Interviewing Undergraduates with Foster Care Experience

This chapter outlines the process of collecting and analyzing qualitative data of the current study. This qualitative component augmented the understanding of some results of the secondary data analysis. To gain a better understanding of turning points that enabled foster care alumni to attain educational success, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposive but convenience sample of foster care alumni who are currently undergraduate students. The sample included 24 foster care alumni enrolled and attending state universities and community colleges in a northeastern state. The interview process involved recruiting participants with the assistance of foster care alumni programs at universities and community colleges, emailing participants, scheduling interview appointments, and meeting with individual participants via Zoom. Data analysis focused on identifying themes that emerge from the conversations with the aid of NVivo. The research goal was to utilize interview data to help answer the research question: What events and experiences are viewed as turning points by former foster youth that set them on a path toward educational success? Protection of participants was considered throughout all stages of the research.