Data collection

The data for the present research was collected from the interviewees using two main methods. First, the interviewees were asked to draw the line of motivation in their adaptation process and second, the data was collected through in-depth face-to-face interviews. The interviews were held at the University of Tampere, at the Tampere University of Technology and at the University of Helsinki from April 2008 to March 2009. The places for the drawing and the interview were in all cases quiet and free from interruptions.

The data collection procedure started with an explanation of the purpose of the research and the reason why the interviewee had been chosen to take part in the research. Interviewees were informed that the interview would take about two hours.

General information about the theme of the research and the duration had been given when the interviewees were asked to participate. The data collection took on average about one and a half hours. The methods are explained in detail below.

4.5.1 Drawing the line of motivation

The method which visualized the interviewees‟ level of motivation and important moments in their adaptation processes was created mostly on the basis of the pilot interviews. The first idea to use a visual method came from Huhtanen‟s (2004) research. She had studied women who, after having been educated as pianists, had become piano teachers. She calls her method “a stream method”. It is based on Denicolo‟s and Pope‟s (1990) “snake technique”. The method gives the interviewees an opportunity to reflect their significant experiences in their lives and become more aware of their own development process.

The first task for the interviewees was to draw a line representing their adaptation process in Finland indicating the amount of motivation they had had at different times. They were given A3 size papers containing a vertical axis on which to plot the level of motivation and the horizontal axis for the time elapsing.

110 Figure 28. Dimensions of the line of motivation

The interviewees were asked to think how their level of motivation or willingness to adapt to Finland had changed during the time they had stayed in Finland. They were asked to think of the whole time they had thought about Finland as an option to visit or live in but especially the time they had stayed in Finland. They were asked to draw the level of their motivation to adapt to Finland. Lines going upwards or downwards would show how their motivation level had changed during their stay. The horizontal axis on the paper represented the average level of motivation:

neither positive nor negative. The motivation scale (vertical axis) was from very high to very low but no absolute numbers were given. Thus results are relative to each interviewee and curves cannot be compared as such. The main emphasis in this research was the talk about why motivation rises or falls, not the absolute level of the line.

The horizontal time axis was also open and flexible. The interviewees were allowed to use the time axis according to their own experiences. Sometimes five centimetres represented one week sometimes one year or more. The researcher asked them to mark three particular points on their time lines, namely first, the moment they heard of Finland for the first time and started to think of Finland as a potential country to live in or visit, second, when they had decided to come to Finland and, finally, the day they arrived in Finland.

The interviewees drew the lines alone, to help them to first reflect on their own experiences in peace. The interviewees commented positively about the opportunity

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to draw the lines alone. For many of them it was an eye-opener for their own experiences – especially thinking about the whole process of their adaptation. Some of the short-term interviewees used calendars when they were drawing the line.

There was no time limit for doing the line of motivation. On average it took 35 minutes to draw the motivation line. The range was from 20 minutes to one and a half hours. The drawings were used in the in-depth interviews which followed the drawing session.

4.5.2 In-depth face-to-face interviews

The interviews were held after drawing. The only exception was the case when drawing the line of motivation took one and a half hours. This particular interviewee was willing to come another time for the interview. Because of the possible sensitivity of the issues during the intercultural adaptation process, the researcher emphasized the following:

1) The material collected in the interview was confidential.

2) The researcher would not use interviewees‟ names in the report and would try to minimise the amount of personal information about the interviewees. The researcher asked some of the interviewees afterwards if they agreed with the way the identification was done in the report.

3) An interviewee‟s participation was voluntary and he or she could censor any parts of the interview during the interview or afterwards and not answer at all if so inclined.

The interviewing was mostly in English (14/20 interviews) but six interviews were held in Finnish. One of short-time sojourners wanted to have the interview in Finnish but all the other five interviewees conducted in Finnish were made with long-term migrants. All the interviewees spoke English or Finnish without major problems. Sometimes both languages were used if words in Finnish or English were missing or concepts needed explanations. English was the native language of seven interviewees but not the native language of the researcher. Since six interviews were conducted in Finnish, they were translated into English by the author.

At the beginning of the interview some background information about the interviewees was collected. There were questions about their previous experiences of living abroad (periods longer than three months), their knowledge about Finland and experiences with Finnish people before arrival. The background information questions were the following:

- Who are you?

- How long time have you been in Finland?

- What was your reason for coming to Finland?

- Have you lived abroad (over 3 months) before coming to Finland?

- What did you know about Finland before coming here?

- Had you met any Finns before coming to Finland?

- What do you do in Finland?

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After the background questions the interviewees were asked to explain what the line of motivation and its curves represented. The line helped the researcher during the interviews to follow the process of intercultural adaptation and the changes in the level of motivation. It was easier to focus on points in the line where the line went down or up or stayed stable and elicit the reasons for the changes or even for the stable periods. Going through the motivation line the researcher obtained information about the factors which had affected their level of motivation and willingness to learn and adapt. The interview followed the line of motivation and the researcher could ask for explanations when the direction of the line of motivation changed. When the curve made changes upwards or downwards, the researcher asked more about the reasons for those changes. The interviewees explained what had happened to them and gave more information. The interviewees gave reasons for their ups and downs in the line. The interviewees also talked about the reasons when the line levelled out. The researcher posed additional questions to elicit more detail. The interview process followed the interviewees‟ state of mind. They were allowed to talk about the issues they found important and meaningful for them. The researcher had certain themes in mind which she wanted to cover during the interview but in many cases she did not need to address these separately as they emerged during the interview.

The interviews were more like discussions because the interviewees could speak freely and the researcher reacted to what the interviewee said. The researcher made additional questions and drew conclusions which showed that she was interested in the interviewee‟s experiences. Probably this helped them to talk more and touch upon more sensitive topics. A couple of times the researcher referred to her own experiences abroad to show that she understood the interviewee‟s experiences. This had a positive affect and gave the feeling of sharing similar experiences and emotions. The interviews lasted from 45 minutes to 95 minutes. The average time was about one hour.