Qualitative Research Methods in Public Services

This assignment delves into the use of interviews as a qualitative data collection method within the context of researching public sector services in Oman. It highlights the different types of interviews (structured, semi-structured) and their effectiveness in gathering sensitive information, particularly for in-depth research. The text also discusses the potential biases associated with interviews and emphasizes the importance of considering the translator's identity when conducting cross-cultural research.

Qualitative Methods and Critical Analysis in the
Arts, Humanities, and Social Science
(Interviews)
By:
Student No:
Word count: 1422

Critically assess the value and limitations of at least one of the
methods of data collection or critical analysis covered in the
module. Where appropriate, discuss the ethical and practical issues
which may arise by the use of this method within your own planned
research
Interview
Research methods selected for the research decides the framework of the research. The
source of data in the research also decides the structure of the research methodology. The
variation in the quality of data is dependent upon the subject of research.
The various data collection methods in qualitative research are described by Creswell.
The methods of data collection are interview, documents and published material, observations
and audio-visual sources of data. The value of collected data from above mentioned methods
depends on the framing of questionnaire in particular technique. Every methods of data
collection have some pros and cons (Bowling, 2014).
The finding of this research evaluates the improvement in the services provided to the
citizen of Oman by government. This study defines the analysis of different project carried out
to study the development of the services of public sector in various areas of Oman over the
defined time period. The finding of the study compromises various factors affecting the services
and methods of enhancing the efficiency of the public services.
For carrying out research successfully the researcher should include case study of
research topic. Case study of the public sector services enhance the relevancy of the thesis. The
source of the data collection for research methodology is staff of government who are engaged
in the different department of services provided by government organisation. The selection of
key members of government for data collection depends on the experience of the members
involved in development of public services. The interview with the policy makers of government
related to public services results in the increased efficiency of the research programme. (Rice and
Atkin, 2012).
Interview is the technique of qualitative data collection used in executing research
programme. This can be effective method of collecting quality data as compared to the survey

for development of an complex research. Because interview involves one to one interaction with
the various participants and studies the perception of the interviewee and his knowledge. The
interview can be effective only if the questions framed by the researcher is relevant to the subject
and have certain impact on the findings of research. Selection of appropriate candidate for
interview procedure is necessary for collecting effective data related to the design and objective
of research. The interview should be flexible and adapt new changes according the response and
interest of the candidate and needs of the research subject. Scheduling the timing and appropriate
location for the interview is important for the success of data collection technique.
The interview can be structured, semi structured or unstructured depending upon the
questions selected for the interview and content defined in questions are well defined or not.
Selection of different approach in executing interview results in the philosophical and theoretical
analysis of the findings.
For appropriate finding in research the semi structure interview is beneficial for data
collection from the staff of the government organisation related to various public sector services.
The semi structured interview contains both open ended and closed ended type of questions. The
interview will contribute in finding out the data related to government policies in public sector
and the problems involved in the public sector services in Oman. The semi structure type of
interview helps in collecting the information in details with help of open ended questions
selected for the interview. The open ended questions have their own agenda of collecting
hidden information in response of interviewee about the specific subject of research. In semi
structured interview the interviewer collects information about the specific subject in depth for
the questions which are can not included in the questionnaire.
The collected data from the interview is organised and analysed by researcher to
conclude a specific result in research. The research helps in finding out the new possibilities and
solutions to the problems involved in services of public sector and provides a new dimension for
research analysis (Lipsky, 2010). Research helps in evaluating the results and establishing new
methods to resolve the problem related to public services provided by the government. The data
collected from interview is more significant for the development of research programme as
interviewer is their to resolve any confusion about the question faced by the interviewee.

The interview should be executed in a peaceful, ambient and relaxing environment so that
the interviewer can maintain good relationship with the interviewee and can motivate him to
respond properly. The interviewer should ensure the availability of the interviewee at the decided
time and place before carrying out the interview. The interviewer should establish good
communication and strong relationship with the interviewee so that the candidate do not hesitate
and able to share all important information , thoughts and his perception related to the research
problem.
The interviewer ensure maintaining trustworthy relation with participant so that the
interviewee is free from fear about misuse of information provided by him. Results in collection
of information from the interviewee related to his inner beliefs about the topic of interview
(Brown and Osborne, 2012).
Interviewer should collect information related to the key members of the government and
with the other sources of qualitative data collection and the team that are associated with the
recent organisational changes in respect to the public sector services and the changes
implemented in internal policy system which contribute in the updated results in research
programme related to services.
These are the some advantages of the semi structured interview. The semi structure
interview is very important in finding new possibilities and applying new strategies about the
research subject. The semi structured findings can not make use of literature review because
literature describes the information provided by relatively old studies performed by the
researchers.
The semi structured interview helps in collecting new data from the recent resources
connected with the subject of research and their knowledge and information determines the
relevancy and accuracy of the research findings. The semi structured interview is having flexible
nature according to the interviewee perception because questions are not structured completely
(Lewis, 2015). The structured interview leads to the decrease in response level of interviewee
and ultimately influence the findings of the research. The observation methods of data collection
is used when the factors affecting to the particular subject is easy to see and can be determined.
But interview is carried out when the impact of factors can not be determined by only observing
them.

Every method of data collection has its own disadvantages and advantages. Some of the
disadvantage of performing the interview can be expensive technique. The interview may be
time consuming if the interviewee is less interested or not available on the decided time of
interview. Due to the geographical gaps the interview can be cancelled or it can be postponed
which affects the decided time-frame of the research and the effectiveness of the research. In
secluding the interview management of time and other factors are affects the successful
execution of the interview. Researcher has to add cost on the travel arrangement ,telephonic cost
for lining up the interview and other related costs. So, the interview is an expensive method of
collection of data. The interview is performed manually while dealing with answers of the
questions which leads to the changes in original information or the important information may be
dropped by the interviewer at the time of manual collection of data. So, the data should be
recorded at the time of interview (Ostrom, et.al., 2010). But it may happen that their may be
technical fault in the device used for recording this leads to loss of important data. For the
carrying out the research program ethically the recording of the interview should be done only
after the receiving permission of the interviewee and permission from the higher authority of the
organisation. The interviewer should ensure that candidate should provided with the copy of the
data recorded at the time of interview.
The research of services of public sector can become controversial topic for the
government organisation. So, the complete information can not be disclosed by the candidate at
time of interview like the information related to the political and the economical issues held in
the Oman. So the interviewer should have skills to grab information related to the topic from the
candidate without incorporating the question directly in the interview. Because the research can
not include such question directly in the research. Affect of political and economical factors to
the services of public sector can have major contribution in the findings of the research.
Sometimes the candidate is not ready to disclose information about their work which the
interviewer has to observe through the behaviour of the interviewee. Other disadvantages of the
interview is that the the candidate may hide information due to presence of the interviewer. The
interview may be biased and the research carried out will not conclude appropriate findings. The
interview is affected by the personal perception and interest of both interviewee and the
interviewer. And the answers of the interviewee can also be influenced by the perception of the
interviewer.

The interview is collection of detailed data even the person or researcher is needing summarised
data. That results in the complexity interview analysis and affects effectiveness of findings of
research. Other difficulty in the interview can arise in transcription and the translation of the
interviewee i.e. from English to Arabic language, may results in changes in the content of
information. This leads to the increase complexity of the research methodology (National Center
for Health The public sector services in Oman requires qualitative analysis for carrying out
research effectively Statistics (US) and National Center for Health Services Research, 2012). The
translation of the data can arise questions to the translator identity also. If the researcher is acting
as only the transmitting person of information than the translation can be carried out by some
other person. In the research majorly dependent on the objective of research then the translator
identity does not affect at all whether it is researcher itself or someone else.
In conclusion with this thesis it is concluded that the interview is the method of collection
of qualitative data used in the research methodology in framing the structure of research.
Interview technique of collecting qualitative data for the research can be useful in finding the
sensitive information about the research subject. The search carried out by the interview method
can be biased. The interview can be personal interview or the telephonic interview if there is
geographical gap between the interviewer and the interviewee. The structured interview can be
used for collecting summarised information for the research. This type of interview contain close
ended questions. (Perry, Hondeghem and Wise, 2010). The semi structure interview is more
relevant in performing in-depth research and helps in collecting the information that can not be
disclosed by the candidate in the close ended question framing. The semi structure interview is
effective in collecting hidden information that can not be observed directly or the information for
which survey can not be helpful. The public sector services in Oman requires qualitative analysis
for carrying out research effectively.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Bowling, A., 2014. Research methods in health: investigating health and health services.
McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Brown, K. and Osborne, S.P., 2012. Managing change and innovation in public service
organizations. Routledge.
Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches. Health promotion practice. p.1524839915580941.
Lipsky, M., 2010. Street-level bureaucracy, 30th ann. Ed.: dilemmas of the individual in public
service. Russell Sage Foundation.
National Center for Health Statistics (US) and National Center for Health Services Research,
2012. Health, United States. US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public
Health Service, Health Resources Administration, National Center for Health Statistics.
Ostrom, et.al., 2010. Moving forward and making a difference: research priorities for the science
of service. Journal of Service Research. 13(1). pp.4-36.
Perry, J.L., Hondeghem, A. and Wise, L.R., 2010. Revisiting the motivational bases of public
service: Twenty years of research and an agenda for the future. Public administration
review. 70(5). pp.681-690.
Rice, R.E. and Atkin, C.K., 2012. Public communication campaigns. Sage.