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My DPhil research focussed on the experiences of Christian postgraduate students through a convergent parallel multiple case study, employing one quantitative and two qualitative strands. In this presentation, I will focus on the qualitative elements of the research. I collected 165 responses to two open ended survey questions and conducted 53 semi-structured interviews at three case universities in England. In this presentation, I will briefly describe the project to give context to the research experience. I will then walk the audience through my research journey from recruitment through field work to analysis, with highlights of the real-life (i.e. not in the textbooks) challenges and surprises (and mistakes) which arise from insider research, analytical dilemmas, handling upset interviewees, the limits data protection places on qualitative research, etc. I will use examples and illustrations from my interviews, field notes and notes-to-self during analysis to illustrate the lived experience of the researcher exploring the lived experiences of others.
