I conducted all of the interviews myself because I was familiar with the topic, it was cost efficient and allowed me to become emerged in the data. Being that I am a Black woman who is pursuing a Ph.D. in social work, I have an intimate relationship with their experience (Marshall & Rossman, 2011). All interviews were tape-recorded to allow the researcher to focus on what was being said instead of trying to write out the entire interview. Audio recordings also captured things such as tone of voice, laughter, sighs, and sarcasm that can be missed without the recording (Padgett, 2008). Interviews ranged from 30 to 90 minutes.
Obstacles to Data Collection. One of the biggest obstacles to data collection was using the internet to conduct interviews. In the middle of some of the interviews, the internet signal was dropped. Participants were understanding when this happened and one of them reminded me that this was an obstacle to utilizing the internet in research. Participants gave me their phone number(s) as a back-up in the event we were unable to reconnect through Skype.
Many participants expressed concerns about remaining anonymous, due to the small cohort of Black women with a Ph.D. in social work. Participants made it clear that they would speak openly and honestly but requested that I be discrete in sharing certain information about names of universities, and faculty members. Many were also concerned that talking about their experience could have a negative effect on their professional relationships both inside and outside of academia.
As a person who self-identifies as a Black woman and a current social work doctoral candidate, it was difficult to suspend my role at times as participants described situations that were similar to my own, especially as it related to the dissertation process. It was helpful for me to journal and process with others afterward. Although having some of my own struggles come up during interviews was a challenge for me, I found that it also helped me build rapport with participants. There was a sense of sisterhood that came through the interviews with participants in the way that we spoke to each other. Although we didn’t know each other, we shared a common experience of being Black women who had gone through a social work Ph.D. program. Not only that but, the dynamics of our families being that many of us were the caretakers in the physical, emotional, and financial sense. As well as the weight of being the first to pursue a Ph.D. in our families. There were many laughs from finding the humor in ugly situations and the sharing of joyful experiences during this progress. The majority of the participants were friendly and asked questions about where I was in my process, and offered encouragement telling me that I was almost there, to press forward and that my study was important. Some offered advice on how to move forward after completing my interviews and shared resources with me. While others offered their support and encouraged me to call them if I
