All recorded interviews were transcribed after all interviews were completed. The data was assessed for applicable themes and assigned labels to major categories and subcategories where necessary. Those that had subcategories were assigned codes to show its relationship with a broader concept. Because questions were deduced from the literature and concerned with gathering information on specifics phenomenon, some questions were closed ended and assigned values. A study using similar methodology was conducted by Miao et al. [26].
A data driven approach to coding was utilized, allowing the author to “stay as close to the data as possible and interpret the meaning of the data from within the words” [39]. When managers were asked questions, they were allowed a certain amount of flexibility in approaching the answers. In certain cases, new avenues for questions were explored based on general manager comments. Numbers from 1 through 9 were assigned to participating general managers to protect the confidentiality of respondents. Consequently, neither the names of the general managers nor their hotels was identified. Results and findings follow using actual respondents’ quotes to clarify and amplify.
Validation of the study was established by means of member checking. The manuscript with the themes and quotes was sent to the interviewees for verification and comments, allowing key respondents to read the recorded data and make comments. Member checking is a frequently used approach to determine the validity in qualitative research [40]. In all cases, the interviewees reported that their answers were what they had intended to transmit. Reliability has limited meaning and plays a minor role in qualitative research; it relates primarily to the reliability of multiple coders on a team to agree on codes for the passages in the text [40]. Therefore, no test for reliability was undertaken for the present study as a single coder was used due primarily to the small number of questions and participants.