Chapter two: Methodology
The planned research
2.1 Data were collected from a quota sample of 80 Deaf people in five centres: Glasgow (30), Edinburgh (21), Aberdeen (15), Kirkcaldy (7) and Inverness (7). These locations were chosen to represent the main centres of population and to give a spread of Deaf people living in urban and rural areas. The larger numbers in Glasgow reflect the fact that there are two communities which have their origins in the Catholic and non-Catholic schools in the city. This sample figure (80), while numerically small, represents over 2% of the Deaf community - if this figure were applied to the hearing community in Scotland, the study would have interviewed 130,000 people. In addition, interviews were carried out with all available Deaf people in Lerwick (5) and in Stornoway (4). The samples were constructed to take into account age, gender, employment characteristics, ethnic group and location.
2.2 Two methods were used:
- individual semi-structured interviews
- focus group discussions, reflecting on the findings from the individual interviews and involving the same participants. A total of 45 participants returned to take part in 8 focus groups in each of the centres.
2.3 These methods were chosen in order to provide rich qualitative data on Deaf experiences in access to services. A description of the Deaf people who took part is provided in Appendix 4.
Procedure
2.4 Initial contact with Deaf people was made personally by the Deaf researcher visiting each location. This was repeated several times in order to construct the sample. The purpose of the study was explained in BSL and interview dates agreed and then confirmed by fax, email, and text message.
2.5 All interviews lasted around one hour for each participant and were video recorded and analysed in BSL. These interviews and group sessions were not transcribed to English, in order to preserve the BSL nature of the data. Where the reporting required it, quotes from the interviews were produced in English.
2.6 The interviews took place between November 2003 and March 2004. The focus groups occurred in February and March 2004. Sessions were held in the Deaf clubs in each location on the mainland. In Shetland and Lewis the interviews took place in local centres or a convenient hotel.
Measurements
2.7 The questions used are shown in Appendix 2 & 3. Background information was collected - age, experience of BSL, educational level, deaf community involvement, nature of schooling, family Deafness background, employment, marital status. Interviews included scenarios based on contact with services and were designed to elicit personal judgements and experiences.
2.8 Part of the focus group sessions involved a demonstration of prepared video recordings of BSL information in a number of different formats. A small Sony notebook computer was used to play video in the different formats and a Toshiba PDA (handheld) displayed video in a smaller format for more mobile applications.
Analysis
2.9 All data from Deaf people was collected directly in BSL by the research team (without interpreters). The closed questionnaire produced a set of quantitative indicators and their analysis is described in Chapter 3.
2.10 This video data taken from the interviews and group sessions form a unique record of the views and experiences of Scottish Deaf people on access and on a way of life in BSL. The video recordings were analysed by Deaf researchers, to determine significant themes in the responses. From these topics, and through discussion in the research team, a series of overall themes were identified and then arranged as answers to the four research questions. These are presented in Chapters 4 to 7.