Ravalier PhD Theis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

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Participants were asked to complete the logs about their work day, at the end of every work day for up to two
work weeks (10 days), in what was expected to be a ‘normal’ working fortnight. This time frame offered a good
representation of what happens in the individual’s working role, thus capturing the ‘things that work well’ and ‘how
they can be improved’ on a regular, yet ordinary, basis. The main premise of the use of the log phase was to
understand everyday working practices that are working well, and in a similar manner those that are not working
as well and therefore informing the researcher of the psychosocial stressors employees are facing. The use of the
AI methodology, and in particular the use of logs, meant that the positive working practices can be applied to the
areas of practice which are not as positive. These results then led onto the next phase of the project: the use of
semi-structured interviews and focus groups.
However, one potential limitation of this research design is that the amount and quality of information gained
via the logs especially is likely to be brief, giving simplified information. While the preference for the use of shorter
logs rather than more complex and informative diary entries has been demonstrated above, the simplified
technique means that there is a need to follow up on the information gathered with methods that will garner more
detail. Therefore follow-up interviews with participants were conducted in order to obtain more detailed personal
information.
2d) Semi-Structured Interviews
Interviews are seen by many researchers as an essential part of much social research (Breakwell et al.,
2000). Semi-structured interviews differ to the structured interview in that the latter have a formalised, limited set