Data Collection Issues

Margaret^{Footnote 9} read the consent form out loud and everyone filled it out and handed it in. A comment was made re “Are you researching us?” Betsy answered that she was just trying to get feedback and information on how learning is linked to harm reduction. (minutes from Focus Group #1, WISH drop-in, Oct 12, 2006)

The research participant who asked this pointed question has probably attended quite a few focus groups, done many surveys, and maybe an interview or two. When she asked “Are you researching us?” she may or may not have been kidding. I have heard quite a few residents say the area is “researched to death”. So it was with some concern that I came to them with yet another research project.

But in initial discussions with some of the people I interviewed, I found that Harm Reduction is a topic they know quite a bit about and were quite keen to share their knowledge. In addition, many of the participants had participated in focus groups or interviews before, so were comfortable with the process. This, combined with the honoraria we offered, meant there was no shortage of eager participants.

The opening comment raised another concern for me: How effective would I be as a researcher when I had already developed relationships with the participants as an instructor, workshop leader or mentor? There are two sides to this story. The first one is that, as an instructor, in spite of my best efforts to be participatory and respectful, I hold a certain amount of power in the learning centre. Research participants may provide answers that they think will please me. They may be reluctant to voice criticisms. This may affect the quality of data collected. (And to be frank, I would have liked to hear more criticism). On the other hand, research participants may feel more comfortable talking to me because they know me and I have “paid my dues” in the community.

Another concern is the fact that the participants got paid. Paying people small honoraria for participating in surveys, focus groups and meetings is very common in the Downtown Eastside. While some of the participants were there because they were interested in the topic, others were there for the money. A sad reality is that we would have had trouble getting participation without offering an honoraria. I have discussed this in more detail later in this section.

A final issue is that the role of the note-taker. The person we hired to take notes at the WISH focus group is a former regular at WISH who is active in a lot of community arts organizations. The note-taker in the UpWords focus group is the secretary of the group who takes minutes at their regular meetings. I think both brought a special “insider” perspective to recording these meetings.