Microsoft Word doctoral thesis final[1]. doc

Participants openly shared their experiences with minimum interruption from the 
researcher. The sessions were highly interactive and occurred within a very relaxed 
atmosphere. Where information was incomplete or unclear, the researcher emailed the 
participant for verification. In one case a participant had missed out several turns during 
the focus group interview. She later sent her contributions by email. 
 
The reliability of the interview schedule used for this investigation was enhanced by 
specifying the role of the researcher, participant location and selection, data collection 
and analysis strategies. These are some of the aspects of research design which, if 
explicitly specified, enable other researchers to discover similar phenomena. The 
description of these aspects in the design of the study enhances reliability in qualitative 
research and reduces threat (McMillan & Schumacher 1993:385-387). All these factors 
were taken into consideration before the instrument was administered. 
 
Content validity was also considered. Cates (1985:123) explains how the validity of an 
instrument is determined. It is determined by considering the content which might have 
been included; the use to which the instrument will be put, the way in which items were 
selected for inclusion and the way in which the instrument designer confirmed that the 
included items cover the desired content adequately. In the present study, this was 
ensured through the revision and refinement of the instrument before and after the pilot 
phase. The items were analysed for relevance by relating them to the list of variables 
established at the beginning of the instrument development. Care was taken to ensure that 

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the items covered every concept and that duplication or excessive coverage of any 
concept was avoided.  During qualitative data analysis, the researcher contacted some of 
the VConf-FGI participants to request missing information and to clarify and confirm 
information.