August has been busy with data collection for my PhD study. A stretch target of 100 responses to my survey would be ideal and so far 74 responses have been recorded, with 69 of these fully complete from the target age cohort. Recruitment remains open for another month so keeping fingers crossed on that score. Recruitment for interviews is at two levels – firstly, anyone who completes the survey is invited to an optional interview and this has yielded the potential for 37 interviews. Responses from those in the 55-64 age group account for 18 potential interviews, a further 12 in the 65-74 age group and 7 amongst the 75+ year olds. The second level is more challenging since it involves recruiting participants who are not online – definitely challenging.
During August I conducted ten interviews amongst the over 65s and transcribed almost 70,000 words. Transcription time is taking on average 5 hours per interview, with about 1,300 words transcribed per hour. Whether this is fast or slow, given that I have raw transcripts generated by Microsoft Word to work with, I can’t say, but either way, each new interview is giving me some new nuggets of interest, and this is worth the time investment. Of these interviews, eight have come through the survey channel and two have been with participants who are not online. One of these was with a gentleman I know and who volunteered to be my pilot participant when I told him about my study. The second was with an amazing lady (let’s call her Anne) whose family member contacted me explaining that she was keen to participate because “no one listens to older people any more“.
With regard to the interview process generally I am finding the Microsoft Word transcribe feature to be working quite well. I am also recording a voice memo of the interview on an iPad just in case and finding that I need to use it since the section recording feature on Word doesn’t seem to behave for me. In the case of old school interviews I have also learned not to leave the back door open in the event that the next door neighbour decides to cut the grass!
The pilot interview participant made a comment that struck a chord with me “I’m not interested. Technology has passed me by. It’s not for me at this stage of my life” (male, 77). The interview with Anne was also invaluable. She used phrases such as “being forced to go online” and “I felt punished because I wasn’t able to use modern technology” along with “it’s lovely to be able to talk to somebody“. Both these participants emphasise the importance of choice in relation to technology and that “digital only” is not acceptable to them in their dealings with commercial organisations including banking and insurance providers along with public services.
In 2020, data collected by the Central Statistics Office and published by Eurostat showed that 13% of the Irish population aged 65-74 years had never accessed the Internet. In the 75 years and older age group, this statistic (published for the first time) was 45% (noting the low reliability with 44 people surveyed). I am convinced that there are more people like Anne who would like to share their experiences with me. I am particularly grateful to Active Retirement Ireland, the Wheel, the County Councils’ Age Friendly and Public Participation networks for sharing my call for participants. But what of those represented in these networks and by non-profits who are not online and will not see my call for participants. Perhaps I need to go ‘old school’ with my nationwide recruitment call and pursue the regional newspapers and radio stations???
Until next time, Sandra
Featured image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
References:
Age Friendly Ireland. (2021). Age Friendly Ireland Weekly Newsletter. Retrieved 27 August from https://agefriendlyireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Age-Friendly-Ireland-Newsletter_27082021.pdf
Eurostat. (2020). Individuals – internet use. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/digital-economy-and-society/data/database
Kerry Public Participation Network. (2021). Kerry PPN Newsletter. Retrieved 20 August from http://www.kerryppn.ie/kerry-ppn-newsletter-issue-37-20-8-21/
The Wheel. (2021). INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN PHD RESEARCH ON OLDER ADULTS, LIFELONG LEARNING, DIGITAL SKILLS AND SOCIAL CONNECTIONS. Retrieved 17 August from https://www.wheel.ie/notices/invitation-participate-phd-research
Sandra Flynn 