African-American Ownership in U.S. Oil and Gas Sector

African-American women can access ownership in the U.S. oil and gas sector.

Sub-questions:

To what extent has the oil and gas sector provided ownership opportunities for African-American women?

What factors or challenges hinder African-American women from accessing ownership in the U.S. oil and gas sector?

What measures can be put in place to increase access to ownership among African-American women in the U.S. oil and gas sector?

Interviewing

Answers to the above questions can be obtained through interviewing. Indeed, interviewing is one of the most common methods of collecting qualitative data. In spite of involving a great deal of time, effort, resources, and planning, interviews enable a closer interaction between the researcher and the subject(s), thereby facilitating a deeper inquiry of the subject matter (Bryman, 2008).

There are three major types of interviews from which the researcher may choose: structured interview, unstructured interview, and semi-structured interview (Robson, 2016). A structured interview is an interview characterized by planned or standardized questions. The interviewer presents the interviewee with questions in a systematic manner without room for modification of the prearranged questions or presentation of unplanned questions. An unstructured interview, on the other hand, has no prearranged questions. Instead, the researcher allows the conversation to develop within the area of interest. An unstructured interview is informal in nature. Semi-structured interviews combine the characteristics of both structured and unstructured interviews. In this case, the interviewer often has an organized checklist of questions and default wording that dictate the direction of the interview in terms of the topics or issues to be covered, but the order and wording are usually adjusted in the course of the interview. Simply, the interviewee\'s responses may elicit further questions, prompting the interviewer to ask unplanned questions in an attempt to gain more information.

Of the three types of interviews, a semi-structured interview offers a more appropriate method for collecting data to answer the above research question. This is because a semi-structured interview offers the advantages of both a structured and an unstructured interview (Creswell, 2014). First, unlike in an unstructured interview, it is important to have prearranged questions to ensure a smoother flow of the interview. Without planned questions, the interviewer may lose control of the interview or go out of topic, eventually leading to irrelevant responses (Bryman, 2008). In this case, the area of interest is access to ownership by African-American women in the U.S. oil and gas sector. Initiating a conversation of this kind without preplanned questions may not generate the desired responses.

Furthermore, a semi-structured interview offers the flexibility of an unstructured interview (Thomas, 2009). Though the interviewer has prearranged questions, there is often room for asking unplanned questions. This enables the interviewer to seek clarifications, thereby ensuring a more in-depth inquiry. Additionally, by asking unplanned questions, the interviewer can gain unexpected responses, consequently enriching the initial responses provided. A semi-structured interview also enables the interviewer to evaluate the interviewee\'s views and knowledge of the subject matter, and promotes cooperation and rapport between the interviewer and the interviewee (Robson, 2016).

Flexibility can, however, be a disadvantage in the sense that the interviewer may lose control of the conversation. Furthermore, since unplanned questions are asked, the volume of responses provided increases, which may make data analysis more complex (Robson, 2016). Moreover, interview sessions may be much longer. Even so, a semi-structured interview would be the most appropriate for the above research question.

An interview can be administered face-to-face, by phone, email, or internet (such as Skype) (Robson, 2016). The choice of a particular method is often informed by factors such as time and resource constraints as well as access to and availability of the interviewee (Bryman, 2008). Though telephone, internet, and email interviews require less time and cost as travelling and acquisition of recording equipment are not needed, face-to- face interviews would be the most appropriate for the above research question. A major advantage of face-to-face interviews is that they enable the researcher to observe non-verbal cues (Robson, 2016). The importance of visual cues cannot be overemphasized as they enable the interviewer to see the feelings and attitudes of the interviewee about the issues being discussed during the course of the interview. These cues may give the interviewer a better understanding of the research problem.

More importantly, with a face-to-face interview, the interviewer is often able to grab the full attention of the interviewee (Kothari, 2004). When conversing with somebody over the phone or through email, the respondent may turn their attention to other things, making it quite difficult for the interviewee to obtain the responses required. At times, for example when using email, the interviewee may go offline or withdraw from the conversation without informing the interviewer (Robson, 2016). Therefore, the semi-structured interview would be conducted face-to-face.

Interview Questions

The proposed research project seeks to understand how African-American women can access ownership in the U.S. oil and gas sector. The following are the questions that may be presented to the interviewee(s):

1. The role or position of women in business organizations in the U.S. has historically been limited or insignificant compared to that of men, especially in terms of leadership and ownership. To what extent has the oil and gas sector in the U.S. provided ownership opportunities for women in general, and for African-American women in particular? This question will be important for understanding whether oil and gas firms in the U.S. have promoted ownership amongst African-American women.

2. Are you aware of specific firms in the oil and gas sector in which African-American women have accessed ownership? This question will provide real world examples of ownership access by African-American women in the oil and gas sector.

3. Do you believe African-American women have what it takes to access ownership in the oil and gas sector? It is often thought that the oil and gas sector requires a great deal of risk taking, a trait usually associated with men. It would be vital to understand whether women, especially African-American women, have the abilities and characteristics necessary for ownership in oil and gas firms.

4. Do you believe it is important for the oil and gas sector to increase access to ownership by African-American women? This question will provide the interviewee\'s beliefs about the role of African-American women in oil and gas firms.

5. What factors or challenges hinder African-American women from accessing ownership in the U.S. oil and gas sector? If little or nothing has been done to provide access to ownership by African-American women in U.S. oil and gas firms, then it is likely that some factors have stood on the way of achieving this. This question will provide these answers.

6. Of all the factors or challenges you have mentioned, which one do you believe is the most important, and why? Though many factors could be attributable to limited ownership by African-American in the U.S. oil and gas sector, some may be more crucial than others. Understanding the most important factors can be important for both policy and practice.

7. What measures can be put in place to increase access to ownership among African-American women in the U.S. oil and gas sector? Since there could be factors that hinder African-American women from owning oil and gas firms, it would be important to deal with the factors. This question will provide information on how to deal with these factors.

8. What is the role of U.S. oil and gas firms in increasing access to ownership by African-American women? As oil and gas firms may be major culprits in hindering ownership by minority women, it would be crucial to consider the particular role of oil and gas firms in addressing the problem.

9. How can the oil and gas sector benefit from increased access to ownership by African-American women? In other words, can ownership by African-American women have an impact on the financial and non-financial performance of firms in the oil and gas sector? It would be essential to understand whether increasing access to ownership by African-American women would have any significant implications on firm performance in the U.S. oil and gas sector.

10. Thank you so much for participating in this interview. Do you have any other relevant information I may have left out? This question may provide valuable responses the interviewer may not have anticipated.

It is imperative to note that there are some questions the interviewer should avoid if the interview is to lead to relevant and useful responses. According to Robson (2016), leading questions and questions with jargon should be avoided. Leading questions are questions that point to a certain direction. An example of a leading question in this case would be: Why do oil and gas firms prefer limited access to ownership by African-American women? Questions with jargon are questions with words or phrases that may be unfamiliar to the interviewee. An example would be: Would increased access to ownership by African-American women give oil and gas firms a \"bang for their buck\"?