It was decided that a qualitative approach would be used for this market research, and 4 open-ended, semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to collect in-depth and relevant research into the funeral business. It is important to note that before my research began, I had already established access and consent from my respondents, which was possible because I has pre-existing relationships with them, formed through work-based connections. Semi-structured interviews were used to gain an in-depth understanding of how The Story of Us could be utilised within the funeral world, and to what extent the application would be feasible to implement. This specific type of interview seeks to understand the social world from the respondent’s point of view and is widely employed within qualitative research (Fielding and Thomas, 2008). Likewise, the semi-structured interview allows for navigation in the desired direction, and the ability to focus on the topic areas most important to the research (Babbie, 2002). This was specifically important for this research as I wanted to query the ethical and legal issues surrounding the application and explore how it would be most appropriate to market it. I wanted to obtain relevant information from a specifically targeted sample and it was the flexible structure of the interview itself that enabled me to identify the key areas of the app that needed the most focus.
I had a general line of inquiry throughout my interviews that included a specific set of questions. These questions were organised into certain themes, including- general queries regarding the funeral industry, the advantages and disadvantages of the application, issues surrounding marketing, and the legal and ethical issues associated with The Story of Us. A primary advantage of using semi-structured interviews is their flexibility and being able to tailor questions in order to coincide with the direction of the interview (Thomas, 2009). Comparatively, the use of open-ended questions ensured that there was some direction, yet participants could provide their own reactions. As this research is particularly sensitive, the semi-structured interview appeared to be the most effective method to allow for sudden changes in topic (Bryman, 2008). Moreover, as the interview process was with industry professionals, and I already had personal relationships with them, this tailored structure allowed the respondents to feel more comfortable and relaxed, then they perhaps would have been had the questions been closed, and the interview more structured.
All interviews were conducted on the business premises of my participants, as I felt this would be the environment in which they felt most comfortable. All participants were given pseudonyms, so their anonymity would remain protected throughout the interview and during the write up. Before the interviews began, I took my participants through the interview schedule, making sure they were all aware of the areas being covered, and the questions they would be asked. Throughout the interviews, I had to alter my questions slightly, particularly in the areas of marketing and ethical concerns, as these were the areas that my participants felt most passionate about and had the most suggestions. To explore these themes in more detail, I created additional questions surrounding ethical concerns, and how we would market our application. The interviews were not recorded, however, notes were taken throughout, and each interview was reflected on before the next, to help build a reflexive analysis.
Written by Ashton Kingdon
Babbie, E. (2002). The Basics of Social Research. Belmont: Wadsworth: Thomas Learning.
Bryman, A. (2008). Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fielding, N and Thomas, H. (2008). Qualitative Interviewing. In: Gilbert, N. Researching Social Life. (Eds). 3rd ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd. 245-266.
Thomas, G. (2009). How to do your Research Project. London: Sage Publications.
