One question at a time

Research is moving along at a slower pace now compared to the steam it had gathered in between. I have completed 55 interviews till date and although I feel like I am approaching a certain level of data saturation, I do believe that collecting another 15-20 interviews will only help my cause. Of course I am hesitant to narrow down on an exact number as is the case with any qualitative research but given how the nature of data being collected I can reasonably say that the number of interviews stated above should be good.

Yesterday and today I had the opportunity to visit Dnyan Prabodhini and interview two female priests. I must say I am impressed with their attitude and general demeanor. Going into it and despite having read about the number of female priests in Pune, I did not go into the field with any pre-conceived notions about them or about what to expect. They look like your typical Indian woman clad in saries and a bindi adorning their foreheads. They were soft spoken, friendly and very encouraging of both my research as well as their participation in it. They are organized and extremely professional with how they approach their work assignments and yet very accepting and inviting of random people like me who call them out of nowhere and request interviews. It was a good experience and more of that in my actual dissertation.