The Art of Communication: - Derry City Council

3.0 Study DesignThe study was a collaborative effort involving the Environmental Health departmentsof the five district councils within the western region of NI (56 EHOs were engaged)and Chinese employers within this region (91 Chinese catering businesses wereengaged). The study was facilitated by partnership working with Sai Pak and theChinese Welfare Association and district council Community Relations and Equalitycolleagues. The study involved the design and dissemination of two questionnairesin which the views of EHOs and Chinese business owners on the nature and qualityof shared communications were sought. Questionnaires were administered in bilingualformat. The opinions of both parties were also sought on the seven stagesrecommended by Sills and Desai (1996) and on the individual parties awareness ofethnic minority support services within district councils. Focus groups were alsoheld where each party were encouraged to discuss their experience of and offertheir views on the shared communications. In the interest of research robustness,the multiple method approach adopted allowed qualitative data collected duringfocus groups to be triangulated using quantitative and qualitative data generated fromcompleted questionnaires, thereby allowing the validity of data interpretation to beconfirmed, and, indeed differences to be further investigated. In essence, triangulationallows the researcher to come at the same problem from different angles in anattempt to ensure that the results obtained are a true and accurate reflection of thephenomenon under investigation.The Art of Communication: A landscape shared between regulator and ethnic employer 17