Including the 20-person Coordinating Committee, then, a total of 100 sage leaders were selected for the project. While certainly not the entire pool of community sage leaders in Grass Valley and Nevada City, those nominated and chosen were judged to be highly representative.
Phase Two: The 100 In-Depth Interviews
Well prior to conducting the 100 individual in-depth interviews, the Sage Leader Coordinating Committee generated a list of interview questions to be asked by each member of the two interview teams. Twenty-one questions were ultimately selected for the interview protocol. The Coordinating Committee also prepared a Biographical Questionnaire to be anonymously completed by each of the 100 interviewees. The purpose was to compare responses of emerging and senior sage leaders, and then the two cohorts with the general population through Nevada County Census questions and other sources of county information.
To begin, pilot interviews were held within each of the two interview teams to test the interview protocol and to gain experience in interviewing and in being interviewed. These pilot interviews were conducted in two-person teams and produced the first 20 written Sage Leader Interview Profiles. As a way to build mutual trust and understanding, each interview team shared the results of their own Profiles with one another. Thereafter, every member of the two, ten-person interview teams was assigned four additional interviews. When possible, assignments were based on the interviewer’s acquaintance with the persons to be interviewed. The 80 additional interviews were conducted from April 1, 2009 through December 10, 2010, with mid-point meetings of the two interview teams held in June to review progress and make adjustments.
Just prior to the 80 in-depth interviews being conducted, the Project Prospectus and the Interview Questions were forwarded to each interviewee. Then, at the beginning of each interview, the interviewee was given the Biographical Questionnaire and was asked to return it anonymously to the project coordinator in a stamped envelope that was provided. Each interview was audio-recorded, and each interviewee was identified by an assigned number rather than by name. The purpose was to ensure confidentiality. (Only the project coordinator knew the numbers assigned to the individual interviewee.) Each interviewee was also assured that the digital recording would be erased after the transcription was completed. And because the transcription was a written record of each person’s life story as a sage leader, each interviewee was given an opportunity to edit his or her final Interview Profile.
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