¶ … Management
Data Collection and Management Techniques for a Qualitative Research Plan
Data management for my qualitative research study:
Organizing my interview results
Given that the focus of my qualitative research study is on the female victims of human trafficking, observational analysis would not be suitable: my interviews would take place after the women had been rescued from their situation. It would be unrealistic and impossible to bear witness to what the women were actually going through while they were being subjected inhuman conditions while being trafficked. The focus of my research will be on interviewing the women, which I do regard as an appropriate method of data collection.
However, even the interviewing process is somewhat problematic from the point-of-view of a researcher. Many of the women who are the subjects of the study will have limited command of English. Translators must be provided who are reliable and understand the cultural as well as the linguistic background of the women. Additionally, speaking about the process of being abducted might be traumatic for the women. Counselors might need to be at hand to deal with any emotional issues which were stimulated by the interviews and the women should have access to follow-up counseling, in case they experienced PTSD as a result of the interviews after the fact.
A concern which always arises with interviewing is bias, of course. These...
In light of this, although I would be asking semi-structured interview questions, I would be careful to keep the questions probing yet non-threatening and open-ended in nature. After all, the intention of the research was to let these women 'speak' about their lives, chronicling their experiences as they had seen them. I would begin by asking questions like: why did you leave your home country? What did your abductors originally tell you your situation would be like? How was it different from what you expected? Were you subjected to violence in your situation? What emotions did you experience (fear, rage, humiliation)?
The interviews would be staged in the presence of a translator in a relatively non-threatening place although to ensure accuracy, I would (with the subject's consent) have the interviews video-taped. I believe this is necessary given that 1. Issues of translation may arise and this will allow me to go over the interview text verbatim and 2. The women's body language might be just as revelatory as their words. Although there is a paucity of studies of victims of human trafficking in which the victims are allowed to speak for themselves, in their own voices, I would consult the interview techniques and types of questions used in interviewing victims of similar atrocities, such as survivors of war…
