Similarities between the data of each of the tables indicate that all participants had concerns with the duration of the module. This was highlighted and noted when I prompted for any other business or comments to be discussed in their reflections, inclusive of those who did and didn’t do the activity. And it explicitly was the reasoning behind not completing the activity for the 3 of the 5 participants. The notion that “it was too long” featured in all conversational questionnaires, so this response led me to demand further analysis by way of cross-referencing with my peers and my tutor.
Psychology could be taken into consideration while analysing the raw data because, as previously indicated, qualitative data lends itself to reality and is not a precise type of data collecting although detailed. I was driven to further evaluate or “read between the lines”, as what is not being expressed, in qualitative research, could be of significance (Poland and Pederson, 1998). I presented my findings to my tutor for cross-referencing and she encouraged me to critically analyse the meaning of the phrase “too long,” given that the two groups’ interpretations of the term would undoubtedly differ. It was agreed that for those who completed the task, “too long” would mean something different than for those who did not.
In the English language, the term “too long” is used to describe something that is too prolonged or excessively lengthy. (Langeek, n.d.) My understanding of this phrase and my tutor’s comments on my results led me to start thinking about how the term might have different intended meanings in the context of my study.
The variations considered were:
For Professionals B, C and E, this phrase could mean:
- That they were genuinely deterred by the time it would take to comply
- That they were not prepared to undertake a training module unpaid for that length of time
- That there is no recognition for their compliance to such works.
- That they did not want to use their own/work time to do a module that was not mandatory
- They didn’t want to undertake a module with topics that they had potentially already covered within the EDI training that they had already done (established within consultation #1)
- That they didn’t see it worth doing and taking that time to inform a study that doesn’t have grant instant gratification in engaging with LCC students.
For Professional A and D, this phrase could mean:
- That they had to take time out of their own/work time to complete
- That they didn’t see the value of spending this length of time to complete the activity
- That they consider the duration to be lengthy without payment
- That they could have received the same message or ethos from a module that was shorter
- They became Exhausted from Cognitive Overload (Pappas, 2021)
My analysis of “this response” from all the participants enabled me to conclude that although they could have varying definitions if the module is to be used for introducing the industry to the EDI values and ethics of our institution, the module’s length should be decreased and is likely to result in the disposal of some of the content. Therefore instead of editing an established version, consideration should be made for a module to be created specifically for industry engagement, which is not 45 minutes. This could lead to further investigations, as it then initiates the enquires as to what length of time would be considered as suitable to have the same impact.
This means that within my practice, I could think about developing a module for business professionals that I contact and invite to help contextualise careers education, through employability provisions. This idea was part of my initial design, but it was altered when I decided to use the authentic module in response to the clearance that UAL EDI had given.
References:
Langeek. (n.d.). ‘To long’ vs. ‘Too long’ in English. [online] Available at: https://langeek.co/en/grammar/course/1598/to-long-vs-too-long [Accessed 27 Dec. 2023].
Poland, B. and Pederson, A. (1998). Reading Between the Lines: Interpreting Silences in Qualitative Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 4(2), pp.293–312. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/107780049800400209.
Pappas, C. (2021). 5 Red Flags That Your Online Training Seat Time Is Too Long For Modern Employees. [online] eLearning Industry. Available at: https://elearningindustry.com/red-flags-that-online-training-seat-time-too-long-for-modern-employees [Accessed 13 Jan. 2024].