduled. Then, the researcher contacted the executive assistant of the second consenting participant. The researcher spoke to the participant via phone and an interview date and time was scheduled. Following commencement of qualitative data collection, the researcher received consent from one additional participant for phase two of the study as a result of study participants helping encourage his or her colleagues to participate. The interview email was sent to this participant in early May 2016.

All participants, including the participant that agreed to be interviewed after qualitative data collection had already begun, indicated they were willing to be
interviewed using either of the three format. For participants that indicated they are willing to be interviewed via all three provided formats, the researcher selected either in- person or video-conferencing based on the geographic proximity of participants to the physical location of the researcher. An in-person interview was conducted with one participant; however, the geographic proximity of the two additional participants meant that video-conferencing was used. While not an in-person interview, the video- conferencing format allowed the researcher to observe and record the participant’s demeanor and nonverbal cues. There were technical problems related to the video feed of the participant’s webcam during one of the two video-conferencing interviews. So, the participant could see and hear the researcher, but the researcher could only hear the participant. For this reason, only one of the two video-conferencing interviews allowed the researcher to observe and record the participant’s demeanor and nonverbal cues.
Using an interview guide, the researcher reviewed the purpose of the study, the consent form, noting confidentiality, the use of pseudonyms to protect identities, and that interviews would be audio-recorded. In addition, the researcher outlined the interview process by explaining that the interview questions were open-ended so that participants could provide open responses. Also, the researcher explained that she may ask clarifying questions if needed and that she would be taking notes during the interview. Following this explanation, the researcher asked for verbal permission to begin recording and began with the interview protocol.
All interviews were digitally recorded to provide a complete record of what was discussed. The researcher recorded the date and time of the interview. Interviews were recorded with no personal names except for an assigned pseudonym of “president” if
needed. In addition, the researcher took field notes during interviews to record the participant’s demeanor and nonverbal cues in order to connect these with specific questions. Following the interview, the researcher asked participants to help increase participation by encouraging his or her colleagues to participate.