1. Key
Informant
Interviews
with
Canadian
Federal
Government
Public
Servants
Ryan
Southwood
University
of
Guelph
March
2014

2. IntroducDon
• This
presentaDon
will
touch
on:
– The
different
categories
of
Key
Informant
Interviews
(KII)
– How
to
use
this
qualitaDve
method
when
seeking
informaDon
from
public
servants
– The
Access
to
InformaDon
process
• In-­‐depth
interviews
with
public
servants
have
long
been
a
tool
used
to
research
government
policies.
With
the
centralizaDon
of
informaDon
preferred
by
the
current
federal
government,
current
research
has
indicated
that
it
has
become
more
difficult
for
academics
and
journalists
to
have
access
to
public
servants
to
gather
data
for
analysis.

3. Key
Informant
Interviews
Category
Descrip4on
Unstructured
Interviews
Ø Historic
beginnings
for
KII
Ø Ethnographers
would
observe
acDviDes
from
the
sidelines
and
then
parDcipate
in
guided
conversaDons
to
gather
more
in-­‐depth
informaDon
Semi-­‐structured
Interviews
Ø Rarely
includes
observaDon
of
interviewee
in
daily
life
Ø Usually
structured
around
a
series
of
open
and
closed
ended
quesDons
Ø The
guide
is
used
as
a
framework
and
new
informaDon
that
is
uncovered
is
explored
during
the
interview.
Structured
Interviews
Ø Follow
the
developed
guide
much
more
closely
Ø Limit
the
interviewer’s
ability
to
explore
new
data
uncovered
in
the
interview
Ø Most
oYen
used
to
collect
quanDtaDve
data
DiCicco-­‐Bloom
&
Crabtree
(2006)

4. Current
SituaDon
• The
current
Canadian
Federal
Government
seeks
to
control
the
disseminaDon
of
informaDon.
Accordingly,
with
the
centralizaDon
of
informaDon
it
is
increasingly
difficult
for
journalists
and
researchers
to
interview
public
servants
and
government
scienDsts.
• While
the
CommunicaDons
Policy
for
the
Government
of
Canada
(2006)
does,
“encourage
public
service
managers
and
employees
to
communicate
openly
with
the
public…[they]
must
respect
privacy
rights,
ma9ers
before
the
courts,
na4onal
security,
Cabinet
confidences
and
ministerial
responsibility”.
• Cabinet
confidences
and
ministerial
responsibility
can
create
a
hesita4on
on
the
side
of
public
servants
to
share
informaDon
for
fear
that
it
will
stray
into
privacy
issues
or
expose
these
confidences
and
responsibiliDes
that
many
not
be
clearly
defined.
(Jiwani
&
Krawchenko,
2014)

5. Public
Service
Interviews
• It
is
becoming
increasing
difficult
for
academics
to
get
approval
to
talk
with
public
servants
if
going
through
formal
channels.
If
these
requests
are
to
be
entertained
a
full
list
of
quesDons
that
will
be
asked
must
be
submifed,
the
interviewee
draYs
the
responses,
and
the
responses
are
reviewed
by
a
senior
execuDve.
Approval
levels
depend
on
the
department
but
are
usually
held
at
the
director
or
assistant
deputy
minister
level.
These
approvals
may
lead
to
interviews
with
higher
level
bureaucrats
than
the
researcher
anDcipated
(Jiwani
&
Krawchenko,
2014).
• This
format
forces
the
researcher
into
a
structured
interview
and
severely
limits
the
freedom
to
explore
unanDcipated
areas
that
might
be
uncovered
during
the
interview.
• Researchers
that
have
extensive
contacts
in
government
have
had
more
success
requesDng
interviews
through
their
networks
in
an
informal
manner.
These
interviews
are
rarely
conducted
at
the
interviewees
place
of
work
and
the
interviewee
will
want
to
ensure
anonymity.
• In
cases
like
this,
the
snowball
sampling
technique
may
be
a
researchers
only
opDon.
The
researcher
will
rely
on
the
informal
network
to
provide
addiDonal
contacts
who
may
be
willing
to
be
interviewed.

6. Access
to
InformaDon
• As
formal
approvals
for
interviews
with
public
servants
are
harder
to
receive,
many
researchers
are
turning
to
the
Access
to
InformaDon
Act
to
gain
informaDon.
• The
data
gathered
from
an
Access
to
InformaDon
(ATI)
request
can
be
used
to
triangulate
data
gathered
from
interviews,
to
formulate
addiDonal
ATI
requests,
or
create
addiDonal
interview
quesDons
for
public
servants.
• To
be
eligible
to
make
a
request
under
the
Access
to
InformaDon
Act
you
must
be
a
Canadian
ci4zen,
a
permanent
resident
of
Canada
or
an
individual
or
corpora4on
currently
present
in
Canada.
The
process
is
as
follows:
IdenDfy
which
insDtuDon
holds
the
informaDon
you
wish.
Look
at
hfp://
www.infosource.gc.ca/
emp/emp05-­‐
eng.asp#chapters
Fill
out
the
online
or
paper
request
form.
Be
as
specific
as
possible.
Online
form
available
at
hfps://aDp-­‐aiprp.apps.gc.ca/
aDp/welcome.do?lang=en
Pay
the
mandatory
$5
fee.
This
fee
enDtles
you
to
5
hours
of
searching
or
preparaDon.
If
more
Dme
is
required
there
will
be
addiDonal
charges.
Wait
for
the
government
to
respond.
Simple,
Right?

7. Not
so
fast…
• The
department
you
have
submifed
the
ATI
request
to
has
30
days
from
receipt
of
the
request
to
respond.
However,
the
government
can
request
an
extension
for
reasons
such
as
the
volume
of
requests
and
consultaDon
with
other
parDes.
• Study
the
ATI
Act
to
learn
what
you
are
enDtled
to
under
the
Act.
A
Canadian
journalist
named,
Puguliese
(2006)
writes
of
his
experiences
gaining
informaDon
under
the
Act.
Bureaucrats
have:
– Led
him
to
think
that
work
was
being
done
on
the
request
unDl
it
was
too
late
to
file
a
complaint
– Claimed
that
because
he
did
not
respond
in
a
Dmely
manner
to
one
of
their
lefers,
they
were
abandoning
the
request
(there
is
no
porDon
of
the
Act
that
allows
for
this)
– Requested
informaDon
would
be
costly
to
photocopy
and
deliver.
Puguliese
(2006)
discovered
that
researchers
can
go
in
and
view
the
documents
in
person.
The
documents
can
also
be
sent
to
the
closest
government
office
at
no
charge
so
the
documents
can
be
viewed.
• Puguliese
(2006)
ended
his
arDcle
by
staDng
he
had
interviewed,
“a
former
ATO
analyst
who
told
me
that
at
the
departments
he
had
worked
in,
the
main
goal
was
to
discourage
ATI
users
to
the
point
where
they
didn’t
file
any
more
requests”.

8. Complaints
• A
complaint
can
be
filed
with
the
Office
of
the
InformaDon
Commissioner
related
to
a
request
through
the
ATI
Act.
These
complaints
can
be
about:
– ExempDons
applied
to
your
request
– Delays
in
response
Dme
– Fees
– Other
issues
• Complaints
must
be
filed
in
wriDng
and
within
60
days
of
a
response
from
the
government.
All
complaints
must
be
filed
one
year
from
the
Dme
your
request
was
first
received
(G.oC.,
1985)
However…
• The
invesDgaDon
process
is
extremely
backlogged
and
can
take
up
a
year
to
be
resolved
(Puguliese,
2006)
• Not
all
research
experiences
will
be
the
same.
A
CBC
arDcle
demonstrates
how
some
public
servants
are
going
out
of
their
way
to
provide
the
public
informaDon
hfp://www.cbc.ca/news/poliDcs/how-­‐one-­‐defence-­‐staffer-­‐
stood-­‐up-­‐for-­‐access-­‐to-­‐informaDon-­‐1.2555659

9. Conclusion
• To
be
successful
at
gathering
data
from
public
servants
you
must:
– Be
prepared
to
use
informal
contacts
to
gain
access
– Use
the
Snowball
technique
to
gain
access
to
addiDonal
interviewees
– Use
Access
to
InformaDon
requests
to
assist
in
triangulaDng
the
data
and
develop
your
quesDon
guides
– Be
familiar
with
the
Act
in
order
to
miDgate
the
roadblocks
that
will
be
placed
in
your
way
– Use
mulDple
ATI
requests
to
keep
costs
down
– Be
prepared
to
conduct
only
structured
interviews
if
formal
approval
is
granted.
• If
you
decide
to
gather
data
from
public
servants
it
will
be
a
Dme
consuming
process
whether
you
have
informal
connecDons
or
not.
Learn
the
dialogue
associated
with
the
parDcular
department
you
are
interested
in
and
gather
as
much
open
source
informaDon
available
to
befer
direct
your
ATI
requests.

10. References
Cudmore,
J.
(March
2,
2014)
How
one
defence
staffer
stood
up
for
Access
to
InformaDon.
CBC
News.
Retrieved
from
hfp://www.cbc.ca/news/poliDcs/how-­‐one-­‐defence-­‐staffer-­‐stood-­‐up-­‐for-­‐access-­‐to-­‐
informaDon-­‐1.2555659
DiCicco-­‐Bloom,
B.,
&
Crabtree,
B.
F.
(2006).
The
qualitaDve
research
interview.
Medical
Educa1on,
40(4),
314-­‐321.
Government
of
Canada.
Treasury
Board
of
Canada
Secretariat.
(2006).
CommunicaDons
Policy
of
the
Government
of
Canada.
Accessed
9
March
2014
from
hfp://www.tbs-­‐sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-­‐eng.aspx?secDon=text&id=12316
Government
of
Canada.
Minister
of
JusDce.
(1985).
Access
to
InformaDon
Act.
Accessed
9
March
2014
from
hfp://laws-­‐lois.jusDce.gc.ca/PDF/A-­‐1.pdf
Jiwani,
F.
N.,
&
Krawchenko,
T.
(2014).
Public
policy,
access
to
government,
and
qualitaDve
research
pracDces:
ConducDng
research
within
a
culture
of
informaDon
control.
Canadian
Public
Policy,
40(1),
57.
Pugliese,
D.
(Spring
2006).
A
handy
guide
to
using
Canada's
access
to
informaDon
law.
Media,
12,
10-­‐11.