Abstract
An empirical exploration of the issues raised in the previous chapter requires gaining access to a typically very hard-to-reach and time-poor cohort of research participants. These are people in very senior organisational positions on both the demand and supply side of the board-level recruitment and selection process (senior executives aspiring to board-level roles, Chairs and head-hunters). As such, securing agreement from these participants to undertake an interview that will delve in considerable depth into some quite personal aspects of their attitudes and behaviour is far from straightforward. Gaining access to a sufficiently large number of research participants to lend the research a degree of generalisability regarding how the board selection process operates and how both male and female boardroom aspirants seek to attain board-level roles is also far from straightforward.
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Notes
- 1.
It is important for ethical considerations to be kept in mind when conducting qualitative research (Creswell, 1994; Marshall & Rossman, 1995; Merriam, 1988). At face value, the interviewees involved in this study did not appear to be vulnerable. However, they have reputations and positions to maintain and their rights in this regard had to be protected. To ensure that their rights were safeguarded, the following steps were taken. First, potential participants were sent briefing notes which outlined the purpose of the research and explained that the findings might be used for future publications. Assurances on confidentiality were also given, with the notes explaining that the interviewees and the companies where they worked (or aspired to work) would not be identified. Second, prior to the interviews commencing, the consent notes were again given to the interviewees, and they were asked at the start of the recorded interview to confirm that they had understood and agreed the confidentiality arrangements. Third, the recorded interviews were sent to a reputable transcription house which abides by data protection standards. Transcripts of the interviews were stored in a password protected file on a password protected, firewall protected desktop at the first author’s home address. Finally, an executive summary of the research findings was sent to all interview participants.
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Bushell, M., Hoque, K., Dean, D. (2020). Researching the Network Trap. In: The Network Trap. Work, Organization, and Employment. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0878-3_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0878-3_3
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