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participants importance in the process. One participant did meet face-to-face with the
researcher prior to undertaking their telephone interview. For the interview to flow well, the
researcher conducted mock interviews using the telephone prior to the actual interviews, to
ensure that he was suitably prepared. To guarantee that the interviews could be recorded the
researcher used the speakerphone function. In comparison to face-to face interviews,
telephone interviews are usually lower costing, time saving and done at a faster pace
(Gorden, 1980). The researcher found that with telephone interviews he was able to
complete them in a much quicker timeframe, while keeping the respondent more on task
and prevent straying from the topic area, which was the case with some face-to-face
interviews.
3.4.1 Pilot Interviews
To prepare for the study’s interviews, pilot interviews were conducted. Several
members of staff at Auckland University of Technology volunteered to help. The
researcher explained to the pilot interview participants that they were involved in an
exploratory interview, and that they were asked wherever possible to be critical so as to
establish an improved interview guide (Oppenheim, 1992).
When carrying out pilot studies, respondents should be as similar to the main
participants as possible (Oppenheim, 1992). Therefore, to keep the inter-partner dimension
constant in the interview, staff were chosen that were involved in an inter-partner
relationship. For example, staff members were involved in inter-partner relationships with
the following organisations: New Zealand Academy of Sport, the Auckland YMCA and the
Singapore Sports School. Universities as education providers usually work in partnership
with a number of organisations, and their employees provided a great opportunity for pilot
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