Online Survey

Research Methods, Data Collection and Analysis

Research for this study was carried out by the Léargas Impact Research Officer between November 2018 and November 2019. The research scope was learners involved in projects approved for funding between 2007 and 2018.

The research is based primarily on:

• an online survey of 335 participants from Ireland who had completed Leonardo da Vinci or

Erasmus+ vocational mobility placements

• four semi-structured in-person interviews with individuals who had completed

Leonardo da Vinci or Erasmus+ vocational mobility placements

• two in-person focus groups, with twelve participants who had completed

Leonardo da Vinci or Erasmus+ vocational mobility placements.

As this study is part of a wider project involving National Agencies across Europe, the survey format and questions used in interviews and focus groups were agreed in advance by all project partners. The same format was used in all countries.

The study uses a mixed-method research approach, combining quantitative analysis of survey data along with qualitative assessment of the experiences reported by individual participants. This approach seeks to reflect the variety and diversity of experiences, and to explore aspects of the placements in greater depth than a wholly quantitative approach could offer. Each component of the research is described in detail below.

Online Survey

The project partners agreed a standard survey questionnaire for those who had taken part in vocational mobility placements under either the Leonardo da Vinci or Erasmus+ programmes. This questionnaire was then localised for Ireland, and six extra local demographic and contact information questions were added. The survey was uploaded to the online survey tool SurveyMonkey. Participation in the survey was voluntary and questions could be answered anonymously. Only respondents who were willing to take part in individual interviews or focus groups were requested to provide their contact details for follow up.

Email addresses for 1,483 participants were sourced through the European Commission’s Mobility Tool and Léargas’ own records. Participants who had agreed to be contacted after their placements received information about the study and an invitation to take the survey. Predictably, there was a very high bounce back rate from these emails. Many participants had supplied college-based email addresses which had expired, while others had changed or closed accounts since the time of their mobility placement.