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Appendix D: Qualitative Research Discussion Guide
- Introductions
- Explain rationale for voice recorder
- Explain rationale for open discussion - not questionnaire
- Clarify purpose of research (experiences of drug education)
- Set ground rules
- Offer reassurances
- No right or wrong answer, just opinions we are interested in
- Confidentiality
- Warm-up:
- School life/education
- Experiences at school (likes and dislikes, favourite and least favourite lessons)
- Health issues and education
- What kind of health issues do you think affect people your age (eg. smoking, nutrition)? What do you know about these? Where did you hear about them (eg. friends, media)? Have you had any lessons on them at school? If so, what were the lessons like?
- Drugs education:
- Do you remember getting any drugs education at school? What types of drugs did you learn about (eg. do they mention tobacco and alcohol as well as recreational drugs?)? Did you feel that you talked more about one type of drug than another?
- Recall of drugs education at school:
- Implementation and delivery
- What year group(s) were you in when they had lessons about drugs? How often did you get these lessons? Can you remember how the lessons fitted in the school timetable (eg. were lessons about drugs conducted during PSHE class or at registration time?)
- Who taught the lessons - was it your teacher or a visitor (eg. health professional)? What did you think about the person that took the lessons? Did they seem to know what they were talking about? Did they have up-to-date information? Did you feel comfortable talking about drugs with this person? If you were going to get drug education who would you prefer to take the lessons? Why?
- Basic content and ideas (tap into own experiences of drug use throughout):
- What do you think was the main purpose of the drug education you did at school (eg. was it to get you to say 'no' to drugs, or was it to help you make informed choices, etc?)?
- What kind of approach did the lessons take? For example, were you provided with lots of new information about drugs eg. factual information about different types of drugs and the consequences of taking them? Were you ever given information about how to take drugs 'safely' (eg. keep hydrated)? If so, what did you think about this? Did you ever act upon the information you were given?
- Did you learn about how many people take drugs? About social attitudes to drugs?
- Do you remember talking about how you might cope in a situation where other people are using drugs and encourage you to try it? If so, what sort of advice were you given? Was it realistic? Can you imagine using this advice in a real life situation? Have you ever been in a situation where you might have had to use this advice?
- Format of lessons and use of materials:
- What types of tasks and activities did you have to do as part of the drug education you did at school? Was there a lot of writing involved (eg. in workbooks)? Were the lessons quite interactive? For example, did you participate in class/group discussions or role-play exercises?
- What types of materials did you use? For example, did you use printed materials like leaflets and educational books? Were you shown any visual aids (eg. mock samples of different drugs)? What do you remember about these?
- What types of tasks and materials did you like best/least? Why? Which ones do you feel you learned the most from?
- Would you change anything about the tasks or materials to make the lessons better?
- Perceptions of credibility, accuracy and reliability:
- How helpful did you find the lessons? Was the information you were given relevant to your own lives or situations? Was it too advanced? Too basic?
- Did you believe what you were told about drugs? Did you think the information you were given was accurate?
- Were you comfortable with the tone of the lessons? For example, did you find them quite helpful and informative? Or were they a bit patronising? Did you feel like you were being told what to do?
- How did the information about drugs that you received at school compare with the information you get from other sources (eg. friends, family, the media). Which would you trust most/least? Which do you think has the most influence on you?
- Impact of drugs education:
- Knowledge:
- Did you learn anything new from the drugs education you did at school? Eg. new facts about drugs, the consequences of drug use, anything new about the legal issues?
- Affective outcomes:
- Was there anything in the drug education you did at school that made you think about drugs in a different way? Think differently about people who use drugs? Was there anything that made you think differently about yourself in any way?
- Skills:
- Did the lessons provide you with any useful skills? For example, do you feel better equipped to cope with peer pressure? Is it easier now to make decisions about whether or not to use drugs? Did you learn any skills that you could use in other situations (ie. not related to drug-use)?
- Conversations with friends and family about drugs:
- Did the lessons make you talk to your friends or family about drugs? If so, did the way you talked about drugs change after the lessons? If so, how?
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