« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
3. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
3.1 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH DESIGN
The following research design was utilised:
- Six in-depth qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, with members of the project steering group, Scottish Executive Education Department staff and local authority respondents.
- Qualitative pilot work in schools. Three schools were selected to cover particular study interests (special school, rural school with composite classes, urban "deprived" school) and qualitative interviews carried out with members of school staff, including the head teachers, primary 1 or 2 class teachers, janitors and members of catering staff. Direct observation was also utilised.
- Semi-structured telephone interviews with local authority officials. Interviews were conducted with 47 professionals who were able to speak from a policy and operational background.
- A questionnaire survey of a representative sample of 510 primary schools. 458 questionnaires were completed, a response rate of 90%.
Each of these research components is described in more detail below.
3.2 KEY STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS
ScotCen conducted interviews with seven key stakeholders (a joint interview was conducted on one occasion). The key stakeholder interviewees represented Scottish Executive Education Department officials and members of local authority staff.
The in-depth interviews covered issues such as the background to the Free Fruit Initiative, the hopes and expectations for the initiative and the evaluation, perceptions of impact and success so far as well as the advisability of the initiative continuing in its current format in the future. Views elicited in these interviews were used to help frame questions for both the pilot qualitative research phase and the following telephone survey of local authority respondents, as well as the questionnaire survey of schools. The interviews were taped, and took place on a face-to-face basis. All of the interviews were conducted in March 2005.
3.3 QUALITIATIVE PILOT WORK IN SCHOOLS
Three schools were selected after discussion with the steering group to cover a range of particular interests of this study, namely a special school, an urban deprived school and a rural school with composite class. Researchers visited these schools in order to carry out face-to-face interviews with members of school and teaching staff involved with the implementation of the Free Fruit Initiative. Interviewees included head teachers, primary 1 and 2 teachers, janitors, school secretaries and members of catering staff. In order to minimise disruption to the schools involved, no more than 5 members of staff were interviewed. This qualitative scoping work was carried out in March 2005.
These interviews addressed all aspects of the initiative within the school, from distribution of fruit to and within the school to consumption by pupils. These interviews were recorded by the interviewer writing full notes at the time of interview, before writing a near-verbatim account as soon as possible after the completion of the interview. They were tape-recorded to assist this process, with the consent of the interviewee, but were not routinely transcribed.
In addition, the researchers were able to witness the fruit scheme in operation in the classroom, dining hall and playground. This direct observation helped inform the research team in relation to the implementation of the initiative and was useful in terms of questionnaire and schedule design.
3.4 LOCAL AUTHORITY SURVEY
A letter was sent by the Scottish Executive Education Department to Directors of Education in every local authority area, outlining the project and the proposed nature of the local authority and school surveys and seeking their permission for the research to be conducted. After consent was granted, the researchers contacted the "Hungry for Success" local authority contact in the first instance, and asked for the name and contact details of the individual(s) best placed to comment on both the policy and operational context of the Free Fruit Initiative.
Telephone interviews were carried out with these local authority contacts using a semi-structured schedule. In total, 47 interviews were carried out, with 15 local authorities providing two interviewees. A response was received from every local authority area, although not every respondent was able to answer all of the questions. Similarly, additional follow-up was necessary in some cases to complete all of the sections of the interview. Questions addressed previous schemes employed by the council, the supply and distribution to schools within local authorities, the nature of the supplier, perceptions of quality/quantity of fruit, the nature of the distribution chain, any costs incurred and differences in uptake and implementation among schools in the area. As a result a lot of qualitative, as well as quantitative, information was gathered.
These interviews were recorded by the interviewer writing full notes at the time of interview, before writing a near-verbatim account as soon as possible after the interview had been completed. They were tape-recorded for back-up purposes, but were not routinely transcribed. These interviews were conducted between April and July 2005.
3.5 QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY OF SCHOOLS
3.5.1 Sample of schools
There are over 2300 local authority publicly-funded primary and special schools in Scotland. After seeking the advice of the steering group, the researchers drew a random sample of 510 mainstream and special primary schools, stratified by the Scottish Executive six point urban-rurality classification. As a result of the relatively large sample size, every local authority area in Scotland was covered, and it was possible to carry out analyses looking at different levels of free school meal entitlement, school size, as well as the urban-rural categorisation.
After guidance from the steering group, an eight page questionnaire containing fixed choice responses, as well as five open-ended questions, was designed. Questions addressed every aspect of the implementation of the scheme, as well as the staff's perceptions of its impact, success and possible continuation and extension.
The questionnaires were sent out to schools in late April 2005. They were sent to the Head Teacher in the first instance, with advice on how to complete the form, as well as to which member(s) of staff were the most appropriate respondent(s).
3.5.2 Telephone follow-up
After allowing 3 weeks for the questionnaires to be returned, the schools who did not respond were telephoned by specialist research interviewers in order to offer staff members to complete the questionnaire by telephone. These interviews commenced in May 2005 and were completed in late June 2005.
3.6. ANALYSIS
The key stakeholder interviews were tape recorded, fully transcribed and entered into N6, a qualitative analysis programme. Semi-structured interviews (telephone and face-to-face) with local authority and school-based staff were recorded by the interviewer taking full notes at the time of interview, before preparing a near-verbatim account as soon as possible after the interview. These accounts were transcribed and entered on Microsoft Access, to aid analysis. Questionnaire data was collated, processed and analysed using SPSS. Frequencies and cross-tabulations were conducted, and statistical significance testing was carried out, where appropriate. Open-ended question data were entered on Microsoft Access to aid analysis.
« Previous | Contents | Next »