Monitoring the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 - Centre for ...

2.2.6 In-depth case studies of actual and potential
cases
Having identified cases which might be used as case studies,
parties in cases were initially sent a letter, explaining the
research and its objectives and inviting their participation.
Many parties responded directly to this letter, others were
subsequently followed up by telephone. In cases where one
party to a case agreed to participate, attempts were then
made to secure the participation of one or more other parties
in that case. Thus, for example, if an applicant in a Part II case
agreed to participate, we would then approach the
respondent to that case and, where appropriate, any advisers
or representatives involved in the case. In all cases the
participating party was informed of our approach to other
parties in the case, and in cases where that party did not wish
such approaches to take place, their wish was respected.
The case studies themselves were based on semi-structured
in-depth interviews (the topic guides for the interviews can
be found at the Appendix). The majority of the interviews
were conducted face-to-face, although a small number (at the
interviewees’ request, or for logistical reasons) were
undertaken over the telephone.
2.2.7 Case-study analysis
All the interviews were analysed under the headings in the topic
guides and key items entered into a thematic database to
facilitate the analysis of such a large number of interview scripts.
The themes incorporated into the thematic database, were
also those used to structure the chapter headings of the
present report, the object being to ‘tell the story’ of DDA
cases, from the ‘trigger point’ at which the decision is taken to
lodge a case under the act, through to the outcomes of the
case and its impact on the parties involved.
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