Proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Qualitative Research

Fieldwork on the public opinion survey on not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) facilities has always been difficult at China's grass roots as corresponding issues are considered sensitive by villagers. Patriotism and authoritarianism lead not only to their silence in public communication but also to their reluctance to intervene in sensitive items, especially among the less educated ones, making them the voiceless.

Besides, the kinship system and the obedient culture of China tend to intensify respondents’ compliance with social desirability and the threat of disclosure. Their perceived losses and gains significantly limit the effectiveness of existing qualitative/quantitative approaches to improving sensitive surveys, namely anonymity guarantee, concern relief, liar catching, benefit increase, and situation manipulation. Improving the validity of answers from the Chinese voiceless groups to sensitive questions has, therefore, proved a difficult task.

Based on fieldwork in Huizhou, China, concerning Taipingling Nuclear Power Plant, this paper argues for a new mixed-method approach to better conduct sensitive surveys on the voiceless. This approach employs 'bystanding interviews (BI)' in paper-and-pencil interviewer-administered questionnaires (PAPIAQ) to assure validity and to secure reliability.

The fieldwork shows that the PAPIAQ attributes authenticity to researchers at a cost of founding a barrier between the less educated, voiceless respondents. Yet the BI apparently softens the barrier by initiating comprehensive interaction between researchers and respondents during the questionnaire survey. Hence, the reliability of data increases as researchers illustrate items in the BI; and the validity of the BI text increases as the interviewer can delve into the decision-making process behind the respondents' answers to each item. In the meantime, the BI texts are coded and subjected to statistical analysis of quantitative data using the elaboration procedure, contributing to a valid understanding of the target field and a reliable explanation of the research field.