A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Etheses - Queen Margaret ...

Robert Stebbins states that for exploratory analytic research, where respondents are
interviewed on several occasions, the labour-intensity involved makes a small number of
participants appropriate:
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I am unaware of any recommended minimum sample size for this sort of
exploration, although I do frequently encounter studies based on 10 or 12 cases
(Stebbins, 2001:28).
I have worked with sixteen participants. While I am aware that increasing this number has
involved perhaps more work than necessary (particularly in terms of transcription), I feel the
additional voices have added depth and richness to my data.
Research participants
The people I interviewed included:
Ali, a man in his early-twenties from Whitley Bay. Ali is from a mixed-race English-Iranian
background and had recently been diagnosed as having dyslexia.
Anne, a deaf woman in her mid-forties living in Glasgow. Anne has experienced some
hearing loss since childhood and became deaf aged twenty-two.
Ash, a man in his mid-forties from a former mining village in Midlothian. Ash lives with
depression and has a number of physical impairments sustained in a suicide attempt made in
his early-twenties.
Ben, a man in his early-fifties from Coventry. Ben describes himself as having the label of
autism.
Brian, a man in his early-fifties living in Brighton. Brian describes himself as having
schizophrenia.
Charles, a man in his early-thirties living in Liverpool. Charles has cerebral palsy and is a
wheelchair-user.
Hazel, a woman in her mid-forties from Northampton. Hazel has a progressive respiratory
condition.
Helen, a woman in her late-twenties living in Edinburgh. Helen describes herself as having
been diagnosed as having a personality disorder.