The second focus group followed the same format, and the group discussed implementation options for the overall system of labour-market training and development for rural and northern locations. Focus Group Two questions are attached as Appendix D. All participants were excited about being asked to participate and did so extensively. The phone interviews and focus groups captured more than 300 pages of data. The focus groups were conducted using a circle process and a talking stick to establish the tone for the dialogue and set the boundaries of safety for the group. Baldwin (1998) described the type of circle that occurred during the focus groups; the participants, recorder, and myself became the type of circle that “is a council of ordinary people who convene to create a sacred space and from that space accomplish a specific task, supporting each other in the process”
(p. 14). To my delight the group got along well and talked in-depth and easily with each other.
Data coding, data-file construction, analysis, and reporting happened during the fifth stage of the research process. Berg (2006) described a collaborative social research approach that met the needs of my research tactics. Berg said,
The analysis of data gathered in such collaborative studies is accomplished with the participation of the subjects who are seen by the researcher as stakeholders in the situation in need of change or action. Data are collected and then reflexively consideredboth as feedback to craft action and as information to understand a situation, resolve a problem, or to satisfy some sort of field experiment. (p. 305)
The process described by Berg is exactly what was replicated with the research group, as they went through discussions about their lives as ECs. Once the group was immersed in the process, they moved to create the boundaries discerning their narrative discussions. To begin looking at the analysis, Berg described an appropriate process in the following steps: (a) data are collected and made into text; (b) codes are analytically developed or inductively identified in the data and affixed to sets of notes; (c) codes are transformed into categories, identifying similar phrases, patterns, and commonalities; (d) materials are sorted by categories; (e) sorted materials are examined to isolate meaningful patterns and processes; and finally, (f) identified patterns are considered in light of previous research and theories.
Following the data analysis stage, initial findings were presented to the project supervisor, project sponsor, and focus group participants. The draft conclusions were discussed with the Project Leadership Committee and final papers revised to include their comments.